Update 4 p.m.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — The Sangamon County Coroner has released the name of the motorcycle driver who died in a crash Thursday afternoon in Springfield.
Coroner Jim Allmon said the man is 34-year-old Jordan Charnley of Springfield. Preliminary results from an autopsy performed on Friday indicate that he died from multiple blunt force injuries he sustained in the crash.
Charnley’s death remains under investigation by Allmon’s office and the Springfield Police Department.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — A 34-year-old man is dead following a motorcycle vs. car collision in Springfield Thursday afternoon. This is the fourth deadly motorcycle crash in Central Illinois during the month of May.
Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon said the crash in Springfield happened at the intersection of North Dirksen Parkway and Northfield Drive. The motorcycle driver was transported by EMS to the emergency room of HSHS St. John’s Hospital, where he died at 2:29 p.m.
The victim’s name was not released pending next-of-kin notification.
As authorities in Springfield were responding to this crash and the driver’s death, authorities in Rantoul responded to a near-identical situation just minutes later. Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup said Terry Rabbers, 58, was involved in a motorcycle crash around 2:40 p.m. Rabbers also did not survive his crash.
These crashes come just two weeks after two other motorcycle crashes on the same day that also claimed the victims’ lives. On May 7, 24-year-old Jacob Lovell died in a crash on Interstate 74 and 45-year-old Thomas Thompson died in a crash in Springfield.
All of these deaths happened as state officials are urging drivers on the road to be aware of motorcycle drivers. It has been longstanding tradition for the Governor of Illinois to proclaim May as Motorcycle Awareness Month in the state, which Governor Pritzker did at the start of the month.
An autopsy for the latest victim is being scheduled as the investigation into the crash continues.