Cortez woman escapes death in motorcycle crash

Cortez woman escapes death in motorcycle crash

Oct. 30, 2001

RESCUE WORKERS tend to a Cortez woman injured Sunday afternoon when her motorcycle, in foreground, collided with a car in the oncoming lane. The motorcycle was then run over by another vehicle that narrowly missed the woman.

By Aspen C. Emmett
Journal Staff Writer

A Cortez woman is lucky to be alive following a motorcycle crash that also involved two cars on U.S. Highway 666 Sunday afternoon, according to the Colorado State Patrol.

Thirty-two-year-old Patricia Martinez sustained injuries to her feet and hands in a wreck in which the Harley Davidson motorcycle she was driving allegedly veered into oncoming traffic at 60 mph and collided with a vehicle.

The bike came to a rest in the roadway, according to the patrol, just a few feet away from where Martinez was lying injured on the shoulder of the road. Moments later, another vehicle ran over the motorcycle but managed to miss Martinez.

She was not wearing a helmet and it was reportedly her second day learning to ride a motorcycle.

"She’s the luckiest person I’ve ever met," said CSP trooper David Van Bibber. "That’s probably the closest you can come to getting killed and not be. It was potentially a fatal accident — it really should have been."

Martinez was riding northbound alongside of James Wagoner, 73, of Dolores, and failed to round a right-hand curve when she crossed the center lane into the path of a 2001 Mercedes driven by 56-year-old Robert Carter of Florida.

"The Mercedes swerved right and she collided with the left side of the vehicle," Van Bibber explained. "After the collision, the Mercedes went onto the southbound shoulder, spun out of control across the lanes and went off the shoulder on the left side of the road."

After the collision, Martinez was ejected while the bike slid for 30 feet in the southbound lane. A third vehicle driven by Daryl Sutton of Cortez then ran over the motorcycle.

Both vehicles sustained damage, but Martinez was the only one injured.

" If her vehicle had moved over an inch, she would have caught more of the motorcycle with the front of the vehicle," Van Bibber said. "It was just that close to being an absolute head-on crash, at which point she probably would have been ejected either over or into the vehicle. And if she had been ejected a few feet more to the east, then she would have been run over along with the motorcycle. It was unbelievable."

No drugs or alcohol were suspected in the crash, but neither Martinez nor Wagoner were licensed motorcycle drivers.

"She was not a licensed motorcycle operator and, ironically, the person that was teaching her to ride was also cited for not having a motorcycle license," Van Bibber said.

Van Bibber added that the lack of experience for Martinez was likely the cause of the wreck.

"She was not able to keep it in her lane. With some inexperience, if you go into a curve, sometimes you can’t maintain your lane because you’re either going too fast or you’re too afraid to handle the bike correctly."

Martinez was transported from the scene to Southwest Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and released the same day.

Martinez was cited for not having a motorcycle endorsement, failure to drive in designated lane and not having a driver’s license on her.