Two 33-year-olds were killed on Thursday morning after the motorcycle they were riding crashed.

The Richmond County Coroner’s Office said the deceased are Larry Robert Kersey and Amanda Hughes.

According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and Hephzibah Public Safety, the crash happened on the 2300 block of Mims Road in Hephzibah.

Coroner Mark Bowen said the motorcycle reportedly ran off the westbound side of the road and struck a culvert.

Kersey and Hughes were pronounced dead at the scene around 7:20 a.m. Bowen said their bodies were sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab for autopsies.

No details were revealed about the factors that contributed to the accident. However, it is known that no other vehicles were involved in the crash.

Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that 5,172 motorcyclists were killed on Georgia’s roads in 2017.  Ninety-four percent of those who lost their lives were riders while the others were passengers.

Biker fatalities occurred almost 27 times more frequently than deaths among occupants of passenger cars, when measured by miles traveled per vehicle.

The statistics also show that 29 percent of motorcyclists involved in fatal accidents were riding without valid licenses.

Furthermore, 43 percent of motorcycle riders who died in single-bike crashes were impaired by alcohol.

And, bikers killed in night-time traffic crashes were three times more likely to be alcohol-impaired than those killed during the day.

The NHTSA surmised that helmets saved the lives of 1,872 motorcyclists’ and that 749 more bikers would still be alive if all motorcyclists had worn helmets.

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