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It's easy to understand why many motorcyclists plan to boycott the 2005 Memorial Day Rally in Red River, N.M. After all, most of us wouldn't go out of our way to visit a place where, if you were killed, the authorities don't even bother to investigate.
That's pretty much what happened at the rally last year when two Colorado riders died in a highway accident in Taos County, while their passengers required months of treatment for their serious injuries.
One victim was Leslie Dancer
Walker, 59. I knew
him casually, for he filled in at a local computer shop
when the owner was on vacation. His passenger was his
fiance, Kathleen Pullara. The other rider was Timothy
Serles, and his passenger was his wife, Jennifer.
As they drove away from a rally event on May 30, they crashed head-on into a pickup driven by 15-year-old Gerald Bailon of Questa, N.M. The pickup had crossed the double-yellow line and was in their lane, headed straight at them.
Walker died at the scene; Tim Serles died of his injuries several days later. Kathleen Pullara was hospitalized until Aug. 13 with a broken leg and pelvis, a fractured skull and numerous other injuries. Her left leg was amputated below the knee. Jennifer Serles also needed major surgery for multiple injuries.
Neither woman was questioned by the Taos County District
Attorney's office until more than five months later, and
then only after they had called the governor's office
numerous times. They believe that this was no accident,
that Bailon, along with friends in another vehicle, was
playing chicken
with the bikers.
Taos County DA Donald Gallegos initially charged Bailon
with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, but later
dropped the charges. I know these folks,
he said of
Bailon's family, They are good people,
and he had
known them pretty much all my life.
Under pressure,
he has since handed the case over to the DA in Clovis
County, N.M.
One biker website says a tragedy like this one is not
an isolated incident. This proctice by some drivers in
parts of New Mexico of intentionally encroaching into an
oncoming motorcyclist's lane is one that has been observed
by others previously.
But Bob Schwartz, crime advisor to the New Mexico governor and Albuquerque prosecutor, said there was no evidence that the young driver was playing chicken or some other road game when the accident happened.
He did say that The system has failed to a certain
extent,
since witnesses were not interviewed in a
timely way and blood samples on one vehicle were not
analyzed.
Schwartz, along with Red River Mayor Craig Swagerty, was
in Colorado last week trying to talk bikers out of
boycotting the Red River Rally on account of the
prosecutor's non-investigation. The rally has attracted
35,000 bikers who spend about $6 million over four days.
We want you, we need you,
said Swagerty.
Many Colorado bikers still plan to boycott Taos County and come to the Fallen Biker Memorial Day Rally at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds, four miles from Salida, which is planned to assist the two survivors with their medical bills.
The last estimate I saw predicted at least 5,000 bikers, which basically doubles the population hereabouts. The county and city governments estimate about $48,000 in increased spending for law enforcement, emergency medical services and the like.
If those 5,000 bikers spend the same $47 a day for four days as the Red River average, the total spending would be $860,000 here. Local sales taxes are 4 percent, so $34,400 would come in to cover $48,000 of increased governmental spending.
That's not a good deal for local taxpayers, and I can't say I'm thrilled with the idea of even more traffic around here on Memorial Day weekend, be it on two wheels or four, since that's always a busy time.
But Dancer was a good guy, New Mexico hasn't cared enough to find out how he died, and the two survivors contend with immense medical bills. So I hope this all works out this year -- and that New Mexico gets its act together, so that the rally doesn't become a tradition here.
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