One motorcyclist dies, another badly hurt in separate Santa Rosa collisions

A motorcyclist died Tuesday evening when he collided with a van in south Santa Rosa, and a second biker was seriously injured a short time later in a separate crash after striking the back of a car, Santa Rosa police said.

The fatal crash was reported to officers at ?6:07 p.m. Tuesday, when callers reporting seeing a biker lying in the roadway after his Kawasaki sport bike collided with a van, police said in a press release.

Witnesses told investigators the motorcycle was speeding south on Wiljan Court, a two-lane road that stretches behind several car dealerships on Corby Avenue. The motorcyclist crossed over the road’s double yellow markers to pass a slower moving car ahead, then collided with a van making a left turn in the opposite direction, the news release said.

The motorcyclist, whose name was withheld until family could be notified, was pronounced dead at a hospital. The driver of the van was not hurt.

Police blocked off Wiljan Court in both directions for several hours following the fatal collision.

Less than a hour later, Santa Rosa police officers were dispatched to a second motorcycle crash at 6:53 p.m. when callers reported a motorcyclist may have hit the railroad crossing arms on Piner Road near Bay Village Circle. Callers also reported seeing the motorcyclist on the ground.

When officers arrived, they determined the driver of a Harley-Davidson was going east on Piner in the left lane and hit the back of a Volvo sedan that was either stopped or had just started to move. The railroad crossing arms were in the process of opening or had just opened when the two vehicles collided.

The motorcyclist was taken to the hospital with possibly life-threatening injuries, police said. A driver and two passengers in the Volvo were also taken to the hospital as a precaution.

The eastbound lanes of Piner were closed between Bay Village Circle and the railroad tracks for several hours.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter?@nashellytweets.