A motorcyclist was rushed to the hospital in critical condition Monday afternoon after colliding with a Honda sedan at the intersection of Hazel Avenue and Greenback Lane in Orangevale, according to the California Highway Patrol. The crash happened just before 1 p.m. and forced the closure of lanes in the area for roughly an hour before traffic reopened around 2 p.m.
CHP has not released the cause of the crash, nor any details about the motorcycle rider or the driver of the sedan involved, as reported by CBS Sacramento. The rider's condition remains critical, and it is not yet known what led to the collision.
A Stretch Of Road With A Troubled Recent History
Monday's crash is the latest in a string of serious incidents along this corridor. Just five days earlier, on September 30, a multi-vehicle rollover at the same intersection of Hazel Avenue and Greenback Lane injured one person, according to Citizen. The repeat incidents at this junction raise safety concerns.
The broader Hazel Avenue corridor has seen a run of severe crashes in recent weeks. On September 14, a driver died after their vehicle overturned and caught fire on the Hazel Avenue bridge over the American River, a crash that also left two California Highway Patrol officers with minor injuries during the rescue attempt, per KCRA 3. Hoodline covered that fiery bridge crash at the time. Six days before that, on September 8, a fatal crash near Folsom Boulevard and Highway 50 was reported by KCRA 3 — a collision Hoodline detailed in coverage of a fatal Camry crash near the highway. Orangevale itself also saw a dramatic collision in mid-September, when a Mustang slammed into a building near Greenback Lane and Main Avenue in a crash Hoodline reported involved a driver fleeing on foot.
County-Wide Numbers Paint A Dangerous Picture
State crash data underscore why intersections like Hazel and Greenback draw scrutiny. According to 2023 rankings from the California Office of Traffic Safety, the City of Sacramento recorded 154 fatal and injury motorcycle collisions that year, placing it fifth-worst among 15 comparable large California counties. The same rankings placed the City of Sacramento second-worst out of those 15 counties for total fatal and injury traffic crash victims, with 4,214 recorded that year.
Motorcyclists face particular risk at surface-street intersections statewide. Research cited by the Sargent Law Firm notes that broadside collisions and left-turn conflicts are the single most common mechanism behind severe and fatal motorcycle crashes in California, a dynamic tied to limited sight lines at busy junctions. Under California Vehicle Code Section 21801, a driver making a left turn or U-turn across oncoming traffic must yield the right-of-way to any approaching vehicle close enough to pose an immediate hazard, according to a summary from ClerkHero — a statute investigators often examine in sedan-motorcycle crashes, though no determination about the cause of Monday's collision has been made public.
Motorcycle crashes remain a safety concern statewide. Nearby, Greenback Lane and Sunrise Boulevard intersect in Citrus Heights.
Sacramento County has invested heavily in the Hazel Avenue corridor in recent years. A 15-year, $60 million multi-phase improvement project, completed in 2023 and funded largely through Measure A, expanded Hazel Avenue from four to six lanes between Highway 50 and Madison Avenue to ease regional congestion, according to the Sacramento Transportation Authority. Despite that work, Monday's crash shows the corridor remains a flashpoint for serious collisions. CHP's investigation into the cause of the Hazel and Greenback crash continues, and the rider was in critical condition.
