Posted on Tue, Aug. 30, 2005
Motorcyclist killed in crash on Highway 1
A man died Monday after colliding with a motor home near Arroyo de la Cruz, north of Piedras Blancas Lighthouse
By Kathe Tanner
The Tribune
A motorcyclist died in a collision with a motor home just before 3 p.m. Monday on a twisting, hilly section of Highway 1 near Arroyo de la Cruz, about three miles north of the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse.
The motorcycle rider was headed northbound and apparently tried to illegally pass another vehicle, according to state parks rangers who were first to arrive at the scene. He hit the side of a southbound rental recreational vehicle carrying a German family, none of whom suffered serious injury.
The cyclist was a resident of Vista, north of San Diego. The CHP won't release the motorcyclist's name until they can inform his family of his death.
"He tried to make a clear, wide turn around another vehicle," said Terese Zilke, security superintendent for Hearst Castle and the San Luis Coast District of state parks. "Fortunately, the children in the motorhome were in the back of the vehicle and didn't see what happened."
The accident happened at a particularly dangerous spot, Zilke said, a low point in the middle of a set of "S" curves that drape over the hilly, oceanside terrain.
County sheriff's deputies and investigators responded to the accident, along with CDF/County Fire, Cambria Healthcare District's ambulance crew and other agencies.
Traffic on the scenic road was blocked for hours.
Vehicles backed up for a half mile or more on either end. State parks rangers at the ends of the line notified people one car at a time that the wait was apt to be lengthy.
Many drivers opted to turn around.
The road was reopened to traffic in both directions just before 6 p.m., after being closed for more than two hours, the CHP reported.
The crash was the 17th fatal accident on San Luis Obispo County roads since July 1. Twenty-one people have died in those wrecks, including a woman who died when her car went off Highway 1 in Cayucos on
Aug. 22.
Topic: Motorcyclist takes himself out with illegal pass/CA (Read 2053 times)