A 78-year-old motorcyclist killed in a crash on the Ortega (74) Highway near Lake Elsinore was ejected from his bike and into a wooded area after slamming into a guardrail, authorities said Monday.
Charles Landreth of Murrieta was fatally injured about 1:35 p.m. Saturday on the eastbound 74, just west of Grand Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officer Mike Lassig said Landreth was traveling about 40 mph on the two-lane corridor aboard his 2005 Suzuki Boulevard when he entered a “sweeping curve to the left.”
“For reasons still under investigation, he failed to negotiate the curve in the roadway, causing the motorcycle to collide into the metal guardrail on the south side of the roadway,” Lassig said. “The motorcycle continued traveling eastbound while still in contact with the steel guardrail. The victim was ejected (and) came to rest in the vegetation on the south side of the guardrail.”
The Suzuki went across the westbound lane and overturned. No other vehicles were involved.
Riverside County Fire Department paramedics reached the location minutes later and pronounced Landreth dead at the scene.
Anyone with information was asked to contact the CHP Temecula office at 951-466-4300.