NICE, Calif. – A Lucerne man was in critical condition at a regional trauma center Saturday night after he was seriously injured in a motorcycle crash earlier in the day.
Ramsey Wade Milks, 39, was injured in the wreck, which the California Highway Patrol said occurred at about 5:10 p.m.
Milks was driving his 1982 Yamaha 500 motorcycle and exiting the northbound Highway 29 offramp to the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff when, according to the CHP, he illegally passed a vehicle on the left while failing to step for the posted stop sign at the base of the offramp.
The CHP said Milks continued driving his motorcycle in a reckless manner and at a high rate of speed eastbound on the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff east of Lakeshore Drive. He then allowed his motorcycle to travel to the right of the paved eastbound lane.
Milks lost control of the motorcycle on the soft dirt and gravel shoulder that borders the eastbound lane and the motorcycle went down the sloped embankment, the CHP said.
The left side handlebar of Milks’ motorcycle struck a power pole on the east shoulder of the cutoff, and the impact caused Milks to be ejected into the power pole, according to the CHP.
The CHP said Milks was transported via REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
Milks was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit, where he was being treated for a skull fracture and brain swelling, the CHP reported.