A 45-year-old Andalusia man was seriously injured Sunday night (March 19) when he missed a sharp curve in an unfamiliar Escambia County road, causing his motorcycle to run off the roadway and slide into the yard of a mobile home.
Michael Wayne Wehrly was taken by Med Flight Air Ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola after the crash, which occurred around 9:05 p.m., on Curtis Road, about 100 yards from its junction with Alabama 21, just south of Wind Creek.
According to Alabama State Trooper reports, Wehrly wasn’t charged with breaking any traffic laws after he lost control of his 2001 Suzuki VL1500K1 while entering the curve, where the posted speed limit was 45 mph.
“(The cycle) was not traveling at a high rate of speed,” the report narrative reads. “However, the driver apparently failed to recognize that he was approaching a sharp curve and allowed his vehicle to leave the road on the right side.”
The report states that the Suzuki “traveled a short distance before falling onto its side and coming to a rest” at the base of a hardwood tree in a residential yard.
Units from Poarch Creek Indians police and fire departments joined troopers and the ambulance in responding to the crash call.
Paramedics provided preliminary treatment and stabilized Wehrly at the scene of the mishap. The “seriously injured” motorcycle rider was then taken by ambulance to the vacant lot behind the Hardee’s restaurant, not quite a mile from the scene of the mishap, and his medical care was transferred to the air ambulance crew.
Several motorcycle riders and drivers pulling cycles on trailers passed by the crash site on their way home from the Sunday show at Atmore Drag Strip, where competition between motorcyclists had been a featured event. Neither authorities nor witnesses were sure if the Andalusia man had earlier taken part in the competition, if he had been a spectator, or if he had been at the local track at all.