The Texas Department of Transportation is reporting a spike in motorcycle crashes throughout the Valley.

According to the report, there’s been 195 motorcycle crashes in the Rio Grande Valley so far this year. Eight of those crashes were fatal, and dozens of others were left seriously injured.

The report comes as loved ones pay their final respects to a 29-year-old who died in a motorcycle crash last week in San Carlos.

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“[He] died doing what he loved,” Taylor Garcia said of her brother — Harley David Garcia. “He was leaving a good friend of ours, Gus' funeral, and he was on his wife's motorcycle and was cut off by a vehicle that could have easily seen him but maybe just didn't look twice."

Investigators with the Texas Department of Public Safety say Garcia was heading west on State Highway 107 when another driver failed to yield the right of way and slammed into Garcia, killing him.

“People think you're crazy to get on one of those, and you're asking for it,” Taylor Garcia said. “But you know, it’s just a different kind of lifestyle. People genuinely enjoy it, and that's how Harley chose to live."

Based on the TxDOT report, motorcycle crashes are on pace to exceed last years.

“In 2021, the number of motorcycle traffic crashes in the Pharr district — which includes the eight South Texas counties — totals 225,” TxDOT spokesman Ray Pedraza said. “That resulted in five motorcycle deaths."

A third of motorcycle crashes that end in deaths happen at intersections, Pedraza added.

“Pay extra attention when changing lanes,” Pedraza said. “Use your turn signal, check your side mirrors twice, and check your blind sides twice.”

The Garcia family say they hope everyone on the road will heed the warnings.

“It can happen to anybody,” Taylor Garcia said. “And people just don't pay enough attention, and you have to be very defensive as a motorcyclist on the road."