Four dead in weekend motorcycle accidents

The State Patrol is reporting two fatal motorcycle accidents that left four dead Friday night in Minnesota.

The Patrol reports that around 9 p.m. Friday, a motorcycle broadsided a Toyota Corolla near Highway 169 on Scott County Road 64 near Belle Plaine.

The motorcycle rider, 29-year old William A. Aegerter of Belle Plaine, died. The Toyota driver, 55-year old Clifford Boateng of Shakopee, suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Around 11 p.m., a Buick Century heading north on Highway 107 in Pine County lost control, crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a Harley Davidson motorcycle heading south.

Three people were killed in that accident: the motorcycle driver, 38-year-old John Lampman of Shoreview, and his passenger 29-year-old Stacy Johnson of Bethel, were killed, as well as the driver of the Buick, 54-year-old Daniel Bruneau of Isanti.

Both motorcycle riders in that accident were not wearing helmets.

Despite the recent deaths, the State Highway Patrol's Troy Christensen said road fatalities are down overall from last year.

"So far this year we've had 217 fatal crashes and last year at this time we had 224. This year we've had 29 motorcycle fatalities, but last year we had 44 at this time. But we have seen a big increase in pedestrian fatalities - we're at 27, compared to 17 last year."

However, Christensen said more motorcycle fatalities are likely in the coming weeks.

"This is the time of year when we start to see an increase in motorcycle fatalities, just because we're going to start to see more motorcycles out," he said. As summer winds down, "we'll see an increase in motorcycle crashes and we also start to see deer and other animals start to move, so they also create another hazard on the roadway."