UPDATE: Investigators say they believe the driver, identified as Regina Mae Milam, 60, was under the influence of a drug at the time of the crash. A preliminary breath test found she had no alcohol in her system, according to court records. You can read the updated story here.
A motorcyclist was killed Friday afternoon after being rear-ended by a suspected drunk driver, according to the Vancouver Police Department.
The 21-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not yet been released.
Police and emergency medical personnel were dispatched shortly before 2 p.m. for a crash at the intersection of Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard and Northeast Vancouver Mall Drive, according to a police press release.
The initial investigation found a four-door sedan was eastbound on Fourth Plain when it struck a motorcycle that was stopped at the traffic signal, police said.
“The collision forced the motorcycle into the rear of a pickup truck that was also stopped at the traffic signal, and ejected the motorcyclist,” the press release states.
The driver of the sedan, a 60-year-old woman, was uninjured, and the pickup driver was treated for minor injuries, police said.
A nurse and someone with CPR certification provided medical aid to the motorcyclist before emergency responders arrived, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian.
The driver of the sedan was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence, the press release said. Her identity was not released.
The Vancouver Police Department Traffic Unit is investigating the crash.
Fourth Plain Boulevard at Vancouver Mall Drive was closed in both directions for several hours.
This is the third fatal motorcycle crash in Clark County within the last month.
Two people were killed July 26 in east Vancouver after two motorcycles struck an SUV. Speed, along with alcohol consumed by the motorcyclists, appeared to be factors in that collision, according to Vancouver police.
The driver of the SUV, Renee L. Unell, 50, of Camas, and one of the motorcyclists, Matthew L. Stevens, 23, of Vancouver, died. The second motorcyclist, who has not been identified, was treated for minor injuries. An 8-year-old child, who was also in the SUV, suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital for evaluation.
John A. Christianson, 58, of Ridgefield died following a July 8 crash in Battle Ground. He was riding his motorcycle to work when Daniel Scott Berry, 33, ran a red light and struck him in the intersection of Southwest 10th Avenue (state Highway 503) and Eaton Boulevard, prosecutors say. Berry is facing a charge of vehicular homicide in Clark County Superior Court.
A 67-year-old Amboy man died July 23 when he crashed his BMW motorcycle on state Highway 4, about 3 miles from Longview.
