Motorcycle rider, 53, killed in Tucson crash

A 53-year-old motorcyclist was killed Friday in a crash on Tucson’s southeast side, authorities say.

Abel Balderaz was traveling north on South Houghton Road on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle at East Escalante Road about noon when he collided with a southbound Hyundai Sonata that was turning left, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Witnesses told investigators that Balderaz had been “lane splitting” between vehicles prior to the wreck and then ran a red light, the release said.

Balderaz, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown from the motorcycle in the crash. He died later that night at the hospital, the release said.

“Preliminary findings indicate that Mr. Balderaz was traveling at a rate of speed greater than reasonable to avoid a collision and failed to obey the red light, resulting in the collision with the Sonata,” the release said.

The unidentified Hyundai driver was not injured.