Durango, CO : Cortez man airlifted to Denver hospital after motorcycle crash on Sunday, August 6, 2017

A 71-year-old Cortez man was airlifted to a Denver hospital on Sunday after riding his motorcycle off a sharp curve and crashing into a ditch.

According to Colorado State Patrol Trooper Blayne Smith, around 10 a.m. Ronald Kraft was riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle westbound on County Road G when he failed to negotiate a left turn and ran off the right side of the road.

Smith said the motorcycle went down an embankment and into a ditch with about 6 inches of water.

Smith said alcohol and drugs are not suspected, but excessive speed may have been a factor in the crash.

“It was a pretty sharp curve down there,” Smith said of the road, which travels through McElmo Canyon.

Kraft was transported to Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez, then airlifted to a Denver hospital for further care. Smith did not know which hospital Kraft was transported to, but said the Cortez man had serious injuries.

Witnesses said Kraft was wearing a helmet, Smith said.

Smith said Kraft was riding his motorcycle alone, but was traveling with a friend on a separate motorcycle.

Andy Peacock, of Durango, said he was traveling with Kraft when the crash occurred. Peacock said he’s known Kraft for about 30 years. He said the two were traveling to Bluff, Utah.

“He just missed a curve,” Peacock said. “The bike caught the foot rest and flipped his bike tire up from underneath him.”

Peacock said Kraft does have family in the area.

Colorado State Patrol, the Cortez Fire Protection District, the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office and a Southwest Memorial Hospital ambulance reported to the scene, The Journal reported.

In a early report, The Journal listed Kraft as a Durango resident.

The Journal reported that a neighbor who lives just west of the scene remained in communication with dispatch until first responders arrived.

The speed limit is 40 mph on that section of Road G, with a cautionary speed limit of 15 mph at the curve.

Source :
Cortez man airlifted to Denver hospital after motorcycle crash