Motorcyclist Killed In Fatal Hwy 108/120 Crash ID’d
Sonora, CA –CHP and Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office have released more details and the name of the motorcyclist who tragically perished at the scene of a two-vehicle crash Wednesday.
According to CHP Sonora Unit officials, around 6:25 Wednesday evening, 25-year-old Turlock resident, Jeffery Smith, was driving a 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe west on Highway 108/120 at roughly the speed limit within a line of vehicles when the incident occurred west of O’Byrnes Ferry Road.
The victim, identified by the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office as 45-year-old Ceres resident Joshua Cody Boykin, was riding a 2016 Yamaha R1 motorcycle, also at about 50 to 55 miles-per-hour a few vehicles behind Smith’s Tahoe. After eastbound traffic passed, Boykin began passing the slower moving vehicles in front of him.
However, the CHP reports, as he was pulling alongside the Tahoe, Smith also moved left and began to enter the eastbound lane, where he struck the motorcycle, causing it to cross the eastbound lane. Traveling past the shoulder onto an embankment, it became airborne and Boykin ejected, landing in the dirt and grass shoulder. The motorcycle tumbled across the top of the embankment and came to rest on the shoulder, south of the rider.
According to the CHP, Smith stopped his vehicle on the south shoulder, west of the collision scene. He and his passenger, 24-year-old Turlock resident, Anycze Munson, were using the vehicle’s seatbelts and did not sustain any injuries. Officials add Boykin, who was wearing a full-face helmet, died on scene. They do not suspect that alcohol and/or drugs were a collision factor. As we reported earlier here, the incident generated a half-hour delay as responders worked and investigated the accident scene.
