Florida Man Dies After Hitting Turtle with Motorized Bike

A Florida man died after he hit a turtle with his motorized bicycle during a nighttime ride.

David Kervin, 51, was seen lying near the roadway near his motorized bicycle after he lost control of the bicycle and hit a turtle, Florida Today reported.

The fatal accident happened around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Royal Palm Avenue and Sail Drive in Indian Harbour Beach.

Brevard County Fire Rescue crews and investigators responded to the scene, where they found Kervin’s body and the turtle.

“He apparently suffered a head injury and was already deceased when we arrived,” said Don Walker, spokesman for Brevard County Fire Rescue to WKMG. “It appeared he hit the turtle.”

The small turtle, described as a box turtle, managed to survive the crash with just a small crack in the bottom of its shell and crawled away with minor injuries.

Investigators said there was no evidence that another vehicle was involved in the crash.

It was not immediately known whether Kervin was wearing a helmet. An autopsy showed that Kervin suffered head trauma consistent with falling off his bicycle.

Traffic investigators say accidents like these are “rare” occurrences, but they do happen: “You see these kinds of accidents very rarely. It’s either deer or bear when you hear of an animal involved in an accident,” said Kim Montes, a spokeswoman with the Florida Highway Patrol.

Montes recalled a crash where a turtle was struck trying to cross the road in Volusia County: “Somehow, the driver clipped the turtle at such an angle that it tossed the turtle into the windshield of another car,” Montes said. “The troopers got there and pulled it out of the windshield and put it in a nearby body of water. It happens, but it’s very rare.”