Two people have died and one person is hurt after a motorcycle and an SUV crashed Wednesday afternoon in Bowie, Maryland, officials said.
The driver of the SUV and the driver of the motorcycle were both killed when the vehicles crashed on Crain Highway at Sylvan Drive, Maryland State Police said. Police responded about 4:45 p.m.
Gabriel John Gales, the driver of a Yamaha motorcycle, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Springdale, Maryland, resident was 25.
Gales' family told News4 he bought the bike in April and has been riding bikes since high school.
The driver of the Toyota, a 71-year-old man from Bowie, also was pronounced dead at the scene. Police did not identify him, pending notification of his family.
A 69-year-old woman who was a passenger in the SUV was rushed to the Shock Trauma Center at University of Maryland Medical Center by helicopter. Information on her condition was not released.
The cause of the crash has not been determined. There was no indication that either driver was impaired, police said.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
A father was killed in an eerily similar crash at the same intersection two years ago.
In the 2014 crash, the driver of a car was found to be at fault for failing to yield to an oncoming motorcycle.
"It gives me cold chills. [A victim's] head was one foot from that cross where the other one died," said Ed Denny, who works nearby.
A small, white cross still marks the spot where the man was killed.
Denny and others who drive on Crain Highway every day said something needs to change.
"It seems like it’s getting worse," Denny said.
According to the Maryland State Highway Administration, police have reported eight crashes at the intersection between 2012 and 2015.
Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call Maryland State Police at 410-345-3101.
Gales' family has established a GoFundMe page to raise money for his funeral.
