Motorcyclist, 23, dies after hitting an SUV

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, July 27, 2006

STANWOOD – A 23-year-old man was killed late Wednesday after he lost control of his motorcycle on I-5 and slammed into a sport utility vehicle.

Investigators believe Robert Hawley of Bellingham may have been driving alongside another motorcyclist near the 300th Street NW exit when the accident happened about 10 p.m., Washington State Patrol Trooper Kirk Rudeen said.

Hawley rear-ended the SUV, struck a guard rail and was thrown from his bike. He died at the scene, Rudeen said.

Keith Kosick, of Surrey, B.C., was driving the SUV. He was returning from a day in Seattle with his wife and 12-year-old son when he saw what appeared to be two motorcycle headlamps in his rearview mirror. Seconds later, there was a loud crash, and the back window exploded into his SUV, he said.

Kosick said another motorcycle passed and was “out of sight within seconds.”

“I can’t even guess how fast the two of them were driving,” he said. “It was as if we were standing still.”

Troopers couldn’t find any other motorcyclists in the area, Rudeen said.