A 56-year-old motorcyclist was killed in an accident Sunday morning that involved five vehicles on Interstate Highway 80 near Carlson Boulevard in Richmond, according to the California Highway Patrol.
At about 11:40 a.m., CHP responded to the scene and found the motorcyclist, identified as John Darke of Pinole, down in the westbound lanes of the highway. He was airlifted to a hospital and later died from his injuries, CHP said.
A preliminary investigation indicates that Darke had been splitting lanes in his motorcycle at about 70 miles per hour just before the crash, according to a description of events by the CHP.
“Traffic ahead was braking hard as the vehicles were rounding the slight curve in the roadway over Carlson Boulevard,” the CHP said. “The motorcycle rider locked up his brakes and lost control to the right where it sideswiped a Nissan Armada SUV that was traveling in the No. 2 lane. The rider then bounced back to the left where the motorcycle collided with the right sideview mirror of a Toyota Prius that was traveling in the No. 1 lane. He then went back to the right, striking a Nissan Rogue, and then back to the left, colliding with the right rear of a Mercedes sedan. The rider and the motorcycle (Harley Davidson) went down, with the rider coming to rest on the broken white line separating the No. 1 and No. 2 lanes and the motorcycle coming to rest in the No. 2 lane.”
