Articles Posted in Motorcycle Accidents

17-year-old Kevin Tran died in an Anaheim motorcycle crash after being hit by a car at Orange Avenue close to West Anaheim Hospital and Beach Boulevard, according to a recent article in The Orange County Register.

Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez said Tran was wearing his helmet and riding east on Beach Boulevard when he was hit by a white Toyota Yaris sedan making a left at a signal just in front of Tran. The driver of the Yaris, a Reseda resident was reportedly driving west on Orange Avenue when he made the turn to enter a medical facility and hit Tran’s 2004 Suzuki motorcycle. The impact threw Tran a distance of 75 feet and he died later at UCI Medical Center in Orange.

I’m deeply sorry for the loss suffered by Tran’s family in this motorcycle accident – so tragic and with the young man’s entire life ahead of him.

While auto accident fatalities have been reduced in the recent years,motorcycle accident fatalities have risen, with their rates almost doubling. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has described the growing trend of motorcycle accidents as the nation’s greatest highway safety challenge.

In 2006 there were 26 motorcycle fatalities and 730 reported injuries from motorcycle accidents in Anaheim. The age group 15 to 24-years-of-age suffered the highest number of motorcyclists killed or injured over any other age group. Statistics according to the California Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) (http://www.chp.ca.gov/switrs/pdf/2006-sec7.pdf)
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A motorcyclist has died from a Friday afternoon motorcycle accident on Highway 58 at S. Union Avenue, Bakersfield that was caused by scrap metal debris on the highway.

The California Highway Patrol said a big rig hauling scrap iron was heading west on Highway 58, when pieces of metal started falling off the truck. The motorcyclist behind the big rig, according to the CHP, swerved to avoid the debris, lost control of his motorcycle and was run over by the big rig. (I don’t see how this sequence is possible, but that is what was reported).

The big rig did not stop at the scene and the CHP is looking for the truck and driver. This is all according to a report by KGET TV 17 Bakersfield on their website. Anyone having information on this accident or the identify of the truck or driver involved is asked to contact the California Highway Patrol.

More than 25,000 traffic accidents a year are caused by debris dumped or falling from vehicles in North America according to a 2004 report on vehicle-related debris by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The California State Transportation Department (CalTrans) estimates that 140,000 cubic yards of debris winds up on California’s roadways each year. Highway debris has caused 155 California traffic accident fatalities in the last two years.
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Wellington Flowers, a 50-year-old man was injured in a recent motorcycle crash near Route 1. According to a news report in The Ventura County Star.

Flowers, was just north of the Pacific Coast Highway, on Yerba Buena Road near Malibu when he hit the dirt shoulder and lost control of his bike as it rolled on its left side. The California Highway Patrol said the motorcycle accident happened in an unincorporated area. Flowers was badly injured in the motorcycle wreck with a collapsed lung and a broken collarbone and had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital.

This is a very sad and unfortunate incident for Flowers and I wish him a speedy recovery. Often, as a reader who comes across an accident of this type it is easy to assume a negligent or reckless driver was the cause. It is important to keep in mind that a number of other factors – a defect, or a pre-existing condition, or mechanical problems in the motorcycle, or even the condition of the road could have easily contributed to this wreck.
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A Pacific Coast Highway multiple auto accident last Sunday in Laguna Beach killed motorcycle rider Bruce Gold, 61, according to a report in the The Orange County Register.

Gold was headed south on Route 1 that morning when he hit a car that came across from the northbound lane near the Montage Resort Drive intersection. The unidentified male driver of the northbound car had hit another car that was waiting in a left turn lane just moments earlier. The auto crash also caused the only other injury – to the male driver.

My deepest condolences and sympathies are of course with the families of the accident victims. From the reader comments posted following the new article it is clear Gold was a much loved and respected member of his community. The comments also describe that while an official investigation is in progress and a lot of information is still needed, the statement made by Sgt. Louise Callus of the Laguna Beach Police Department is very interesting. Callus is quoted by the report saying the male driver had somehow lost control and crashed his vehicle.
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A 58-year-old Garden Grove man who was thrown from his 2003 Harley Davidson motorcycle died of trauma to his chest, The Orange County Register reports. Daniel Allen Dunn was reportedly thrown to the ground and hit his head, which was only protected by a novelty helmet, not approved by the Department of Transportation, the article said.

Dunn’s helmet was badly damaged in the accident, but the Orange County Coroner ruled that cause of death was trauma to the chest. The motorcycle accident occurred when Dunn was passing an intersection in Anaheim. He reportedly hit the north end of the raised concrete center median on the south side of the intersection. Officials say alcohol, speed or another vehicle was not involved in the accident.
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Two motorcyclists racing each other on the freeway may have caused an Orange County auto accident that killed a driver on the 241 toll road north of Portola Parkway in the early morning hours of Friday, The Orange County Register reports. The victim, identified as 46-year-old Andrew Parker of Trabuco Canyon, was reportedly rear-ended by one of the motorcyclists. Parker died on the scene, the newspaper says based on official reports from the Orange County Coroner.

Officials say the two motorcyclists were racing on the toll road when one of the riders on a Yamaha motorcycle slammed into Parker’s vehicle. The impact of the crash caused Parker to lose control and go off the road, roll over and crash into a light pole. The motorcyclist who hit Parker is also reportedly in serious condition in a local hospital with major injuries. He is said to have been thrown from his vehicle. California Highway Patrol investigators are looking for the second motorcyclist who fled the scene. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call CHP at 949-487-4000.

We hope anyone who reads this blog and saw this horrific crash is able to provide tips to investigators. This is no doubt another unnecessary death in Orange County caused by street racing. In this case they were on a freeway possibly emboldened by the fact that traffic was light. But it was no doubt a senseless act that caused the death of a man. Our hearts go out to Parker’s family.
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Here is a story that tells us how important it is to get checked out by a doctor after you have been involved in an auto accident. According to an article in the Eureka Times-Standard, a 29-year-old man who was involved in a motorcycle accident and was found dead hours after the crash, died from his accident injuries.

The article states that Lawrence Friedman was in a motorcycle accident the afternoon of April 19. Officials suspect he did not realize the extent of his injuries and decided to go out with his friends to a party Saturday night. Officials, based on witness reports and investigations, believe that Friedman collapsed in front of his home after returning from the party sometime late April 20 or early morning on April 21. He was reportedly found dead on his front lawn by a delivery person.
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A 23-year-old Orange County man was killed in a motorcycle accident after driving off a freeway overpass and falling into oncoming traffic on the 91 Freeway, The Orange County Register reports. According to the article, Kristopher Schneckenberger of Anaheim is the second motorcyclist in three weeks to be involved in such a fatal motorcycle accident.

Schneckenberger reportedly went over a concrete barrier of a freeway connecter and fell on the westbound lanes of the 91 freeway where he was run over and killed. California Highway Patrol have not been able to establish what caused the motorcyclist to drive off the overpass or lose control of his vehicle. On March 23, Mark Ramey, 22, of Moreno Valley, was also killed when he lost control of his motorcycle and flew off the freeway connector as he tried to merge from the 91 to the northbound 57 freeway.

This is no doubt a horrible tragedy for the family of this young man. It is easy to assume that the motorcyclist was speeding or being irresponsible when you read a newspaper article like this one. A lot of readers who saw this article made that assumption, as is evident from their comments on the Register’s Web site.
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Two people died after a deadly motorcycle accident in Valley Center, San Diego, after the motorcycle they were riding on was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Officials have identified the two deceased as Lisa Marrazzo, 24, of Murrieta and Andrew Buchanan Gardenhire, 23, of Ramona.

Channel 10 News reported that Gardenhire, who was piloting the Honda CVR Ninja-style motorcycle at more than 100 miles an hour, veered into the path of an oncoming Toyota Corolla near Mac Tan Road. Both Marrazzo and Gardenhire reportedly died on the scene. Both were also wearing helmets, but that apparently did not help because of the crash’s impact. The motorcycle completely disintegrated and the Corolla was also totaled, the TV station reports.
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California Highway Patrol officials in San Andreas are still looking for witnesses to a fatal motorcycle accident that occurred there, according to a news report in the Amador Ledger-Dispatch newspaper. The body of 61-year-old Earl Wiggins, along with his Harley, were found at the bottom of a steep embankment by his family members and friends Tuesday. Officials believe the motorcycle accident must have happened three days before Wiggins was found.

All they have right now is some accident reconstruction and preliminary investigation reports. According to officials, Wiggins was traveling eastbound on his 1997 Harley Davidson on Murphys Grade Road in San Andreas when he failed to negotiate a curve on the road and ran off the edge, the article stated. Wiggins is reportedly the third traffic fatality in the CHP’s San Andreas area, but the first motorcycle fatality. Last year, the San Andreas CHP investigated five motorcycle fatalities, the newspaper reported.
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