A motorcyclist died Wednesday when his vehicle collided with a car along Route 380, about one-quarter mile west of the Route 366 intersection in northern Murrysville, police said.
The Westmoreland County coroner’s office identified the motorcyclist as Gregg A. Leipertz Jr., 24, of Lower Burrell.
Leipertz was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy is scheduled for May 28 by Dr. Cyril H. Wecht and Pathology Associates.
The cause and manner of Leipertz’s death will not be released until toxicology tests are completed, which will take several weeks, according to the coroner.
The incident was reported at 12:49 p.m. at the intersection of Route 380 and Fairview Lane, Murrysville Police Detective Sgt. Tom Kusinsky said. The victim was wearing a helmet, Kusinsky said.
Leipertz was traveling westbound up a hill when the 2017 Kawaski he was driving collided with a car pulling out onto the highway from 380 Auction Discount Warehouse.
The force threw Leipertz about 50 feet in the air, with him landing on the westbound lanes, Kusinsky said. The motorcycle landed in the eastbound lanes, behind the car, which suffered extensive front end damage.
The woman driving the car had to be extricated by Sardis firefighters, a process that took between 15 and 20 minutes as firefighters cut the roof from the car. The woman, who was not identified, was conscious and was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital, Kusinsky said.
The force of the collision spun the sedan around, with the front end facing back in the direction she had been driving from, Kusinsky said.
A state police reconstruction team from the Ebensburg barracks assisted Murrysville police at the scene. It was likely that the speed of the motorcycle played a factor in the crash, Kusinsky said.
That section of Route 380, which has reopened, was closed at the Route 366 intersection for at least four hours.
A neighbor living about 100 yards downhill from the accident scene said he heard a loud crash and ran up the hillside, to where he saw the accident.
“By the time I got up to the hill, the motorcycle was lying on the pavement,” said Joseph Reno.
There is a lot of traffic on that stretch of Route 380 and vehicle speed by fast, said Reno, who has lived there for 30 years.
“That’s a really bad intersection. In the winter, it is horrible,” Reno said.
Reno said it is difficult for drivers pulling out from the Auction Discount Warehouse to gauge whether vehicles are driving in the fast lane or left lane of the opposing direction.
Kusinsky concurred it is the scene of bad accidents.
