A motorcyclist was traveling south on California’s 405 Freeway Wednesday morning when something unusual entered his side of the freeway: a loose tire bouncing over the concrete divider from the northbound lanes.
The tire disappears from the dashcam’s view. A moment later, the rider goes down, tumbles across the pavement, and ends up in the path of a white Toyota SUV. The motorcyclist died at the scene.
There was one major problem for the California Highway Patrol as it began investigating the Aug. 26 crash near Burbank Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Officers didn’t know about the tire.
That changed when dashcam footage surfaced after the crash, giving CHP a previously unknown piece of the sequence and leaving another question behind: Where did the tire come from?
Over The Divider
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The crash was reported late Wednesday morning on the southbound 405 near Burbank Boulevard, just north of the 101 Freeway interchange.
Initial reports after the crash established that the motorcyclist had died, but they did not explain why he had come off the motorcycle.
The later video provides considerably more context.
As traffic moves south, the camera captures what appears to be a tire bouncing from the northbound side of the freeway, clearing the concrete center divider, and entering the far-left southbound lane.
Then it leaves the camera’s view.
Moments later, the motorcyclist can be seen going down and tumbling toward the neighboring lane, where the white SUV is approaching.
The footage does not clearly show the tire making contact with the rider. That means the video by itself does not establish exactly what happened during the moment outside the camera’s view.
CHP, however, believes the loose tire likely caused the crash.
A Missing Piece
CHP spokesperson Cody Sturges told KTLA that officers had not known about the tire when they initially began investigating the crash.
“We weren’t aware of the tire until the video surfaced,” Sturges said.
He said the footage gave the investigation “a whole new dimension.”
That distinction matters because the information available immediately after the crash captured only the latter portion of the sequence.
CHP information reported after the crash said witnesses had seen the rider come off the motorcycle before he was struck in the freeway. First responders found him in the No. 1 lane, where he was pronounced dead.
The dashcam footage potentially explains the previously unresolved moment before the rider went down.
What it does not explain is how a loose tire ended up crossing from one direction of the 405 into traffic traveling the other way.
Where Did It Go?
CHP had not located the tire at or near the crash scene by Thursday.
Officers were also still trying to determine where it came from and were seeking additional witnesses or video that might show what happened on the northbound side of the freeway.
That leaves the beginning of the sequence unresolved.
CHP has not established whether the tire separated from a vehicle, fell from something being transported, or reached the freeway another way.
The driver of the white Toyota remained at the scene and cooperated with CHP. Nothing released by the agency indicates that driver caused the motorcyclist to go down.
People watching the footage online largely focused on how difficult the event would have been to anticipate.
One motorcyclist said that incidents involving unpredictable roadway hazards are among the reasons he chooses not to ride on freeways. Other commenters simply struggled with the timing required for the tire and rider to reach essentially the same piece of freeway at the same moment.
CHP is asking anyone with additional footage or information that could help identify the tire’s source to contact its West Valley office at 747-373-3000.