29-year-old Olympia motorcyclist dies in I-5 crash Friday
UPDATE: Washington State Patrol investigated this incident as a possible hit-and-run Friday, but determined later that the motorcycle rider struck a semi and that the same truck struck the rider. A tweet from Trooper Ryan Burke Friday evening said there was not a second truck that fled the scene. This story has been edited to reflect that.
A 29-year-old Olympia motorcyclist died Friday in a collision with a semi-trailer that ejected him from his bike on northbound Interstate 5 south of Tumwater.
Initial reports suggested just one semi was involved, then after additional investigation the Washington State Patrol believed the biker was actually hit by a second semi, according to Trooper Ryan Burke. WSP abandoned that theory Friday evening, with Burke tweeting that the motorcycle rider struck a semi and that the same truck struck the rider. A second truck was not involved.
The semi had been driving in the far right lane of I-5 just before 10:30 a.m. at Maytown Road Southwest, according to Burke, when the motorcyclist crossed the gore point (the triangle zone with white lines) from the far side of the Maytown ramp. Troopers believe the motorcyclist lost control due to either oil on the road or the bank of the ramp.
At 12:45 p.m., Burke tweeted that the case had evolved into a felony hit-and-run investigation.
Witness accounts indicated that a second semi had run over the rider after he was ejected from his motorcycle, Burke told The Olympian in a phone call. Detectives were dispatched to the scene.
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 12:09 PM.
.jpg)