26 motorbikes, two cars pile up in Oregon, US

Saturday, September 19, 2009

26 motorcycles and two cars have piled up on the Interstate 5 road in Oregon, United States. Two bikers have been critically injured.

The crash occurred near the Baldock Rest Area, which is just south of Wilsonville, at 2:45 p.m. Friday. The group of motorbikes, belonging to members of the Brother Speed club, was in the left (fast) lane behind one of the cars when traffic slowed down. Despite attempts to take evasive action, the bikes and car collided. The second car was hit by a motorbike that veered into the middle lane.

	There were bikes and people and gear flying
—eyewitness

The bikes were in a formation of two columns — standard for large motorbike parties. According to eyewitness Terry Scott, a silver SUV suddenly slammed on its brakes and while the leading two bikers managed to swerve out of the way, the rest were caught up in a chain reaction. "There were bikes and people and gear flying," said Scott, who had been driving with his girlfriend behind the bikes.

The crash scene was "ordered mayhem" according to Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue's captain Mike Towner. "Firefighters from Aurora and Canby were providing medical care to injured bikers as non-injured bikers tried to assist," he said.

A LifeFlight air ambulance took two bikers to hospital and eight more were taken away by ambulances. Some bikers suffered from broken bones as well as shoulder and hip injuries. KPTV quotes the club's website as saying that they are "serious about brotherhood, respect, riding fast and building Choppers."

The accident was responded to by paramedics and firefighters from various locations, including Canby, St. Paul, Woodburn and those from the multi-city Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue. The entire road was closed northbound until 4 p.m., when one lane was reopened. Investigators kept the other lanes closed until 6 p.m.

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Sources

"2 dozen motorcycles crash on I-5 in Ore." — Associated Press, September 19, 2009
"26 Motorcycles Crash On I-5 Near Wilsonville" — KPTV, September 18, 2009
"10 injured, two critically in multiple-motorcycle crash" — KVAL, September 18, 2009

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Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.