The devastated mother of Bermuda's first road fatality of 2009 wept last night as she told of her grief at losing her "beautiful boy".

James Robert Smith, 24, was killed after his motorcycle hit a parked car close to his home in Somerset just after 2 a.m. yesterday morning.

Mr. Smith, who worked as a front desk agent at The Reefs hotel, was rushed to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead just before 2.45 a.m.

"I'm just brokenhearted," his mother Sallyann Smith, of Warwick, told The Royal Gazette. "I'm just a mother that has lost my beautiful son. He had such a great sense of humour, a wonderful sense of humour. He was a beautiful boy, you have no idea. It's just like the worst thing that could ever happen. He was really a very special soul; that's why God has taken him so early."

Ms Smith, a real estate agent, said the family had lost a few people in the last year and James had been incredibly caring in every case. "My son, he was a very sensitive child and he was so caring of other people. That's what is so poignant."

She was due to have dinner with him on Thursday evening but he called and cancelled because of the rain. "The last thing he said to me was 'I love you mum' and I said the same to him. He said that every time he called me."

Mr. Smith is the third young man to die on Bermuda's roads in the past three weeks and his mother urged other motorcyclists to take care. "Please be careful on your bikes," she said.

Family friend Cris Dapena said Mr. Smith was a hugely popular young man whose friends rushed to the hospital when they heard news of the crash. His brother Steven, 22, returned to the Island from college in Boston yesterday.

"His mother and her partner went to the hospital and when she learnt that he had passed away she called me," said Ms Dapena. "By the time I got there there were eight or ten young men there already. The number of boys who were at the hospital last night and who were grieving his death is a testament to how well-liked he was. The sincerity of their grief was pretty obvious."

Mr. Smith, who attended Saltus Grammar School and studied hotel management in Bristol, England, recently returned to the Island after a year of travelling around the world with a cousin.

Ms Dapena said: "He came home a changed and much grown young man. He was pretty well loved and pretty vibrant and pretty warm anyway.

"He had a lot of really, really close mates. He was a very warm, engaging personable man. He was the kind of guy who would do anything to help a friend who needed it. I think that garnered him a wide circle of friends."

Mr. Smith's return to Bermuda was due in part to wanting to spend time with his seriously ill father, Richard, co-owner of the Royal Palms Hotel in Pembroke.

He spent most of Thursday with his father, who lives in Pembroke, before returning to the home he shared with a friend in Daisyfield Drive, Somerset, and going out again.

Police said details of the crash were still sketchy and urged witnesses or anyone who saw Mr. Smith before the accident to come forward. They said he was travelling west on Scott's Hill Road when his motorcycle hit the parked car.

David Dodwell, owner of The Reefs, said he and his staff were "shattered" by the news. "He has worked here for maybe four months and people are reeling, particularly the office staff.

"He worked the front desk and was very good at what he did. He was a shining star, pretty quickly and out of the blue. You saw him and said 'wow, it's wonderful to have a guy like that here'. We have a fabulous team who liked him a lot and who are shattered today.

"He settled in very well, learnt very quickly and became a team member faster than one would have expected. In a small hotel in the kind of team environment that we are lucky enough to have here, it was pretty staggering this morning. I had people in tears."

By late yesterday afternoon, friends had left numerous messages of disbelief and sorrow on Mr. Smith's Facebook page. Anne Hyde wrote: "James, wherever you are, please know that you are well loved by so many."

Police have pledged in recent weeks to cut road deaths by targeting speeding and impaired driving with increased traffic patrols and more use of radar speed traps.

Angel Nottingham, from road safety group Remembering Our Loved Ones (ROLO), said: "The members of ROLO are shocked and saddened to hear about the first road fatality of the year; it is only nine days into the year and we are off to a bad start.

"Our community is definitely in crisis mode with three young lives lost in three weeks. Our sympathy is with the Smith family and friends of the deceased during this tragic time. Bermuda — please remember accidents are avoidable. Vehicles can be replaced but our loved ones cannot. We offer our support to the family."

She said it was refreshing to know that Bermuda Police Service had received new vehicles in order to increase the police presence on the roads but added: "Ultimately, the responsibility still lies with the road user to use our roads safely."

A Police spokesman said: "The Bermuda Police Service extends our sincere condolences to the family and friends of James Smith." Witnesses should call PC Cletus Cyris on 234-1010.

The funeral is expected to be on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Christchurch, Warwick.