Pine Mountain Club, CA (Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014 at 6:30 p.m.)—A thundering crash drew people from all areas of Pine Mountain Village and Lampkin Park on Saturday at about 4:40 p.m. to the intersection of Mil Potrero Highway and Pine Circle Drive—below the western corner of Pine Mountain Auto Center. A motorcycle that appears to have been heading east on the highway at a high rate of speed collided with a westbound pickup truck making a left turn into Pine Mountain Village.

The motorcycle slid beneath the truck. It appears the cyclist’s helmet collided with the side of the truck, a bystander said. The cyclist came to rest about 10 feet from the truck. Two youngsters, 12 and 13 year old, saw the crash take place. They had been skateboarding nearby. A local businessman who heard the crash ran to assist immediately, Realtor Judy Kaiser said. Many people started dialing 911, including Kaiser and Lorri Azar. The good samaritan helped clear the breathing passage for the injured man, confirmed he had a heartbeat and stabilized his head while waiting for the paramedics to arrive.

Station 58 paramedics were dispatched at 4:48 and arrived at 4:51 p.m. Onlookers said it appeared there had been a delay between the first 911 calls and dispatch’s alert to the paramedics at Station 58—which is just down the street, a quarter mile away. Station 57’s firefighters also responded from Frazier Park, as did Hall Ambulance and Hall’s Medevac helicopter. Pine Mountain Patrol controlled traffic. Hall Ambulance arrived at 5:08 p.m. They transported the cyclist to the helipad.

CHP arrived to begin an investigation of the crash scene as the cyclist was being placed in the helicopter.

Bystanders reported the cyclist said his name was ‘Greg’ and that he is 19 years old. This is not verified. He was riding a Yamaha 600 or 650, the driver for Edmonds Towing said. The driver used his motorized ramp lift to raise the back wheels of the truck so the motorcycle could be pulled out from under the pickup. The driver of the pickup is also a young man, who lives locally. He was not injured, though he was very shaken. Full details will be reported after the CHP report is final. The pickup truck was able to drive away.

The speed limit on that stretch of Mil Potrero Highway is 35 miles per hour. There is an apparent braking ‘skid’ mark along the road for about 90 feet (preliminary estimate by reporter, without official confirmation). Witnesses said the rider was laying the motorcycle down just before the collision, which could explain why the Yamaha slid directly under the truck and the rider did not appear to have been thrown airborne. We will report additional facts as available. —Patric Hedlund

This is part of the October 10, 2014 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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