Fatal Motorcycle Accident on SR 108 (Sonora Pass)

California Highway Patrol
Bridgeport Office
Press Release

On Thursday, September 11, 2014, at approximately 1:10 P.M., California Highway Patrol (CHP) Bishop Communications Center received a report of a motorcycle collision involving injuries to the rider on State Route 108 (SR-108), two miles west of United States Highway 395 (US-395). Two CHP officers, one sergeant and the lieutenant from the CHP Bridgeport Area office responded to the collision location and initiated an investigation into the cause of the incident. Personnel from the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center Fire Department, Mono County Sheriff's Department, California Department of Transportation and Mono County EMS Medic Seven assisted at the scene.

The preliminary investigation indicates the rider was driving a white, 2011, Can Am Spyder three-wheel motorcycle westbound on SR-108 exceeding the 55 mile per hour maximum speed limit for a two-lane roadway and failed to negotiate a left curve in the road. The motorcycle moved off the right side of the roadway, onto a dirt shoulder and up an embankment. As the motorcycle traveled back down the embankment it hit a dirt mound and became airborne, ejecting the rider from the motorcycle. Preliminary indications are the driver did not have his helmet properly secured and the helmet came off at some point during the collision. The driver of the motorcycle was pronounced deceased at the scene of the collision.

The collision remains under investigation. The Mono County Sheriff-Coroner's Department will determine the rider's cause of death. Public release of the rider's name is being withheld pending notification of next-of-kin. - CHP