A 27-year-old man was killed yesterday morning in the second fatal road traffic collision in less than ten days, bringing the death toll on Bermuda's roads up to eight in 2005 - already topping last year's total of seven.

Eugene Christopher was on his motorcycle heading to work in Tucker's Town when he collided with a truck at Zuill's Park Road in Smith's at about 7.30 a.m. yesterday morning. Police said last night that details about what caused the collision were unclear, however The Royal Gazette understands that Mr. Christopher was travelling east along South Road and the truck was pulling out from Zuill's Park Road onto South Road when the collision occurred.

When examined at the scene of the brutal collision, Mr. Christopher's bike was missing its handlebars while parts of his speedometer were lodged beneath the truck.

A second rider travelling behind Mr. Christopher is understood to have swerved to avoid the accident, suffering a broken leg, while the driver of the truck was uninjured.

Last night Mr. Christopher's mother, Ronnelle Simons, said she felt as though something had been taken away from her.

“I was very proud of him, very proud of him,” she said last night. “He was just the best child you could have, as far as I'm concerned. I suppose every mother says that, but it's true.

“I had high expectations of him, I knew he was going to achieve further and I feel like that was cut from him. He was in the process of being successful, he was halfway there.”

Mr. Christopher's father was an electrician, she explained, but unfortunately passed away when her son was just seven. “From that moment on he wanted to be an electrician like his daddy.”

The former Berkeley student worked to put himself through the Bermuda College. Graduating from Drake Technical Institute in Alabama five years ago, he was taking courses at the College while paying for them by apprenticing at Universal Electric when the accident occurred.

He had reached the position of Lance Corporal in the Bermuda Regiment, but had left the Regiment to pursue his schooling.

The oldest of three children, Mr. Christopher was described as an even-tempered man who kept his thoughts to himself. “He never gave me any trouble, everybody loved him,” Mrs. Simons said last night.

Surrounded by family and friends, the shocked mother said her son had been a hard worker, more inclined to his job and his school than to a wild lifestyle.

He and his mother remained close though he had moved out and lived on his own in Warwick. “He came in to church on Mother's Day, I wasn't expecting to see him there and he surprised me. He used to drop by and check on me ... He was helping out with my daughter who is in school, giving her extra change.”

Mr. Christopher had a car, she said, however he had just gotten his bike as a bike was easier to take to work and to park in town.

“He was just a good child,” she said, adding how happy she was to be able to say she was proud of him.

Her daughter will be returning home while her other son was devastated by the accident, she said.

Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with any information to contact P.c. Alamie-Merrounnie at 777-0999.