Coroner identifies motorcyclist killed in U.S. Highway one hundred one collision
by Bay City News Service / Palo Alto Weekly
32 comments. See comments.
A motorcyclist who died in a collision with a pickup truck on U.S. Highway one hundred one in Palo Alto Saturday night has been identified as 47-year-old Anthony McMahon, according to the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office.
McMahon was reportedly seen splitting lanes on northbound Highway one hundred one north of Embarcadero Road and collided into a truck, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Art Montiel.
At about 8:40 p.m., officers responded to the fatal collision and quickly closed numerous lanes as they conducted an investigation, which prompted a Sig-alert that was issued around nine p.m. and canceled at 12:50 a.m. Sunday.
The motorcyclist, a Daly City resident, went down inbetween the far two left lanes and was pronounced dead at the scene, Montiel said.
Officers suspected the motorcyclist, who wasn’t wearing a helmet, was under the influence at the time of the collision, Montiel said.
The other driver, a 40-year-old Burlingame woman, didn’t emerge to be intoxicated. She and two other adult passengers in a silver two thousand fourteen Dodge Ram one thousand five hundred pickup truck weren’t injured, according to Montiel.
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a resident of Midtown
on May 20, two thousand seventeen at Ten:54 pm
Merging onto one hundred one North of Embarcadero is dangerous. The construction of the bridge, over the creek and the merge lane has proved fatal also. Drivers will not yield that are on one hundred one North . There is no where to go but into the makeshift cement barrier. Not good when one is traveling on a motorbike. I must say California has some of the worst drivers,or should I say transplants to California are some of the worst drivers.
a resident of Midtown
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at 1:15 am
I was traveling in the Same direction as the motorbike I spotted him railing erratically I’m not sure but I thought I witnessed him without a helmet
I eyed the Bike and his assets tumbling
I had a feeling he was going to wreck.
a resident of Crescent Park
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at 7:56 am
The bike path construction directly or indirectly linked with several fatalities, including this and the thanksgiving shopping one a few years ago. Not to mention the cost and inconvenience to tax payers.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at 8:52 am
That merge NB is dangerous.
a resident of East Palo Alto
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at 11:04 am
Reporting that the officers “suspected” the motorcyclist was under the influence is reporting gossip. If this is subsequently confirmed, it is certainly valid to report at that point, but not until then. Someone just lost their life, please don’t gossip until you know the truth.
a resident of Downtown North
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at 11:22 am
I was driving across the east bay with my spouse yesterday and a motorcyclist almost got hit by a car and got indeed angry with the driver. Motorcycles are so dangerous and if they crash on the freeway the odds aren’t good. Even if they get through an accident on the freeway, the injuries are often truly bad and often life altering. I know motorcyclists love the freedom, the speed and the lost cost of railing, but it’s not worth it. A motorcyclist against a 2-ton chunk of metal moving at sixty mph isn’t going to end well. Every week, there is a story in the paper about a motorcyclist dying on a bay area freeway. It’s not worth it.
a resident of Leland Manor/Garland Drive
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at 1:45 pm
“Every week, there is a story in the paper about a motorcyclist dying on a bay area freeway. It’s not worth it. “
a resident of Barron Park
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at 1:48 pm
i’m always amazed how aggressively many bikers drive. You would think they would use more common sense given they have no margin for error. Many times I’ve been buzzed by a lane splitter out of nowhere. Not sure how I’m supposed to see these people my concentrate predominately on what is going on in front of me.
a resident of Midtown
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at Two:01 pm
has gone downhill beginning with the dot.com boom of 97′.
Stop texting while driving. It is worse than toasted driving!! R.I.P.
a resident of Crescent Park
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at Four:16 pm
a resident of Midtown
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at 7:32 pm
@ Crescent Park Dad
or die due to this constant construction. Honestly, this is the main reason why a lot of folks do not want the fresh bike bridge that will be constructed in inbetween Oregon Expressway and San Antonio. It is not the bridge itself, it is the accidents and subsequent delay that will ensue. We have had delays in this area ever since the construction of highway 85.
a resident of University South
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at 7:43 pm
HWY101 through the area should be closed until the construction is done. Construction should be continuous 27/7/365 to get it done quicker.
a resident of Midtown
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at 8:26 pm
It is not possible to do work on the bridge in the winter due to high water volume through the creek. There is also an envirnmental issue with the harvest mouse and the clapper rail. How a relatively puny group of environmentalist could hold this project (and others) hostage is beyond me.
a resident of St. Claire Gardens
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at 8:56 pm
That creek project has claimed at least three motorcyclists lives now.
Why is it being spread over years? Get it done!
The most pathetic and dangerous construction project I’ve seen on a major artery. It’s not brain surgery. Get out there and work. That combined with aggressive lane splitters on motorcycles are a deadly combo. [Portion liquidated.]
a resident of Midtown
on May 21, two thousand seventeen at 9:32 pm
When you have this many agency’s involved it is brain surgery. Furthermore the patient is terminal, yep, brain dead.
a resident of another community
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at 8:57 am
I, for one, do not understand how in the world lane splitting is even legal.
Left over from the times motorcycle engines were aircooled, and to keep them overheating they got this “allowance” to split the lanes? (this is what I’ve heard from older people)
Could someone please let me know the real reason.
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at Ten:43 am
“The motorcyclist, a Daly City resident, went down inbetween the far two left lanes. “
The construction and the “non-existent” merge lane is on the right side.
Let us not put the blame on the construction.
That being said, merging on to NB is indeed dangerous. Unless it is in the congested hours, I attempt to drive to University Ave. and merge on 101NB from there.
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at Ten:45 am
“. or should I say transplants to California are some of the worst drivers. “
a resident of Menlo Park
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at Ten:57 am
Why is splitting lanes by motorcycles permitted?
Evidently it is legal?
Seems fairly dangerous not to mention risky.
Some motorcyclists were doing it on El Camino Real this past Saturday . . .
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at 11:Ten am
Talk about aggressive driving. I think google buses are just as aggressive; cutting in lanes without considering the speed and opening.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at 11:42 am
Evidently it’s safer for motorcyclists to lane split than go behind cars because of they were to be sandwiched inbetween two cars (i.e. Rear ended), they’d be dead. It’s been permitted for ever but the official law permitting it went into effect 1/1/2016.
Before the law went into effect, they attempted to put some guidelines on lane splitting such as don’t go more than 10-15 mph swifter than cars, but they had to rescind those recommendations since there weren’t official rules about lane splitting. It was just permitted without anything official.
On some sites I read they quotes cyclists telling now that it is legal they hoped that car drivers would be more careful around cyclists. I agree, but it’s indeed hard to be careful when they pop up out of nowhere right next to your wondow on the freeway going so rapid! Like all situations, there are a few bad apples that give everyone a bad name. Bad motorcycle drivers and bad car drivers that give everyone in their situation a bad name.
Obviously we all need to slow down and witness out. I don’t think it’s just motorists, IMO.
a resident of Mountain View
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at 11:52 am
Just last year California became the very first state in the entire nation to legalize “lane splitting”. (“Lane splitting” is a disingenuous term to cloak and disguise the absurdity of what it truly is, “vehicle splitting”)
a resident of Crescent Park
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at 12:00 pm
The merges on almost all of one hundred one are dangerous, especially when traffic is moving quick, so maybe let’s be a little appreciative for traffic jams.
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at Two:05 pm
I too feel badly about any highway fatality, but motorcyclists are the most vulnerable because they are not encased in a metal box, which offers some protection.
a resident of Downtown North
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at Two:28 pm
My understanding is that the latest state law about lane splitting did not switch the legality of lane splitting. Lane splitting was legal before the fresh law, or at least not specifically illegal, so the police could not ticket motorcyclists for lane splitting before and they still cannot. What the fresh law does is authorize the CHP to develop specific rules about when lane splitting is legal (speed, lane width, etc). When these rules are accomplish, then the police can ticket motorcyclists for violating them. Presumably the CHP is collecting input from various user groups right now and will publish the fresh rules by the end of the year.
a resident of Professorville
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at Two:29 pm
This fatality is certainly tragic. Does it have anything to do with the Embarcadero ramp? Very likely not, since it occurred inbetween the two left lanes.
Lane splitting is utterly dangerous & shouldn’t be permitted on freeways. Motorcycles travel much swifter on freeways than cars do, especially during peak rush hours. They can also switch lanes more quickly than cars can. Cars in, for example, a middle lane, who need to stir right to exit an exit turnoff have only a few seconds to stir inbetween bumper to bumper cars moving at 15-20 mph. Lane splitting cycles going 50+ mph present an added hazard to attempt to avoid.
I also find the noisy roar of cycles zooming inches from my shoulder to be very alarming, as I’m usually stuck crawling below twenty mph.
If special speed allowances are to be made for cyclists, let them use carpool lanes, not rail the lane dividing lines on freeways.
a resident of Midtown
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at Trio:57 pm
Also, in Texas, for example on the interstate Ten, it is posted that the swift lane is for passing only. Here if someone is in the swift lane doing sixty five they won’t budge. Too many different people from other parts of the country with their own idea of traffic rules.
a resident of St. Claire Gardens
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at Five:01 pm
Don’t assume that the construction has no role because the accident happened in the left two lanes.
The construction is causing massive disruption, abrupt lane shifts left and right, narrowing of lanes and general extra loading of folks’ attention.
It’s a dangerous mess out there and it switches month to month.
There is no excuse for the lack of concerted effort on that job site.
Count the deaths and accidents in that area since the project embarked.
a resident of Downtown North
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at Five:22 pm
This is a construction zone. Drivers need to slow down and pay extra attention. Turn your iphone off. Unluckily, this is not happening.
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at 8:04 pm
When merging into NB one hundred one from Embarcadero, there is
(1) no visibility of cars in the freeway lane. you just have to blindly drive into that lane.
(Two) no room for error. The moment you get on the freeway lane, you have no room on your right. That leaves you at the grace of the car in the freeway lane. If it lets you in, you are safe. If not, you have to truly slow down and beg for no car hitting you.
a resident of Barron Park
on May 22, two thousand seventeen at 8:15 pm
That ramp to north trussed one hundred one has been a dangerous place, and Caltran needs to know about it.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on May 23, two thousand seventeen at Trio:21 pm
Unluckily, no details on exactly where the accident occurred. whether before, at, or after the ridiculous S-curve on northbound one hundred one that displayed up earlier this year inbetween Embarcadero/Oregon and University. (Hard to recall when exactly, because the structure of this spread seems to switch numerous times a year.)
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