LEEDS, AL. (THECOUNT) — Toye Kyle Jackson, an Odenville man, was killed Thursday afternoon after the motorcycle he was operating collided with a vehicle in Leeds, Alabama. He was 26.
The crash occurred on March 5, 2026, in the 7200 block of Elliot Lane in Leeds, according to the Leeds Police Department. The make and model of the motorcycle and the other vehicle involved have not been publicly released. The identity of the other vehicle’s driver has not been disclosed, and no charges have been announced as of the time of publication. The Leeds Police Department is investigating the circumstances surrounding the collision.
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Jackson was a resident of Odenville, a small city in St. Clair County, Alabama, located approximately 25 miles east of Birmingham. Leeds is a city straddling Jefferson and St. Clair counties, situated along U.S. Highway 20 and Interstate 20 approximately 15 miles east of downtown Birmingham in north-central Alabama. The two communities are neighbors in the eastern Birmingham metropolitan area, one of the most populated regions in the state. Birmingham is Alabama’s largest city and serves as the economic and cultural hub of the northern half of the state.
Elliot Lane is a residential corridor in Leeds, running through a mixed suburban and rural area typical of the communities east of Birmingham. The stretch of road where the crash occurred is not a designated high-speed thoroughfare, though the Leeds Police Department has not yet released details on the speed or direction of travel of either vehicle involved.
Jackson’s death is the latest in a troubling pattern of motorcycle fatalities across Alabama. According to the Alabama Department of Transportation, motorcycle accidents rebounded to historically high levels in 2022 following a brief dip during 2020 and 2021. A 2025 report by the TRIP transportation research group found that there were 6,228 motorcyclist fatalities nationally in 2024, a 24 percent increase from 2019. The fatality rate per 100 million miles of travel for motorcyclists is approximately 29 times higher than for passenger car occupants, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Alabama requires all motorcycle riders to wear helmets under state law, one of a minority of states with a universal helmet requirement. According to a 2025 study, states with comprehensive helmet laws report over 85 percent helmet use in fatal crashes. It has not been confirmed whether Jackson was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.
Alabama is also one of only a handful of states that does not require motorcycle operators to pass a skills test to obtain a license — only a written exam is required, according to the Alabama Traffic Safety Center at the University of Montevallo. Safety experts have long cited this as a contributing factor to the state’s motorcycle fatality rate. Alabama ranks among the top 15 most dangerous states for motorcyclists, according to data compiled by QuoteWizard using National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures.
Multi-vehicle motorcycle crashes, such as the one that claimed Jackson’s life, are particularly dangerous due to the lack of physical protection afforded to motorcycle riders. In collisions involving another vehicle, motorcyclists are disproportionately likely to sustain fatal injuries. According to the NHTSA, motorcycles represent just three percent of all registered vehicles in the United States but account for approximately 14 percent of all traffic fatalities nationally.
Anyone with information about the crash on Elliot Lane is encouraged to contact the Leeds Police Department.
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