San Juan ( hwy 74) fatality

[soul rider]

went to shuttle San Juan and by a few minutes missed the fatal accident that happend on 11-5-06 11:30 am

came around one of the corners and i could see a white truck in the distance stopped in the middle of the highway to hold back traffic, put it this way there was still a visible cloud of dust and dirt that i could see in the air.
apparently a black car went head on into a motor cycle then went through the guard rail and ended up about 100 ft down the slope. the poor guy on the motorcycle was killed instantly and was laying on the dirt just twisted up. a group of motor bikes came to help. there was movement from one of the occupants in the car that went over the side. people were yelling for him to stop moving...well he was trying to "hide the beer cans" as one lady observed/said. another lady said " can some get a blanket...this man is dead." (i was blown away) there was no cell service so i drove up the highway to get help, while other people went back down the highway to do the same.
the guy that was driving tried to run from the scene while he left a woman and a child in the wrecked car. he was caught.
so many lives changed for the worse for no reason at all.
please be careful when on that highway.
ride free and ride safe

[Keith B]

Thats so bad. Some drunken arse not only threatens his own families life but ends a fellow 2 wheeler. I hope he gets some serious jail time to reflect on being a total shite. I would feel sorry for his wife and kid but if they knowingly get into the car with a drunk then, well.

[gurp13]

Good reality check, soul rider, thanks. That really sucks.

[Rob]

I was going to SJT at the same time. I got to the 74 entrance on the Elsinore side and they had it blocked off, this was at 12:00. They said it was going to be closed for 4 1/2 hours.

I was bored so I decided to try and climb El Cariso Truck trail. When I got there, someone gave me a lift (free shuttle ) to North Main Divide. I climbed north main divide all the way to Blue Jay Camp and then took SJT down....Then met my girlfried at the bottom...she drives that way home from work

On the way back we saw a black car being hauled back on a flatbed towards San Juan Capistrano, and also a horribly wrecked white car of some type, I couldn't even tell.

[SAR_boats]

A tragic accident. I really feel sorry for the kid in the car. He is going to grow up with his father doing 10-20 for vehicular manslaughter. And of course I feel sorry for the biker, I read in the news paper a while ago that commuter bikers and to a certain extent Motorcyclists are like the unarmed light infantry in a world of fast moving tanks.

[Stray_Bullit]

I've seen some nasty accidents while on the road. The worst was a car off on the side of the freeway with a flat tire. One guy was changing the tire while three other guys were hanging out by the trunk. A Mustang going F-A-S-T just smashed into the back of the car sending bodies all over the freeway. I SAW this happen. I was a witnessed to four people dying. Sad stuff. It is so surreal seeing bodies fly through the air and bouncing off of pavement.

[roadkillross]

yeah some messed up stuff can happen very quick;y

[MOSH1DH]

I hate that road. I have seen so many close call's doing San Juan. it's a once or twice a year ride only. We had a guy from work get hit riding his street bike. A lady turned left directly into him. he is in the icu but will be ok.

[Elitephotooc]

yeah that shits a big reality check for me...I ride ortega almost weekly on my motorcycles and have had a number of close calls. to drive in that canyon can be dangerous enough cause of all the curves and narrow roads let along trying to do it while drinking.

[Schecky]

This accident was caused by an irresponsible drunk, not the road.
This is a perfectly fine road - As long as you use it as the rural road that it is and don't use it as a FWY....

[Keith B]

Well said Schecky. It amazes me the number of peeps that dont know how to handle a twisting road. Some kid died on Live oak Canyon a month or so back. Lost control of the BMW and it plowed into a tree on the opposite side of the road and burst into flames.
Inexperienced drivers in powerful RWD cars is a recipe for disaster