A San Bernardino County man taking a group motorcycle ride with two companions died Wednesday in a collision with an oncoming car that veered into their path on state Route 76 near Pauma Valley Country Club.
The crash occurred shortly before 12:30 p.m., when the 18-year-old driver of an eastbound 2006 Honda Civic allowed the vehicle to drift to the right off the two-lane rural roadway just east of Cole Grade Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Finding herself driving on the gravel shoulder of the state route, the young woman over-corrected, sending the car across the highway and into the westbound lane in front of the approaching motorcycles, CHP public-affairs Officer Jim Bettencourt said.
Two of the riders were able to steer clear of the car, but the third hit it broadside. The rider, a 78-year-old Rialto resident, died at the scene of the accident. His name was withheld pending family notification.
One of the other motorcyclists lost control of his 2014 Harley-Davidson and tumbled to the ground, suffering moderately serious injuries.
A 20-year-old male passenger in the Honda sustained unspecified life- threatening injuries, Bettencourt said. The motorist, a Temecula resident, was left with a broken arm.
Medics took the three injured people to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido.
The cause of the wreck was under investigation.
–City News Service