SANTEE, Calif. — A 26-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a crash on state Route 52 Thursday morning, authorities said.
Shortly before 5:15 a.m., a Freightliner truck tractor-trailer was traveling west on SR-52 when it collided with a Honda motorcycle west of the Mast Boulevard exit near Santee, California Highway Patrol Officer Jesse Matias said in a news release.
The motorcyclist, a 26-year-old La Mesa man, was ejected from his bike and died at the scene, Matias said. The 34-year-old man driving the tractor-trailer was not injured.
The right two lanes of westbound SR-52 were closed for more than three hours while CHP conducted an investigation. The lanes reopened just after 8:30 a.m.
A toxicology report from the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine whether alcohol or drugs were a factor in the collision.
The name of the motorcyclist was being withheld pending notification of his next of kin.