Motorcycle Accidents

Weekend warriors, the growing number of leather-clad motorcycle lovers who fire up their high-performance bikes around Memorial Day and take to California's scenic roads, are increasingly falling victim to deadly accidents caused in large part by risky riding. Shane Matthews, weekend crew chief of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department's air rescue squad, knows the dangers of the highway firsthand.

An active-duty Navy member was riding his Honda CBR600 sport bike near Barrett Lake last week when he added 30 mph to the 55-mph speed limit, locked up his brakes and skidded through a turn, losing control of his motorcycle, according to the California Highway Patrol in El Cajon. The rider's body was found 140 feet down an embankment, his bike 75 feet away, the CHP said.

A 27-year-old Pomona man died Saturday when the motorcycle he was riding went down in the Orange Crush freeway interchange. Authorities did not release his name. The 10 a.m. accident occurred in the transition lanes of the southbound Orange Freeway to the westbound Garden Grove Freeway, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said. No other vehicles were involved, he said.

A 42-year-old motorcyclist was killed Thursday when he collided with a Lexus as it made a left turn. Police did not release his name, pending notification of relatives. The accident occurred about 8 p.m., authorities said, as the motorcycle traveled west on Orangethorpe Street approaching Gilbert Street. The motorcyclist died at the scene. The cause of the accident is under investigation, authorities said.

A 13-year-old boy was killed when the dirt bike he was riding hit a gate in the hills north of Simi Valley, authorities said. Jake Lukas of Simi Valley was unable to stop his motorcycle Sunday before it ran into the cable-type gate across a dirt road on private property north of Walnut Street, officers said. Jake, a student at Valley View Middle School, had blunt-force injuries to his neck and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

A jury ordered a Taiwanese shipping firm to pay $17.7 million to a motorcyclist severely injured when the wife of the company's U.S. president struck the bike with a company car. Wen-Ting Tai, who was driving a Wan Hai Lines Ltd. company car, turned into the motorcycle's path Oct. 23, 2004, four days after she flunked the California driving test. A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury deliberated two days before deciding Thursday on the $18.6-million award.

Diego Corrales' lack of street motorcycle riding experience and his decision to speed on surface roads were identified Tuesday as the probable causes of the fatal crash that killed the former two-division boxing champion Monday, Las Vegas Police said. Corrales, 29, was riding a 2007 Suzuki motorcycle about 10 miles from the Las Vegas Strip, having just left an apartment complex where he had met with friends. He was heading to his home a few minutes away, said his co-promoter, Antonio Leonard.

A Paramount man died when he lost control of his motorcycle on a city street and crashed, authorities said Saturday. David N. Burton, 37, died Friday at a hospital after the 9:45 p.m. crash, an Orange County coroner's office spokesman said.

A man riding a motorcycle was killed Thursday after hitting a sports car and a tractor-trailer, authorities said. Brandon Garcia, 23, of Irvine was switching lanes heading south on Beach Boulevard about 7:45 a.m. His handlebar struck the tractor-trailer and he veered into a Mercedes-Benz, witnesses told police. The motorcycle bounced off the car back toward the tractor-trailer, which ran over the man. He died at the scene.

A speeding motorcyclist was killed early Monday when he drove over an embankment of the 405 Freeway in Van Nuys moments after failing to heed commands from Los Angeles police to pull over for a suspected traffic violation, authorities said. John Samuel, 23, of Encino was driving about 1:30 a.m. on the freeway just south of Victory Boulevard when the bike left the roadway, authorities said. "Samuel was ejected from the motorcycle and he sustained fatal injuries," CHP Officer Miguel Luevano said.