Pickup Had Lost Rugs : Passenger Killed as Cycle Hits Fallen Carpet Rolls

A motorcycle passenger was killed Wednesday evening and the driver was injured when two carpet rolls fell from the bed of a truck, causing the two-wheeler to crash and eject both driver and rider on the Garden Grove Freeway, the California Highway Patrol said.

Neither the motorcycle driver nor the passenger, a woman, wore a helmet. “A helmet may have saved her life,” CHP spokesman Mike Lundquist said.

The accident occurred about 5:50 p.m. in the westbound lanes of the Garden Grove Freeway, east of Glassell Street in Orange. A 1988 Mitsubishi pickup truck, driven by Michael R. Lockhart, 26, of Huntington Beach, was traveling about 50 m.p.h. in the fast lane and carrying two 10-by-9-foot rolls of carpeting, Lundquist said.

The carpeting fell off into the path of the 1986 Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle driven by Carlos Cirado, 19, of Santa Ana, Lundquist said.

The motorcycle struck the carpeting, went out of control and hit the center divider, ejecting both the driver and passenger, he said.

The passenger fell head first in the fast lane and was dead on impact, Lundquist said. She then rolled into the path of a 1986 Buick, which had slowed almost to a stop. “There was only minor impact to the body,” he said.

A coroner’s spokesman identified the woman as Angela Caballero, 19, of Orange.

Cirado fell into the fast lane and suffered major injuries, including a broken clavicle, a broken wrist and possible internal injuries, Lundquist said. He was listed in serious condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The driver of the Buick, Leota Sears, 54, of Garden Grove, was not injured.

Lundquist said the accident is under investigation, adding that the carpeting was obviously not properly tied down in accordance with highway safety laws.

“If it comes off, it definitely was not tied down properly,” he said.