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Online archives from The Item Online.
August 08, 2003
Woman dies in motorcycle accident at high school
The Huntsville Item
An accident Monday night in a Huntsville High School parking lot took the life of a Houston woman who was learning to ride a motorcycle.
Deborah Lynn Pate, 49, was taken to Huntsville Memorial Hospital by Huntsville/Walker County EMS after she was thrown from a 2003 Harley-Davidson motorcycle at approximately 7:40 p.m.
According to HPD Sgt. Kevin Lunsford, the accident is still under investigation. What police have learned so far is that Pate was in the east parking lot at Huntsville High School receiving a lesson on how to drive a motorcycle.
"Apparently, she was learning to drive a motorcycle. She had been practicing driving in the parking lot," Lunsford said. "Evidently, she shifted it into second gear and shortly afterward the motorcycle jumped a curb and at some point she was ejected and hit a metal handrail."
Lunsford said Pate was wearing a helmet, but it was an open-faced helmet.
The preliminary police report does not list any possible witnesses.
According to several sources, some Huntsville High School band students were near the parking lot at the time of the accident, preparing to go home after a long day of band practice. However, it is unknown if any of the students saw the accident.
HHS assistant principal Panette Kelch said students she has spoken with have not expressed any adverse reactions to it.
"We think that some of the students saw her practicing (driving the motorcycle), but we don't think anyone actually saw (the accident) happen," she said.
All HHS teachers and counselors have been informed of the incident and are prepared to console students if necessary, Kelch said.
Freakish.