Northridge Collision Kills Motorcyclist

A motorcyclist was killed early Friday when he rode into the side of a car making a U-turn in Northridge, Los Angeles police said. The man’s name was withheld pending notification of his relatives.

The motorcycle was northbound on Zelzah Avenue, north of Plummer Street, when a car driven by Rebecca Belfield, 18, slowed in front of him and made a U-turn, Officer Jack Blacklock said.

The man, who suffered head and chest injuries, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics at 12:50 a.m., Blacklock said. Belfield suffered a ruptured spleen and facial cuts and was listed in serious condition at Granada Hills Community Hospital, he said.

Belfield, a freshman at California State University, Northridge, told investigators that she was looking for a parking space in front of her dormitory when she began to turn around, Blacklock said.

The officer said Belfield was not arrested, but that police will ask the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to consider filing a vehicular manslaughter charge in the case.