Farmer, 73, dies in highway collision near Independence

By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): A 73-year-old farmer has died following a collision between his motorcycle and a pickup truck on the Thomas Vincent Ramos Highway, and police have opened an investigation classified as manslaughter by negligence, the standard procedure for fatal road traffic matters, with the question of fault still to be determined.

According to the Belize Police Department, on Friday, August 14, 2026, at about 7:45 a.m., Independence police responded to a report of a road traffic accident between miles 41 and 42 of the highway, near the Independence garbage dump site.

On arrival, officers found a man lying on his right side on the pavement in an unresponsive state, with an open wound to his head, and a woman sitting at the roadside next to him, crying and complaining of pain. A doctor from Bella Vista arrived shortly after and attended to the man. A black Lifan 150 motorcycle lay extensively damaged about five feet from him, its right indicator still on, while a grey Ford F-150 pickup with a damaged mirror and a minor dent to the right front fender was parked on the left shoulder about fifty feet away.

Police investigation revealed that both the motorcycle and the pickup were travelling in the same direction, from Bella Vista Village toward the Punta Gorda and Independence junction. Near the garbage dump site, according to the police account, the motorcycle’s right indicator came on, and the pickup, driven by a 52-year-old lecturer of Punta Gorda Town, began to overtake. As it did, the motorcycle, ridden by the 73-year-old farmer with a 39-year-old woman as passenger, made a left turn into the right front portion of the pickup, causing the collision that threw both riders to the pavement.

The rider was transported to the Independence Polyclinic, where he succumbed to his injuries. His passenger sustained pain to the body.

The scene was processed and photographed, with a sketch plan drawn and measurements taken, and both vehicles were impounded. The pickup driver was issued a notice of intended prosecution and, upon request, voluntarily provided a urine sample, which was sealed and handed over under chain of custody. The pickup was subsequently inspected by a transport officer and released to the driver.

The matter remains under investigation, and no fault has been determined.

Breaking Belize News extends condolences to the family of the farmer, a man of 73 still working the land and the road, whose morning journey ended a few miles short of the junction.

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