A motorcycle passes between the base of Talus Slope and the Lewis River in Yellowstone National Park. (Yellowstone Gate file photo/Ruffin Prevost - click to enlarge)
From Staff Reports
A motorcyclist was killed late Tuesday afternoon after a head-on collision with a sport utility vehicle in Yellowstone National Park, and another was hospitalized.
James Michael Cody of Wright, Wyo., was killed after striking a sport utility vehicle that had crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic, according to a statement released Thursday by the Yellowstone public affairs office.
The incident remains under investigation, but preliminary information suggests the SUV driver may have fallen asleep momentarily, park officials said.
The incident happened just before 5 p.m. between Madison Junction and the Gibbon Falls overlook.
The SUV was traveling south and crossed the center line on the crest of a hill, entering the path of three oncoming motorcycles. Cody, who was in the lead, had no time to react and was struck and killed instantly, park officials said.
Two other riders behind Cody were able to lay their motorcycles down and avoid colliding with the SUV. A solo rider was transported to the hospital by ambulance with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. Two people on another motorcycle were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
The names of others involved in the incident were not released.
Yellowstone and its gateway communities typically see increased motorcycle traffic in the weeks immediately before and after the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D., which concluded Aug. 12.
Contact Yellowstone Gate at 307-213-9818 or info@yellowstonegate.com.