SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports

Sturgis Rally Tally: 50 injury, 3 fatal crashes in total

Town name on hill near Sturgis

STURGIS, S.D. (KELO) — Throughout the Sturgis Rally, law enforcement agencies are tracking crashes and crimes. 

The South Dakota Department of Public Safety releases a Sturgis Rally Tally – a 24-hour (6 a.m. to 6 a.m.) recap for crashes, DUI arrests, drug arrests, citations and warnings for both Sturgis and the Rapid City district. 

The eighth, and final, Sturgis Rally Tally, through 6 a.m. Sunday has been released. You can view it in the graph below.

Note: Rally Tally numbers from DPS do not include data from the Rally’s official opening day Friday, Aug. 5.

The total number of DUI arrests for this year’s rally is 148, which is up from 122 at the end of the rally in 2021. There have been 50 injury crashes, 12 less than the 62 at the end of the rally in 2021. There have been three deaths from crashes so far down from 4 at the same time in 2021.

For drug arrests, there have been 148 misdemeanor drug arrests, down from 151 at the same time in 2021. There have been 103 felony drug arrests, up 9 from 112 in 2021.

Four vehicles were seized for drug possession. There were no vehicles seized in 2021.

For 2021, there were 60 injury crashes, four that were fatal, 50 non-injury crashes, 122 DUI arrests, 151 misdemeanor drug arrests, 112 felony drug arrests, 1,572 citations and 4,319 warnings. 

Day 8 crashes

There were no fatal crashes from 6 a.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday. Three injury crashes were reported.

Day 7 crashes

There were no fatal crashes from 6 a.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday. Five injury crashes were reported.

Day 6 crashes

There were no fatal crashes from 6 a.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday. Six injury crashes were reported.

Day 5 crashes

There were no fatal crashes from 6 a.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday. Five injury crashes were reported.

Day 4 crashes

The third fatal crash of the 2022 Sturgis Rally happened at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday on South Dakota Highway 44 within the city limits of Scenic.

Authorities say three motorcycles were eastbound on SD Highway 44 when a 2019 Harley-Davidson Trike stopped on the shoulder and attempted a U-turn. A 2012 Harley-Davidson motorcycle hit the trike and then a 2018 Harley-Davidson trike hit the 2012 motorcycle.

A 66-year-old woman, who was a passenger on the 2018 trike, was pronounced dead at the scene. A 71-year-old driver of the 2018 trike had serious but non life-threatening injuries and was transported to a Rapid City hospital. Neither were wearing a helmet.

The driver of the 2012 motorcycle was a 62-year-old man who sustained serious but non life-threatening injuries and was sent to a Rapid City hospital. He was not wearing a helmet.

The driver of the 2019 trike, which stopped and attempted the U-turn, was a 64-year-old man and received minor injuries. He was not wearing a helmet and was taken to a Rapid City hospital. A 58-year-old woman was the passenger in the 2019 trike and did not have injuries. She was wearing a helmet.

There were six other injury crashes reported on Tuesday.

On Wednesday morning, the South Dakota Highway Patrol responded to a semi vs. house crash near Sturgis. The crash happened on a service road near mile marker 32 on Interstate 90. The occupants of the house have been evacuated and are not injured.

Day 3 crashes

From 6 a.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday, there were eight injury crashes and no fatal crashes.

There’s been a total of two fatal crashes since the rally officially started.

Day 2 crashes

A 51-year-old man was killed in a crash at 2:25 p.m. Sunday on Interstate 90 mile-marker 47, two miles west of Summerset.

An eastbound 1986 Honda GLI200 motorcycle swerved to miss an eastbound 2006 GMC Envoy which was ahead of it. The motorcycle hit the Envoy and the driver was thrown from the motorcycle.

The 51-year-old man was also driving eastbound in a 2005 Harley Davidson FLHRS Road King motorcycle and hit the first motorcycle that was lying in the roadway. The 51-year-old man was thrown from the motorcycle and was pronounced dead at the scene. He was wearing a helmet.

A 64-year-old man was the driver of the Honda motorcycle and suffered serious non life-threatening injuries. He was taken to the Sturgis hospital, and he was not wearing a helmet.

The 48-year-old male driver of the Envoy was not injured. Seatbelt use is under investigation.

There were 10 injury crashes from 10:45 a.m. Sunday to 2:15 a.m. Monday.

A 73-year-old woman is facing life-threatening injuries after a mechanical failure caused a 74-year-old man to lose control of a motorcycle on Interstate 90 near mile marker 78 by the New Underwood exit.

Both passengers were thrown from the motorcycle. The 74-year-old man sustained minor injuries. Neither wore a helmet.

Day 1 crashes

One fatal crash and four injury crashes were reported on the first day of the rally according to the South Dakota Highway Patrol.

Preliminary information on the fatal crash states that around 11 a.m. Saturday a 2013 Harley-Davidson FLHX motorcycle was westbound on South Dakota Highway 34 when it rear-ended a second westbound 2013 Harley-Davidson FLHX motorcycle that had slowed down.

The 58-year-old male driver of the first motorcycle later died at a Rapid City hospital.

The 68-year-old male driver of the second motorcycle sustained non life-threatening injuries.

Neither driver was wearing a helmet.

Crashes before rally started

Before the rally officially started, a 28-year-old man died in a motorcycle crash near Lead early morning on Sunday, July 31. George Seliger, 28, of Wausau, Wisconsin, was thrown from his motorcycle after failing to negotiate a curve west of Lead of U.S. Highway 14A and losing control. He was not wearing a helmet.

On Thursday, Aug. 4, one person was injured in a motorcycle crash near Rapid City.

Across South Dakota, there were 466 total motorcycle crashes, according to the Department of Public Safety.

There were 671 total drivers in those crashes. Nineteen drivers were killed in those crashes and 384 drivers were injured.

Four counties in the Black Hills area were among those with the most motorcycle crashes in 2021. Pennington County had the most with 109. Lawrence was third with 54. Custer and Mead each had 47. Minnehaha, in eastern South Dakota, had 89 crashes.