(Photo by Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton, Waco Police Dept., via Twitter)
WACO (February 7, 2013)—Waco police rerouted traffic Thursday afternoon on northbound New Road after a motorcyclist died in a collision with a pickup truck in which speed may have been a factor.
Police identified the motorcyclist Thursday evening as Robert Charles Taplin III, 20, of Waco.
The accident happened just before 3 p.m. near the intersection of North New Road and Watt Avenue.
Taplin's northbound 2006 Suzuki motorcycle slammed into the side of the Ford F-250 pickup as the truck’s driver pulled onto New Road from the parking lot of the Gift Horse store, police said.
The motorcyclist wasn’t wearing a helmet, police said, and the speed at which he was traveling may have been a factor in the accident.
McLennan County Justice of the Peace Pete Peterson pronounced Taplin dead at the scene.
The 18-year-old woman who was driving the pickup was not injured, police said.
