Motorcyclist dies, another person injured in accident on I-75

A motorcyclist was killed and another injured Thursday when they collided with a vehicle on Interstate 75 in Madison Heights, state police said.

At around 9:25 p.m., police were called to a location on I-75 northbound near 14 Mile for a report of an accident involving two motorcycles and a pickup truck, authorities said.

When they arrived, they found a 19-year-old motorcyclist from Saginaw dead at the scene and a 20-year-old motorcyclist from Swartz Creek with numerous injuries, officials said. The injured man was taken to a hospital.

During the investigation, the police temporarily closed the highway.

According to a preliminary investigation, the two motorcyclists were traveling at a high rate of speed and weaving through traffic when their motorcycles struck the rear corner on the passenger side of a Chevrolet Silverado in the middle left lane.

Both drivers were thrown from their motorcycles by the impact, police said. The two men landed on the right shoulder of the highway, it was said.

Officials said the driver of the truck made a controlled stop on the right shoulder of the road. He was not injured, they said.

“We continue to see preventable traffic accidents caused by risky driving behavior,” MSP First Lt. Mike Shaw said in a statement. “As you can imagine, this behavior is even worse on a motorcycle. Please ride with caution.”

The incident follows 25 deaths and 143 serious injuries on Michigan's roadways between Aug. 13 and Aug. 20, according to MSP. The total number of traffic deaths and injuries for 2024 is still below last year's total, state police reported.

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@CharlesERamirez