A motorcyclist died Wednesday after a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 44 in Oklahoma City, with the rider's body thrown clear across the highway into oncoming traffic. The wreck happened in the westbound lanes between Pennsylvania Avenue and May Avenue, snarling the morning commute and forcing drivers to squeeze through a single open lane.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol officials said the motorcyclist was involved in a crash in the westbound lanes of I-44, according to KOCO. Troopers reported that the impact was severe enough to throw the rider's body into the eastbound lanes, on the opposite side of the highway from where the crash occurred.
It's also unclear how many vehicles were involved or exactly when the collision happened Wednesday, details that have not been made public as of this writing.
Traffic Backed Up as Lane Reduced
Traffic was reduced to a single lane in the area. Motorists were urged to find an alternate route, per the same account.
North Oklahoma City drivers navigating I-44 near Pennsylvania and May avenues Wednesday likely felt the ripple effects for hours, a familiar scenario on a stretch of interstate that has seen fatal motorcycle crashes before.
A Similar Deadly Crash Struck Southwest OKC
Interstate 44 in Oklahoma City has proven dangerous for motorcyclists in other multi-vehicle pileups. In a separate incident, Oklahoma Highway Patrol identified Brian Dotson as the man killed in a multi-vehicle crash on I-44 near Southwest 15th Street, according to news9.com. Troopers said in that case that another vehicle rear-ended Dotson's vehicle, pushing it into the vehicle ahead and setting off a chain reaction, and that a fifth vehicle later slammed into the rear of the vehicle that struck him. “Troopers say Dotson died at the scene,” news9.com reported.
It has not been established whether Wednesday's I-44 crash shares any connection to that earlier Southwest Oklahoma City wreck, and no such link has been confirmed. What is clear is that, once again, a motorcyclist did not survive a multi-vehicle crash on one of the city's busiest interstates.
No further details about Wednesday's victim or the cause of the crash had been released as investigators continued working the scene.
