One person is dead after a single-vehicle motorcycle crash late Thursday afternoon at an Interstate 86 offramp in the Town of Horseheads.
The Chemung County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as Dakota M. Keister, 22, of Southport.
The crash took place shortly after 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the I-86 Exit 54 offramp to state Route 13, according to the sheriff’s office.
Arriving deputies found a red 2008 Kawasaki ZX 6R motorcycle with extensive damage, and Keister was located about 100 yards away.
Witnesses indicated the motorcyclist was traveling erratically at a high rate of speed, swerving around and between vehicles prior to the crash, the sheriff’s office said.
An investigation by the sheriff’s office criminal investigation division determined Keister was westbound on I-86 when he got off the interstate at a high rate of speed at the Exit 54 offramp and approached a fork in the roadway that leads in one direction to the Village of Horseheads and to state Route 13 in the other direction.
Keister failed to negotiate a curve and struck a guardrail, resulting in him being ejected from the bike and landing in a marshy area, the sheriff’s office said. The motorcycle skidded about 75 yards further down the road before coming to a stop.
Keister was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Chemung County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Town and Country Fire Department, Erway Ambulance and New York State Police.
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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Southport man dead after motorcycle crash on I-86 exit in Town of Horseheads: Sheriff
Reporting by Jeff Murray, Elmira Star-Gazette / Elmira Star-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
