Wildomar Motorcyclist Hit, Killed by Big Rig on I-15

A motorcyclist suffered a tragic death Thursday, when he was thrown from his bike and under a big rig, only to be dragged hundreds of feet under the tractor trailer.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the wreck was reported around 6:45 a.m. on the southbound side of Interstate 15, just north of Winchester Road.

The agency said the rider— identified only as a 44-year-old Wildomar man— was splitting lanes at about 45-50 mph in heavy traffic that was moving at about half the 2005 Kawasaki ZX-1’s speed.

According to CHP Officer Mike Lassig, the victim was maneuvering between the fast-lane and No. 2 lane when the driver of a BMW X5 SUV, who was identified as a Murrieta man, began merging directly in front of the motorcyclist.

“Due to the motorcyclist’s rate of speed while splitting lanes, he was unable to avoid the BMW, causing the motorcyclist to collide with the BMW’s right side,” Lassig said. “The impact from the collision caused the motorcyclist to get ejected off the Kawasaki.”

At that point, the rider was thrown into another lane of traffic, into the path of a big rig that was hauling two trailers, according to Lassig.

“The motorcycle rider landed and was caught underneath the big rig’s left rear tractor tire area and drug approximately 600’ before dislodging from the tractors left rear wheel area,” Lassig said.

Paramedics arrived minutes later and pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

Neither the 60-year-old trucker or 41-year-old SUV driver was injured.

Three traffic lanes were shut down for a CHP investigation for nearly three hours, according to Lassig.