By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Lead Reporter - Salina Post
Yesterday evening, a motorcycle crashed into the front of a pickup truck on Broadway Boulevard, fatally injuring the motorcycle's driver and severely injuring its passenger.
According to Salina Police Department (SPD) Sgt. Chad McCary, at about 6:52 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22, a 2020 black Chevrolet Silverado operated by Salina resident Cody Soukup attempted to turn left out of the Club Carwash parking lot in the 600 block of South Broadway Boulevard while another car tried to turn into that same parking lot.
This caused traffic to build up in the right northbound lane of Broadway Boulevard.
"The motorcycle basically went up the left driving lane around the slower cars, and Mr. Soukup's vehicle edged out into the road and made basic contact, not heavy contact, with the motorcycle," McCary said. "The motorcycle, from the evidence on the road, tried to do an evasive maneuver to the left to avoid. The motorcycle braked but then basically fell over, and the momentum caused the motorcycle to scrape and slide across the pavement into the center turn lane — at that point, the motorcycle slid into the back of the white Dodge Neon."
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The 2000 white Dodge Neon, driven by Jose Silva-Collazo, was waiting to turn into the Dollar General parking lot on the west side of Broadway Boulevard.
McCary said the motorcycle driver, 60-year-old Steven Moore, was transported to Salina Regional Health Center, where staff pronounced him deceased. The motorcycle passenger, 64-year-old Debra Dankenbring, suffered severe injuries, but staff stabilized her condition.
"We're investigating all aspects of this right now, but what we see is basically a failed yield on Mr. Soukup's part," McCary said.
Salina Post will update the story as more information becomes available.