LOCAL : Orange Cyclist Dies on Freeway

IRVINE — A 21-year-old Orange man was killed instantly early this morning when he lost control of his motorcycle, which flipped over on a freeway interchange and sent him flying more than 200 feet into a grassy embankment.

Michael S. Ward was pronounced dead at the scene of the 12:30 a.m. accident at the interchange of the Corona del Mar and Costa Mesa freeways, California Highway Patrol Officer Linda Burrus said.

Ward was driving his 1989 Honda CBR motorcycle north on the Corona del Mar Freeway and traveling too fast when he entered the ramp to the northbound Costa Mesa Freeway, Burrus said.

Ward lost control of the motorcycle, which struck a guardrail, Burrus said. As the motorcycle flipped out from underneath him, Ward was sent sailing over the guardrail, over the Baker Street off-ramp and into an embankment 200 feet from the scene of the accident, she said.

“He hit so hard that his helmet was dug into the ground,” Burrus said, adding that there were no witnesses.

Ward was found a short time later by a motorist traveling in the same direction who stopped his car to move the motorcycle from the road, Burrus said.