FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
One Fatality, One Injured in Motorcycle Accident Near Telluride
Contact: Susan Lilly, Public Information Officer 970-729-2028
susanl@sanmiguelsheriff.org
July 17, 2016 -- (San Miguel County, CO) – One person is dead and another suffered multiple traumatic injuries following a single motorcycle accident on Hwy 145 near Telluride Sunday afternoon.
Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to Hwy 145 near “Windy Point” (mile marker 66) at 3:05pm Sunday for a single motorcycle crash involving two individuals. Upon arrival, the driver, a male in his 60’s was found lying on the roadway, bleeding and partially conscious, but breathing. A female passenger was ejected over a guardrail and found about 30 yards down a steep embankment with bystanders, including a nurse, performing CPR.
Deputies assembled rope and gear for safe repelling for Telluride Fire Protection District EMS providers to reach that patient. After CPR and other life-saving measures were attempted, that patient, a 60 year-old woman from Durango, was pronounced dead on the scene.
Initial indications are that the two were traveling southbound on Hwy 145 and failed to negotiate the left-hand turn just past the large scenic pullout. The bike hit the guardrail and the female passenger was ejected. Both passengers were wearing helmets.
Sheriff Bill Masters said this is a tragic event. “On behalf of the Sheriff’s office and all responders, our thoughts are with the deceased’s family at this very difficult time.”
The male patient, a 64 year-old man from Mancos, CO was treated and transported by Telluride ambulance to the Telluride Medical Center for further assessment and treatment and then transported via Telluride ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Durango, Co. He sustained multiple musculoskeletal injuries but does not appear to have life-threatening injuries.
Colorado State Patrol is investigating the incident. No drugs or alcohol are believed to be involved.
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The San Miguel Sheriff’s Office, located in Telluride, Colorado and established in 1883, serves 7,800 residents and countless visitors across the 1,288 square miles of San Miguel County. Sheriff Bill Masters has been serving as the county’s elected Sheriff since 1980.