Michael Lopez Killed in Motorcycle Accident on CA-119 in Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA — June 5, 2022, 22-year-old Michael Lopez died in a motorcycle accident on State Highway 119 in Bakersfield.
According to reports the incident happened around 1:15 p.m. at Highway 119 and Airport Road. Preliminary investigation suggests Lopez was riding a motorcycle in the area when he collided under unknown circumstances with a semi-truck.
Lopez suffered fatal injuries in the accident. No other injuries were reported. The truck driver remained at the scene and cooperated with police.
The investigation is ongoing. No further information is available at this time.
Commentary on Michael Lopez Accident on CA-119 in Bakersfield
There isn't much information yet about what happened here, and it's possible authorities are just being prudent before they know all the facts. With that said, though, I always have concerns about wrecks involving commercial trucks and motorcycles. Truck wrecks often get complicated on their own, but there's also a lot of bias surrounding motorcycles that may lead to missing important details when one crashes.
For example, I handled a situation not long ago where a motorcyclist crashed with a semi-truck. The police said the rider was speeding and weaving through traffic, but the victim's loved ones insisted they weren't so reckless. They asked us to look again, and more thorough investigations revealed police got the facts wrong. Somehow they misinterpreted statements from a witness who simply said the motorcyclist passed him on the left just before a semi-truck failed to yield while pulling out of a parking lot ahead.
I'm not saying anything like that happened here, but it's best that a proper investigation be conducted so only the facts tell the story. Putting off that kind of thing is only going to let more details slip through the cracks. The sooner the whole truth is known the better. Anything beyond getting answers for the victim's loved ones would depend mostly on what those answers turn out to be.
