Ortega may have struck again.........

[SoCalFJR]

Possible Fatality - 74 (Ortega Hwy) Just West of Lookout   1:45 PM
* Unknown If Any Other Vehicles Involved   1:46 PM
* Other Mc Riders Also Walking Around   1:46 PM
* Message/Item Delivered Cdfriv   1:48 PM
* Per Dupe Log, 2 Mi Just West of Grand, 3 Mc S Down Traffic Hazard   1:48 PM
* Transferred California Department of Forestry Riv   1:50 PM
* Rso Just Went 97 Near the Lookout   1:59 PM
* Message/Item Delivered Town and Country with Flt Bed   1:59 PM
* Per Rso; All Lanes on Ortega Are Shutdown   2:06 PM
* Town and Country Back On Top   2:07 PM
* Message/Item Delivered Steves   2:09 PM
* Issue Sigalert, Ortega at Lookout for Fatal Accident   2:14 PM
* 115-10 3 Mc S Involved D and Everything in Blocked   2:20 PM
* CHP Unit on Scene   2:25 PM
* CHP Unit on Scene   2:33 PM
* Routed to Itc1, Itc3 // Please Start for Hard Closure   2:35 PM
* 115-16 // Will Need 2nd Unit to Relieve Rso Grand 74 // or Caltrans for a Hard Closure   2:35 PM
* Rso; Inquire If Unit Available for Traffic Control ; Ortega at Grand   2:41 PM
* CHP Unit Enroute   2:41 PM
* Thomas Guide Map Coordinates: 865 7F   

Sigalert

[rgbeard]

That sucks.

I've done that road over 1,000 times and now that I've moved a bit South, don't miss it a bit.

Sorry it may have claimed a rider's life.

 

[SVTNate]

I think we discuss Ortega on this forum every few months.  It's become a very dangerous road for motorcyclists.

I gave it up and ride Highway 2/Angeles Crest almost exclusively now - on weekdays only.  

Ortega is the closest road worth riding for me, and it's a shame.  But, it's just too busy with commuter traffic.

[SoCalFJR]

Motorcyclist killed along Ortega Highway
BY RICHARD BROOKS STAFF WRITER rbrooks@pe.com
Published: 03 October 2011 08:48 AM


A 39-year-old Anaheim man was killed Sunday when he crashed his motorcycle at high speed along the Ortega Highway in the hills above Lake Elsinore, coroner’s officials say.
William James Kaucky died at the scene of the 3:45 p.m. wreck about 2-1/2 miles west of Grand Avenue.




(supposedly his buddy was behind him when he hit the embankment and ran over him)  SoCalFJR

[Rogue]

The jobs are all mostly in Orange County, while there are still tons of people who live in the Riverside County.  Many use Ortega to connect their commute.  I know of at least six people where I work who do this.  Even on weekends, like a Saturday morning around 7:30AM, the westbound lane is chockfull of vehicles all lined up in a row.  

It's a beautiful road otherwise.  

[Giaka]

I commute on it almost every day. If you want to ride the Ortega on the weekdays best do it at certain hours because its LOADED with commuters in the morning and afternoons. I think these guys crashed on Sunday though. One accident and three bikes down. Update below.  

I darn near t-boned a guy on a cruiser on Friday after work. I was coming home in the fiesta (had to pick up daughter) and there was some activity at Hells Kitchen. Two cruiser riders rode past HK and pulled over to the right by the fire station. One immediately swung a U-Turn from the right shoulder across both lanes on to the opposite shoulder. He didn't even look in his rear view (if he even had mirrors on the POS). So I slowed down a little thinking his asshat of a riding buddy was going to to the same thing and wouldn't you know it. All he did was look at the oncoming traffic and not in his mirror. He whipped out in front of me to execute his U turn and the Fiesta got its first ABS check. I laid on the horn and he almost dropped his bike but somehow managed to flip me off. I love pirates, biggest bunch of fuck-sticks on the road.

http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/lake-elsinore/lake-elsinore-headlines-index/20111003-lake-elsinore-more-details-in-fatal-motorcycle-crash.ece


BY SARAH BURGE


sburge@pe.com

A chain-reaction crash that killed a 39-year-old and injured another on a winding, mountainous stretch of Highway 74 west of Lake Elsinore Sunday involved three motorcycles and began when one of them ran off the road, authorities said Monday.

William James Kaucky, of Anaheim, was riding east about 1:45 p.m. on a 2009 Kawasaki motorcycle when he drove off the south side of the road and struck a rocky embankment, a California Highway Patrol news release said. The impact threw him off the bike into the eastbound lane where he was hit by another motorcycle, a 2007 Suzuki , driven by a 44-year-old Riverside man. The Riverside man was also thrown from his motorcycle onto the road.

A third motorcyclist, riding a 2011 Honda, managed to brake and lay down his motorcycle when he came upon the crash, the release said.

Kaucky died at the scene. The Riverside man was taken to Inland Valley Regional Medical Center in Wildomar with major injuries. No update on his condition was available Monday.

The 22-year-old was treated at the scene for abrasions.

[Max Wedge]

 
" managed to brake and lay down his motorcycle when he came upon the crash"

So he saw the crash and decided to crash too.  

[Rogue]

Very said.  A single vehicle accident that turned into a cluster fook.

This is why I do NOT use Ortega to ride fast.  I only "pass" through it on my way to lesser travelled roads.

[Giaka]

Yesterday on the way home I was checking the road from about 4 miles west of Grand. At one point about 3 miles up there is a single long skid mark (50+ feet) right into the rocky vertical hillside. Impact was probably 45 degrees to the rock wall. Although this is the "fast" section mainly made of sweepers the area where the skid mark was is a very narrow part of the road with a vertical rock wall on the right and a guardrail and cliff on the left (when east bound). There is very little room for error.