VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A motorcycle accident involving an alligator might seem like a scene from a movie, but it was a real and startling incident in Central Florida.
Cameron Gilmore, one of the riders involved, spoke to News 6 from his hospital bed about the frightening crash.
Footage shows the moment Gilmore and another motorcyclist struck an alligator while riding on Interstate 4 (I-4) in Volusia County. The accident happened Saturday near Orange City, as a group of motorcyclists rode together. Two of them ended up hitting the animal.
One rider has already been released from the hospital, but Gilmore remains in recovery and faces a longer road ahead.
“I’m blessed, I was protected,” Gilmore said.
He sustained painful road rash and broke several bones in his foot, but says things could have been much worse.
“I just remember one of my friends swerving, and I’m looking at him swerving, and the gator’s like 10 feet in front of me,” he said.
The video shows the alligator lying across the middle lanes of I-4 as the motorcyclists head toward Sanford. At first, Gilmore thought it was road debris—possibly a piece of a blown truck tire.
“One friend said he looked in his mirror, and when he passed the gator, he saw me hit it, go up in the air, and flip over the handlebars. I hit head first and rolled,” Gilmore recounted.
He also slammed into a tree during the crash.
“They wouldn’t let me up to look, and they wouldn’t let me see the young lady who had wrecked behind me,”Gilmore continued. “They said, ‘You hit an alligator,’ and I was like, ‘What!’”
The woman who also collided with the alligator suffered only minor injuries and has since returned home. Gilmore believes the gear he was wearing made all the difference.
“I had motorcycle pants, a jacket, a really good helmet, and gloves and boots,” he said.
The alligator did survive the impact but was injured. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission responded to the scene and safely captured the animal.
*News derived from News 6 in June 2025
