League City Motorcycle Deaths: Family of victim calls for repairs on Highway 3 bridge after second fatal crash
LEAGUE CITY, Texas - The family of a 22-year-old motorcyclist who was found dead over the weekend and thrown over Clear Creek Bridge is left devastated. It happened in League City where yet another motorcyclist also suffered a severe accident in that very spot.
21-year-old Elijah Torres is all too familiar with the stretch of Highway 3 where 22-year-old Christopher Talkington crashed his motorcycle and died. It was also the exact bridge over Clear Creek where Torres, who was just 18-years-old at the time, crashed his motorcycle, leaving him paralyzed nearly three years ago.
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"I was paralyzed from my lower chest down. I suffered a spinal cord injury. Now I'm 100% in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, likely, and getting through that was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done. Having to wrap my head around learning life over again," Torres explains.
He says it was soul crushing news to hear 22-year-old Christopher Talkington, who was reported missing this past weekend, was actually found dead, thrown over the Clear Creek Bridge on Highway 3 in League City.
"It hurts knowing that if this had been taken care of, it definitely could have ended differently," says Torres.
He's talking about a spot in the road on the Highway 3 bridge, which is listed in the police report about Torres' motorcycle accident in 2021, after he hit the dip and was thrown off his motorcycle and over the bridge.
He feels it's Déjà vu hearing how Talkington's loved ones pinged his phone to find him, after the same thing happened to Talkington.
"I know this was like 100% preventable. I know this could have been taken care of years ago whenever I had my accident. To know that somebody else had to lose their life, to be able to make a change to this is unbelievable," says Torres.
Highway 3 is maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation.
"We look at that crash data that comes to us. It's actually sent to TXDOT. We look it over, and we look at ways we can improve," explains TXDOT Spokesperson Danny Perez.
TxDOT just finished repairing joints on the bridge.
"We continue to look at the bridge. We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to maintain the bridge, keep it operational for improved mobility, but also to enhance safety through there," Perez adds.
Torres is talking with us on his 21st birthday. He says the dip is still in the road and the only present he wants is for it to be fixed, so this doesn't happen to anyone else.
"I just think that it's very important to be talked about because I feel like Chris will never have this opportunity to talk about this," says Torres.
According to the League City Police Department, for the past five years, from June 2019 to today, there have been eight accidents on the Highway 3 bridge, leaving four people injured and two people dead.
Torres' mom is now circulating a petition regarding that stretch of roadway to shed light on what she calls a "hazardous road."
If you see a road that's in need of repair and it's maintained by TXDOT reach out to them at txdot.gov or 713-802-5000.