California Injury Blog
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.
Witnesses will be crucial in this accident because right now there are too many questions that remain to be answered. A complete investigation would look into how Wiggins lost control of his motorcycle. I’m sure the CHP’s traffic investigators looked into whether any other vehicles were involved in the accident. Right now, they can only determine whether or not there was a collision. But it would take an eyewitness to find out whether Wiggins was “run off the road” by someone who didn’t see him or was driving dangerously.
Very often motorcycle accidents are caused by a mechanical defect or an inherent design or product defect in the motorcycle. The rider may have also lost control of his vehicle because of a dangerous freeway condition. The answers to these different questions also hold the key to who is liable or financially responsible for the loss and damages caused by this accident.
The victim’s family would be well advised to retain the services of a skilled personal injury attorney who will look into these issues and obtain the answers for them at this difficult time. This is a huge tragedy for Mr. Wiggins’ family and friends and our hearts go out to them. He will be in our prayers. We hope investigators are able to pinpoint the cause of the crash and hold those responsible for this tragedy accountable.