A Hawaii-based petty officer died in a motorcycle crash last month, authorities confirmed.
Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class Benjamin Korkiat Taylor, 23, was riding his motorcycle with other riders on the H-3 highway near the Route 63 interchange at about 10:30 p.m. on June 15, according to Honolulu police and the medical examiner’s office.
The group was traveling at a high rate of speed, and another rider lost control of his motorcycle and drifted into Taylor’s lane, according to police spokeswoman Sarah Yoro.
Taylor drifted out of his lane and onto the shoulder, where he collided with a guardrail and was ejected down a grass embankment, Yoro added in an email to Navy Times.
He was taken to an area hospital but succumbed to his injuries, she said.
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Taylor was wearing a helmet, and neither drugs nor alcohol appear to have played a role in the accident, Yoro said.
Born in Thailand and raised in Michigan, Taylor had been assigned to the guided-missile destroyer John Paul Jones since 2015, according to service records and his obituary.
He enlisted in 2014 and pinned on second class in 2017.
Funeral services were held on July 2 at the Dryer Funeral Home in Holly, Michigan. Military honors and burial followed at Great Lakes National Cemetery, according to his obituary.
Taylor is at least the 22nd sailor to die in a private motor vehicle accident since the federal fiscal year began on Oct. 1, according to Navy records.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
