Man Killed, Fiancee Critically Hurt In Motorcycle Crash
LAKE COUNTY, Ind. (CBS) -- A man riding a motorcycle was killed and his female passenger was critically injured when they crashed on the Indiana Toll Road in Lake County, Ind., on Tuesday.
Indiana State Police said that officers responded to a single motorcycle crash at 2:55 p.m. on I-90 at the Broadway exit.
Witnesses told police that a 2001 Honda Gold Wing motorcycle was traveling through a construction zone in the left lane and headed into a curve when it lost control on some gravel on the shoulder.
The bike fishtailed, went across the right lane and hit a guard rail, tossing the driver and the passenger from the motorcycle.
The driver, identified as Chris J. Schrad, 29, was thrown 428 feet, through a fence, police said. The passenger, identified as Shelly Pierce, 34, was thrown 122 feet.
Schrad was pronounced dead at the scene. Pierce, his fiancee, was taken to North Lake Methodist Hospital in Gary with critical injuries, police said.
Both victims are from Webster City, Iowa, police said. Neither of them was wearing a helmet, although two helmets were secured on the bike. One of the helmets had a sticker reading "I don't wear this helmet by choice."
After striking the guardrail, the bike bounced across both lanes of westbound I-90 and hit a concrete barrier wall, then went up in the air and slid along the left lane.
The westbound lanes of I-90 were closed for about 25 minutes as officials investigated the crash.
