A 39-year-old Hughson motorcycle rider was killed Tuesday morning in a Highway 99 crash north of Pelandale Avenue.

The victim, who was riding a 2015 Kawasaki motorcycle, was identified as Paul O’Hara.

The crash took place at approximately 6:50 a.m. in the northbound lanes.

Emergency personnel arrived on scene and found that a sedan, tractor-trailer rig, and motorcycle had collision damage. O'Hara was located in the number 3 lane with major injuries. Emergency personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.

The California Highway Patrol’s preliminary investigation indicates that Emily Dias, 34, of Modesto, was driving her 2008 Scion hatchback in the fast lane of the freeway just north of Pelandale Avenue when she collided with the victim’s motorcycle directly to the right. The Hughson victim flew off his motorcycle in a northeasterly direction. He fell into the number 3 lane where he was struck by a 2012 Freightliner driven by Sergio Zuniga, 65, of Merced.

Neither Dias or Zuniga were injured.

Drugs and/or alcohol do not appear to have contributed to this collision. Caltrans was on scene to assist with traffic control. 

The two right lanes of the freeway were temporarily shut down during the CHP’s investigation. The northbound onramp at Sisk Road was also temporarily shut down.

The CHP originally reported O'Hara's age as 29 but it was later corrected.