Father killed in Contra Costa County motorcycle crash
A 41-year-old Brentwood father was killed last week in a severe Byron motorcycle accident. Authorities say that the crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. last Monday when a tractor began a left-hand turn on Byron Highway near Bruns Road.
The tractor turned in front of the father's motorcycle and he was unable to avoid colliding with the tractor. The motorcyclist hit the tractor's wheel and was thrown from his bike. He suffered catastrophic personal injuries and died at the scene of the accident.
The deceased motorcyclist was a San Jose native who was a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast. He began riding motorcycles at the age of 17, his 21-year-oldson told the Bay Area News Group.
This is one of several motorcycle accidents that we have covered on this blog in recent weeks involving drivers who failed to see motorcyclists. California motorcyclists are often at the mercy of the attentiveness of other drivers. A motorcyclist is less capable of avoiding a traffic accident than a car driver because abrupt turns can cause a motorcyclist to be thrown from his or her bike.
It is unclear why the tractor driver failed to see the motorcyclist in the Byron crash or whether authorities ticketed the tractor's driver.
The motorcyclist is survived by his son, wife, mother and two sisters.
Source: Bay Area News Group, "San Jose native killed in Byron motorcycle crash remembered as father and friend," Daniel m. Jimenez, Nov. 7, 2012
