L.A. Motorcycle Officer Is Critically Hurt in Collision : Accidents: The 12-year veteran apparently was traveling the wrong way when he collided with a car in Van Nuys. He’s on life-support systems.

A motorcycle officer apparently driving the wrong way on a busy Van Nuys street was critically injured in an early morning collision Wednesday, prompting police to shut down several major streets and halt the flow of traffic for three hours, authorities said.

Officer Raymond A. (Skip) Messerly Jr. of Acton was riding east in the westbound lanes of Victory Boulevard when his motorcycle collided with a car on his right in the eastbound lane that was making a left turn onto Sepulveda Boulevard, said Officer Steven Cooper of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Specialized Collision Investigation Team.

Messerly, 42, was on life-support systems with severe injuries to the neck and brain stem. “They don’t know if he’s going to survive or not,” Police Lt. Charles Kunz said.

The accident occurred about 8 a.m. Rush-hour traffic was diverted from the intersection for several blocks in each direction so police could investigate.

Police said Messerly was believed to be chasing a suspected traffic violator when he rode his Kawasaki 1000 Police Special into the driver’s side of a white Nissan Stanza. Messerly was thrown over the car and onto the sidewalk 30 feet away at Victory and Sepulveda boulevards.

A 12-year veteran of the department, Messerly was taken to the Northridge Hospital Medical Center trauma unit, hospital spokeswoman Leslie Wither said. She said Messerly would be kept alive on life-support systems for at least 24 hours from the time of the collision, and that family members and doctors were deciding late Wednesday whether to continue use of the machines.

Police said a preliminary investigation showed that Messerly was not exceeding the speed limit at the time of the crash, but Cooper said: “All the evidence supports the position that he was on the wrong side of the roadway. We haven’t figured out why he was there.”

Detective Henson Dial of the Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division, where Messerly has worked since 1989, said the motorcycle officer probably got into the westbound lane to get around heavy rush-hour traffic.

Police said the driver of the car, London Crouch, 24, of Los Angeles was trapped in her car for some time before being taken to Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys for treatment of minor injuries.

Fellow officers said Messerly was known as an aggressive, hard-working motorcycle officer who made frequent traffic violation citations and arrests. A decorated veteran of Army service in Vietnam, Messerly has a wife, Marie, and six children, including 11-year-old triplets, Deputy Police Chief Mark A. Kroeker said.

“He’s a hard-working family man who always worked side jobs to provide his family with the best in life,” Lt. Kunz said.