alleymon from MSN Traffic
HWY 74 at GRAND AVE Injury accident HIGH Jun 3 2005 7:27AM PDT Jun 3 2005 8:29AM PDT
LAKE ELSINORE, HWY 74 IN BOTH DIRECTIONS BETWEEN GRAND AVE AND LA PATA. INJURY ACCIDENT ….INVOLVING A DOWNED MOTORCYCLE IN LANES… ((POSSIBLE FATALITY)) …EASTBOUND LANES CLOSED UFN. 0134 TEM. (CHP) #R
from CHP Incident Page
Incident: 0134 Type: Possible Fatality Location: SR74 JWO GRAND AV Zoom Map: 865 7J Info as of: 6/3/2005 9:12:54 AM
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
9:06AM – SIGALERT CANCELED
8:42AM – PER 10 CAPO CAN LET THE TRAFFIC THRU
8:14AM – TIP IS AT CENTRAL AT JAIMESON STUCK IN TRAFFIC
8:07AM – BONNIE IS HAVING A HARD TIME GETTING THRU TRAFFIC, WB CENTRAL IN A LIME VW BUG
7:57AM – 1021 CORONER // ADV SHE IS NO LONGER STUCK IN TRFC //
7:49AM – CORONER IS STUCK IN TRFC // DEP GREY 951-906-9670 // GRAND AT 74 //
7:20AM – ALL LNS ARE SHUT DOWN AT THE SCENE // EB ORTEGA AT LA PATA IN ORCO IS SHUT DOWN AND GRAND AT ORTEGA IS SHUT DOWN //
7:15AM – PER S2 // PLS ROLL TIPS // THX
7:13AM – LINE 36
7:12AM – 1039 CT FOR SIGNS
7:12AM – ISSUE SIGALERT FOR 2 HRS PER S2
7:09AM – 26; PLS ROLL CT WITH SIGNS FOR CLOSURE // UNK DURATION AT THIS TIME // THX
7:09AM – CAPO UNIT IS 1097 AT ORTEGA AT LA PATA CLOSING DOWN THE EB LNS
7:04AM – PER THE BOSS OF TOWN/COUNTRY FB IT IS BIG ENOUGH TO HANDLE BOTH
7:03AM – 1039 TOWN/COUNTRY, ADVISING SENDING A FB THAT CAN HANDLE A VEH AND M/C
7:02AM – ROLL 1 1185 FOR AN ADD VEH THAT WAS INVOLVED //
7:01AM – SIG ALERT ISSUED ON CAD #159
6:56AM – PER TOW DRIVER – HE IS CAUGHT IN TRAFFIC AT GRAND AVE, CANNOT GET THROUGH
6:40AM – 1039 RSO TO SHUT DOWN EB TRAFFIC
6:37AM – WB TRFC TO GRAND AND UP TO GRAND ON THE NORTH SIDE REQ RSO TO COME TO XSEC AND SHUT IT DOWN // THX
6:36AM – PER RSO, THEIR SGT REQUESTING FOR CHP TO SHUT DOWN ORTEGA AT GRAND
6:35AM – 1039 TOWN AND COUNTRY
6:33AM – PLEASE CONFIRM WHAT IS EXACTLY CLOSED – FROM WHERE TO WHERE (RE:SIG ALERT)
6:30AM – PER RSO THE M/C IS 1125
6:30AM – 1039 S2
6:29AM – ENRT FM 15 AT MAIN // ROLL CORONER //
6:10AM – CN CDF – RIV
6:10AM – MC AND RIDER 1125
6:08AM – 1039 CDF
6:08AM – 1039 S2
Traffic was backed up to the first turn from Grand westbound on Ortega when I passed through. Emergency crews hadn’t arrived yet and as I passed by there were some Good Samaritans holding up a Yellow Shock Blanket shielding the person from view of passers by and attending to him in the eastbound lane. Scattered about the shoulder of the westbound lane was what remained of his grey motorcycle (a sport bike). The bike was disintegrated from the impact (which I’m guessing was head on, though I did not see an obvious second vehicle).
I guessed this poor man was driving quite fast and hit (or was hit by) someone head on, whether in his lane or perhaps drifting out of his lane I couldn’t tell. What I could see was that this was a bad one and from the reports I saw after I got to work, it was fatal.
Accidents like these are what make people believe that Ortega Highway is so “Dangerous”. But, the Highway isn’t at fault. This motorcycle rider was likely making his hundredth, or thousandth trip through. Probably a commuter and dressed in a leather riding suit designed for saving the flesh if one should slide out.
Some riders don’t seem to understand that this public road is not a race track. Race tracks are groomed, debris removed and obviously opposing traffic does not exist. Now I’ve seen many a rider blindly go round corner after corner just having faith that there’s no sand on the roadway, no fallen rocks, no stopped car, no animal… But don’t get me wrong. This rider could have been doing none of that, minding his own business and the other driver could have been at fault. That happens too… That’s why there are accident investigations.
One thing remains clear to me; It is dangerous to drive Ortega Highway because of careless drivers, not because of the road itself. The improvements planned for this roadway would not have prevented this accident. It happened in quite a wide stretch of road that had already been improved years ago. Safety improvements on the OC side will not prevent accidents of this type. In fact, more accidents could occur as a result of perceived safety on an “Improved Road”. It’s safer now, I can go faster and be more careless.
from OCRegister.com this morning
Friday, June 3, 2005
Fatal crash shuts Ortega Highway for more than two hours
The road is closed near Lake Elsinore by a motorcycle collision that kills the rider.
By RITA FREEMAN
The Orange County Register
A fatal motorcycle crash this morning shut down all lanes of Ortega (74) Highway, a key artery between south Orange County and the Inland Empire, for more than 2 1/2 hours officials said.
California Highway Patrol officers were called just after 6 a.m. to the scene of the motorcycle crash, near the Lake Elsinore end of the highway. All lanes were closed at La Pata in Orange County and at Grand Avenue in Lake Elsinore.
Other details of the crash were not immediately available. CHP officer Jim Bettencourt said all lanes on Ortega Highway reopened at 8:43 a.m.