4 injured in motorcycle crash after Blessing of the Bikes

Three motorcyclists were taken to hospitals Sunday after departing the Blessing of the Bikes event at Murrysville Alliance Church, according to Murrysville Medic One administrative director Darrick Gerano. A fourth person was treated by paramedics, he said.

One person was transported by ambulance and two others were taken by medical helicopter. The crash was reported around 1 p.m. on Sardis Road about 7 miles from the church, he said.

Numerous motorcycles stopped at the scene. Murrysville police could not immediately be reached.

Hundreds of motorcycles with riders from all over the area flooded the church’s parking lot Sunday morning, eager to hit the roads under sunny skies and warm temperatures. Riders were invited to the 11 a.m. church service before the public blessing afterward that included prayers, bagpipes and the national anthem.

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• Murrysville church's 26th Blessing of the Bikes draws hundreds of riders

In Pennsylvania, there were more than 373,000 registered motorcycles and nearly 800,000 licensed motorcyclists in 2022, according to PennDOT statistics. There was an average of 3,172 motorcycle crashes in the state between 2017 and 2021.

An unrelated crash Sunday just before 9 a.m. on Route 22 in Salem sent a motorcyclist to a hospital with serious injuries, according to state police. Troopers said Holly Marcheck, 67, of Latrobe was stopped at a red light on a motorcycle at the intersection with East Pittsburgh Street when a Hyundai Tuscon being driven west by Jammie L. Kosloff, 43, of Aliquippa ran into the back of the bike.

Marcheck was taken by medical helicopter to AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville. Kosloff also was taken there for minor injuries, police said.