Vincent M. Surprenant, a 24-year-old Hungry Hill resident, died June 2 from injuries he suffered in a May 25 motorcycle crash on Boston Road in Springfield.
Debris was scattered over a large area after Vincent M. Surprenant crashed his motorcycle on Boston Road in Springfield last month. Surprenant has died from injuries he suffered in the crash.SPRINGFIELD -- A Springfield man who crashed his motorcycle on Boston Road last month has died from the injuries he sustained in the May 25 accident, according to his family.
Vincent M. Surprenant, a 24-year-old Hungry Hill resident, died Thursday, June 2, after remaining in critical condition at Baystate Medical Center for about a week.
Funeral arrangements for Vinny, as Surprenant was known to his family and friends, are pending under the direction of Sampson's Funeral Home. Additional information was not immediately available.
Springfield police said Surprenant, a Newbury Street resident, collided with a car on Boston Road after losing control of his motorcycle on the evening of May 25.
The incident occurred shortly before 8 p.m. as Surprenant was eastbound in the area of 600 Boston Road. Police said speed appears to have been a factor in the crash.
Springfield Police Sgt. John M. Delaney said Surprenant apparently lost control while rounding a curve, skidding into a westbound car driven by a Morton Street man. After making impact with the car, the motorcycle skidded for roughly another 100 feet before eventually coming to a stop near Dezi's Jewelry Exchange and Pawn Shop.
Surprenant's death was the second motorcycle-related fatality this spring.
Joseph Placanico, 55, of Palmer died on April 17, three days after colliding with an empty horse trailer on Route 9 in Ware. A truck was towing the trailer, which jacknifed into Placanico's lane of travel, according to police. That accident remains under investigation.
Motorcycle riders are 37 times more likely to die in an accident as opposed to automobiles, according to Tim Aloisio of Monson, The Republican's motorcycle columnist and a member of the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association.
Aloisio said many people think automobile-vs.-motorcycle crashes are more common, but national statistics show the majority of fatal motorcycle accidents are single-vehicle accidents with excessive speed and inexperience being the main culprits. In cases where car-to-bike crashes do occur, he wrote in a May column for the newspaper, two-thirds of the time it is the fault of the automobile operators.
THE MAP BELOW shows approximately where a Hungry Hill man crashed his motorcycle on Boston Road in Springfield on May 25: