Motorcycle Accidents

A man accused of being drunk and at the wheel of a car that slammed into a motorcycle, killing the driver, will go on trial Monday for murder, authorities said. If convicted, Jonathan Barber, 28, could get a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison for the 2003 incident. Prosecutors said he was driving 100 mph on Irvine Boulevard when his car struck Carla Olsen's motorcycle, killing her. Police said he was driving on a suspended license and fled the scene. Olsen, 43, was a mother of

A Suisun City motorcyclist was found alive nearly two days after he ran off Highway 12 while returning from a visit with his mother. Fredrick Hinds, 46, suffered two broken legs, cuts and bruises Monday night when his motorcycle hit a rock and ended up in a patch of tule reeds along Denverton Slough near Rio Vista. After searches by the highway patrol and law enforcement failed to find him, his employer, M&M Sanitary, hired a helicopter and pilot to continue the search.

It's about time. After 26 years, a major new motorcycle crash study is poised to begin. Since 1981, when the famed Hurt Study issued its findings on the causes of motorcycle accidents, a lot has changed. Almost 11 million street bikes have been sold in the U.S. Not only has the size of the rider population grown to 6.6 million, but so has the average motorcycle size. In 1990, just 40% of motorcycles were larger than 749 cc; that percentage has since doubled.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.