Third major accident this month on deadly stretch of Highway 108 near Knights Ferry

A motorcyclist suffered major injuries in a crash on Highway 108/120 east of Oakdale late Saturday morning. It was the third major crash this month on the same stretch of road.

The California Highway Patrol received a call at 11:35 a.m. for two motorcyclists down in the road one mile west of Lover’s Leap near Knights Ferry. Fire and EMTs responded and performed CPR on one of the victims. At least one person was transported to the hospital with major injuries, according to the CHP. The victim’s condition and identity was unknown Saturday afternoon.

According to passerby Linda Taylor, of Turlock, the victim was on a silver Harley-Davidson, which had ended up off the road along a curve on the eastbound side of the highway. Traffic was backed up for approximately half a mile, she said, and a group of about a dozen other bikers had stopped up the road from the accident scene.

Earlier this month two Turlock men were killed in separate crashes along the same winding section of Highway 108/120 between Lancaster and Kennedy roads.

On Jan. 4, 23-year-old Eddie Fernando Gonzales Jr. was killed in a two-car accident when he lost control of his Jeep Grand Cherokee while negotiating a right-hand curve, the CHP said. He crossed the double yellow lines into the eastbound lane and into the path of a Chevy Tahoe, whose driver suffered major injuries.

Then on Jan. 18, 20-year-old Zachary Moore suffered fatal injuries after the 2001 Infiniti sedan he was driving west near Kennedy Road veered across the double yellow lines into the path of a 2015 Dodge flatbed truck, according to the CHP. The truck driver suffered minor injuries.

The first two fatal wrecks occurred further east near Kennedy Road.

This story was originally published January 27, 2018 at 12:12 PM.