A Salina man was transported to Salina Regional Health Center (SRHC) after a motorcycle accident early this morning at the junction of Interstate 70 (I-70) and Interstate 135 (I-135).
Shortly after 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, Louis Swartz, 35, of Salina, was riding a 1990 Honda motorcycle northbound on I-135 and exiting onto eastbound I-70, according to a Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) accident report.
Swartz somehow came off the motorcycle as it exited I-135, but the riderless motorcycle continued down the ramp onto I-70, where it collided with a white 2019 Dodge Caravan driven by James Shanks, 35, of Piketon, Ohio, Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said this morning.
KHP asked the sheriff's office to work the accident with the motorcycle and minivan, Soldan explained.
Soldan said that what caused Swartz to come off the motorcycle is unknown, however a Kenworth tractor-trailer rig was reported to have been involved with the initial part of the accident, but did not strike the motorcycle, according to the KHP report.
Shanks and his four passengers were not injured, Soldan said. According to the KHP report, Swartz was transported to SRHC with suspected minor injuries. He was not wearing a helmet, the KHP report noted.
The rented minivan sustained front-end damage and the motorcycle sustained damage to its side, Soldan said.