Man in critical condition after freeway motorcycle crash

A man was taken to the hospital in critical condition after crashing his bike on Interstate 15, New Harmony, Utah, June 26, 2015 | Photo by Nataly Burdick, St. George News

NEW HARMONY — A man was taken to the hospital Thursday night in critical condition after crashing his motorcycle on Interstate 15, near New Harmony.

A man was taken to the hospital in critical condition after crashing his bike on Interstate 15, New Harmony, Utah, June 26, 2015 | Photo by Nataly Burdick, St. George News
A man was taken to the hospital in critical condition after crashing his bike on Interstate 15, New Harmony, Utah, June 26, 2015 | Photo by Nataly Burdick, St. George News

The 67-year-old man from Arizona was traveling northbound between mile markers 41 and 42 when he appears to have drifted off the freeway, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jake Hicks said, and landed in the median.

He seems to have been ejected off his bike and landed at some distance away from the 2011 Yamaha motorcycle, Hicks said.

The man was knocked unconscious by the crash, Hicks said, and was still unconscious when a passerby stopped after seeing the motorcycle in the median.

It took a minute or two for the person to find the man, Hicks said.

UHP received the call at about 9:38 p.m.

The man started to wake up around the time UHP troopers made it to the scene, Hicks said, but his condition was still deteriorating.

A Life Flight helicopter was called in to transport the man from the scene, but was called off when the ambulance got there and responders decided to drive him to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George instead.

Iron County Ambulance took the man to the hospital in critical condition.

The man was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, Hicks said.

A man was taken to the hospital in critical condition after crashing his bike on Interstate 15, New Harmony, Utah, June 26, 2015 | Photo by Nataly Burdick, St. George News
A man was taken to the hospital in critical condition after crashing his bike on Interstate 15, New Harmony, Utah, June 26, 2015 | Photo by Nataly Burdick, St. George News

The Yamaha was rendered inoperable from the accident, and Hicks said they check the bike for a possible malfunction, but there were no signs that a vehicle malfunction caused the crash.

There was no one traveling with him and no other vehicles were involved in the crash.

While lanes of traffic were blocked off while responders investigated and cleaned up the scene, it did not have a significant impact on traffic.

New Harmony Fire, Gold Cross Ambulance and the Utah Department of Transportation Incident Management also responded to the crash.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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5 Comments

  • laytonian June 26, 2015 at 11:40 am

    Quit using the term “elderly” which means NON-vital. He was an Arizona man.

    • anybody home June 26, 2015 at 11:48 am

      Agreed. In a different story, the person involved was simply identified as a 69-year-old.

    • St. G June 26, 2015 at 2:25 pm

      Looked for synonyms to elderly. Non-vital was not among them. Elderly feels respectful more so than old.

      • mesaman June 26, 2015 at 8:58 pm

        ST.G you must not confuse the local PC patrol for doing their job. It does seem somewhat redundant to phrase it; “an elderly 69 year old”, however.

  • tcrider June 26, 2015 at 12:47 pm

    this would of never happened if he was driving a honda.

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