By BILL JONES
Staff Writer
Third Judicial District Attorney General Berkeley Bell is recovering in a Birmingham, Ala., hospital from injuries suffered in a motorcycle crash there on Saturday.
A spokesman for Bell's office said Attorney General Bell suffered shoulder and other injuries in the accident and was being treated.
According to the spokesman in Bell's office, the district attorney general was said to be in good spirits but was in a "bit of pain" on Monday.
A spokesman for the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) Hospital said late this morning that Bell was listed in fair condition in the "step-down intensive-care unit" at the hospital.
According to the spokesman for his office, he was injured while riding a motorcycle on a track outside Birmingham on Saturday afternoon. The spokesman did not know the name of the track.
However, an organization called Sportbike Track Time (STT) had the Barber Motorsports Park outside Birmingham rented for the weekend of June 14 and 15, according to the motorsports park's Web site.
The track, according to the STS Web site, is 45 feet wide with 16 turns and has 80 feet of elevation change.
"A Sportbike Track Time Event will be an unforgettable experience. We guarantee it!" the organization's Web site says. "The STT event format is designed to give each and every rider maximum on-track time.
"Events are open to riders of all skill levels. Personalized instruction is provided and encouraged.
"All novice group participants receive 'class time' and on-track instruction with qualified instructors at no additional costs.
"Personal instruction is available for the intermediate and advanced riders by the STT staff.
"At day's end you will have a newfound sense of confidence in yourself and your machine."
Previous Accident
The weekend motorcycle crash was the second in recent years for Bell.
On Sept. 30, 2005, he was injured when he was forced to veer his Honda Interceptor motorcycle into a ditch beside Tennessee Highway 129 in Blount County to avoid a rear-end collision with a stopped car.
Bell said then that he was on a ride through the Smoky Mountains and looked away from the road for a moment before the accident.
After getting his motorcycle back on the road, Bell said, he had to ride about 30 miles back to the point where his motorcycle trailer was parked.
"I was just glad to be able to ride," he said. Fortunately, he said then, he suffered only "some swelling and bruising" as a result of that accident.
