Lane County crash kills motorcyclist

A 22-year-old Eugene man died early Saturday when he lost control of his speeding motorcycle on a curve and it crashed, throwing him down an embankment on a forest road east of Fall Creek Reservoir, Oregon State Police said.

According to OSP Senior Trooper Ron Martin, around 6:45 a.m., Robert Lee Casto was riding a Yamaha motorcycle at a high rate of speed on Forest Service Road 18 when he failed to safely negotiate through a right-hand curve.

The motorcycle crossed the roadway, where Casto was thrown over an approximate 30-foot embankment and landed on bedrock, partially submerged in a creek, Martin said.

Medics from the Lowell Rural Fire Protection District and Springfield Fire & Life Safety departments responded and prepared Casto for transport by air ambulance.

He was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, where he was pronounced dead.

Troopers say Casto was wearing a helmet.

OSP troopers from the Springfield Area Command office are completing the investigation.

It was the second fatal traffic crash in Lane County during the Memorial Day Holiday weekend. The first was a pedestrian who died early Saturday morning after being struck by a vehicle. Springfield Police Department is the lead investigating agency in the first fatal crash.

Last year during the Memorial Day Holiday period, three people died in three separate fatal traffic crashes in Oregon.