Bike accident leads to nearly decade-long friendship

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. -- Data from Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center from 2023-2024 shows bicycle involved crashes spike by 20 percent with deadly crashes also spiking by 21 percent. In Indiana Bicycle related accidents increased from 712 to a five year high of 820 in 2024.

With warmer weather throughout Michiana, more people will be out and about on bikes. It is very important to wear the proper safety gear when riding. It's advised to be aware of your surroundings and always wear a helmet when on a bike. Kevin Tate, a former resident of St. Joseph, Michigan, is proof of how important a helmet can be.

ABC57's Sidney Moore sat down with Kevin Tate nearly ten years after he suffered a traumatic brain injury due to a vehicle and bicycle crash. A bike was Tate's only form of transportation at the time, as he was working to land a job in Michiana. “The day my brother and I, we got into a little argument about paying a bill of something, and I was looking for a job, but I had an interview set up over at Whirlpool, over in St. Joe, Michigan, and as I got on a bicycle, I was biking around, going over a drawbridge, and the last thing I remember is a pickup truck pulled out in front of me.”

After almost ten years, lots had changed; back in 2017, ABC57 covered this story of a St. Joe Michigan Officer donating his bike to Tate after the crash. To view that original story, click here.

Now almost ten years later now retired officer Jason Yonker, made the trip up to Grand Rapids Michigan to surprise Tate at his current residence.

Yonker says, "It's great that we've stayed in touch again. Kevin's a friend of mine, and I always enjoy when he calls and when he was telling you where he's moved from place to place, he'd call me and say, hey I'm in a new place. I got a new job.” 

After 10 years, their friendship remains the same, catching up like no time had passed. Yonker tells me he still remembers Tate's crash like it was yesterday. ”It's been again over nine years now, and it's still, I still vividly remember the accident happening. I was dispatched to a vehicle versus a bicyclist's accident, which is always, you know, scary in itself, but we get there. When I arrived on the scene, I saw Kevin laying down on the ground."

Now almost a decade later, Tate is still dealing with his ongoing injuries from this crash, but is on a much better page of life, getting help from a program in Grand Rapids called CommuniCare.