A 35-year-old Troutman man died Thursday morning after losing control of his motorcycle on I-77 near Langtree Road, with investigators saying an apparent tire failure sent him into the path of an SUV after he was thrown from the bike. Jeffrey Tyler Robertson was pronounced dead at the scene following a crash that snarled southbound traffic for hours during the morning commute.
According to WHKY, North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers responded at approximately 6:10 a.m. Thursday to the crash on I-77 near Langtree Road, Exit 31. Troopers said Robertson was riding a 2004 Kawasaki in the southbound toll lane when he experienced what was described as an apparent tire failure, lost control, and overturned.
After Robertson separated from the motorcycle, the bike traveled through the lane attenuators and was struck by a tractor-trailer, the outlet reported. Robertson himself came to rest in the southbound toll lane, where he was struck by a 2020 Chevrolet SUV, according to the same account. As Queen City News noted, the crash was initially suspected to involve a hit-and-run driver.
Investigators Rule Out Additional Vehicles
That hit-and-run suspicion did not hold up under scrutiny. Investigators reviewed toll-lane footage, tractor-trailer dash-camera video and other sources, and those reviews produced no evidence of any additional vehicles being involved, per the WHKY report. The investigation remains ongoing, and no charges had been filed as of the time of that report.
Hours-Long Delays Across Lake Norman
The closure had a major impact on the morning commute in the Lake Norman area. The crash blocked the southbound toll lane and two general-purpose lanes on I-77, and the Charlotte Observer reported that the toll lane and two left general-purpose lanes stayed closed until about 10:30 a.m. Traffic backed up 15 miles to Troutman before conditions returned to normal by 11 a.m., according to the same report, and the southbound lanes eventually reopened after being closed for hours Thursday.
