Countywide : Confusion Raised as Issue in CHP Death

A 78-year-old woman who allegedly drove across a center line and killed a Ventura County CHP motorcycle officer may have been distracted by the way the officer and three others were riding, her attorney said Friday.

A preliminary report of a California Highway Patrol investigation into the accident, which was released Wednesday, said Ella Harrison of Solvang was westbound on California 154 outside Santa Ynez on Nov. 15 when she crossed the solid center line of the road and ran head-on into James Christopher O’Connor’s motorcycle, CHP Officer Marc Combs said.

The motorcycle officers were riding side by side, one pair in front of the other, authorities said. O’Connor was in the back nearest the center line, Combs said. The officers had accelerated to an estimated 65 m.p.h. to pass a car and then returned to their lane, he said.

The officers reported that Harrison’s car then drifted across the center line. Three of the officers swerved off the right side of the road, but O’Connor could not avoid the crash. The reason Harrison crossed the line is unknown, Combs said.

However, Harrison’s attorney, George Eskin, said it is possible that Harrison, who has no memory of the accident, was reacting to the officers’ method of driving.

Eskin said his investigation showed the officers had passed a car and a tour bus shortly before the accident. He said that the side-by-side formation is not a proper method of motorcycle travel on the highway. In addition, he said, O’Connor may have moved to the left in his lane to avoid a rut about 25 to 30 yards from the accident scene.

The CHP report, which will be forwarded to the Santa Barbara County district attorney’s office, does not make a recommendation about whether Harrison should be charged, Combs said.