An inexperienced motorcyclist hit a “bump-out” and crashed onto a sidewalk Thursday evening on Main Avenue in downtown Durango, according to police.
The crash occurred about 7 p.m. in the 1000 block of Main Avenue. The motorcyclist turned right out of a parking lot near Cream Bean Berry, wobbled back and forth and hit a bump-out near Carver Brewing Co., according to witnesses and police.
The motorcyclist continued south and crashed into a light pole on the east side of Main Avenue, just south of Carvers.
“He was coming out of a parking lot there. He is an inexperienced rider, is my understanding. He lost control of the vehicle, hit one of the new bump-outs,” said Durango police Chief Bob Brammer. “That was the obstacle in the way that hindered the rest of it.”
Brammer said the man suffered a head injury and was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center before being taken to a hospital in the Denver area.
He declined to release the motorcyclist’s name Friday, but said the man is 30 years old and had an Illinois driver’s license.
Shops and restaurants have been allowed to use part of the Main Avenue right of way as a way to expand their footprint during the age of social distancing because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As such, several diners at Carvers and Cream Bean Berry witnessed the crash.
Brammer said his biggest concern about the bump-outs on Main Avenue is that there is insufficient infrastructure in some places to prevent vehicles from crashing into people enjoying the spaces.
“It’s a motorcycle, so I guess potentially we could have been fortunate in that regard,” he said. “Any time there’s injury it is very unfortunate.”
shane@durangoherald.com