Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
CEDAR CITY — A 60-year-old motorcyclist died Friday afternoon after a tree fell and hit the rider in the head, according to Utah Highway Patrol.
Two motorcyclists were riding single file eastbound on state Route 14 near Cedar Canyon about 3:52 p.m. when a quaking aspen tree fell from the south side of the road and struck the first rider on the head, Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Colton Freckleton said.
The impact knocked the man off his bike and he rolled about 100 feet. He suffered serious trauma and was pronounced dead on the scene.
"Nearly 90% of crashes are human error, this is definitely not that type of situation. A tree fell down at the right timing and hit someone right in a bad spot," Freckleton said. "It is very tragic."
The second motorcyclist slowed down before hitting the tree and he didn't suffer serious injuries. However, the bike was disabled in the impact.
Traffic was slowed for about three hours while authorities worked to clear the scene Friday.
Contributing: Emerson Oligschlaeger, KSL TV
