Lakeside Motorcyclist Slides Under Transit Bus

A 27-year-old motorcyclist was severely injured Sunday when he failed to negotiate a turn, and slid underneath a transit bus stopped on the opposite side of the road.

The victim was identified as Julian Kratt, 27.

Kratt was riding his 2009 custom motorcycle northbound on Winter Gardens Boulevard at 3:50 p.m., when, according to witnesses, he failed to negotiate a left-hand turn in the roadway traveling about 70 mph, said Brian Pennings, a California Highway Patrol public information officer at the El Cajon office.   

"He laid the motorcycle down into the southbound lane and he was ejected and came to rest underneath a transit bus that was stopped on the west shoulder of the southbound lane," Pennings said. "He was wedged underneath the transit bus until an emergency crew could extricate him."

Pennings said Kratt was not wearing a Department of Transporation approved helmet and sustained major injuries and trauma.

He was taken by air ambulance to Sharp Memorial Hospital.

Pennings said there was no initial evidence that drugs or alcohol was involved in the accident.

The cause of the collision remains under investigation by the CHP.

-City News Service