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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Motorcycle-car crash kills 2 people

From staff reports

A motorcyclist was thrown from his bike into an oncoming car’s windshield Saturday, killing him and a passenger in the car.

The accident occurred just before 7 p.m. near Murray, Idaho, on Thompson Pass Road.

A motorcycle driven by Robert Brantl, 45, crossed the centerline on a curve and hit an eastbound car, according to the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office.

Brantl, of Spokane, hit the car’s windshield, striking a passenger, Curtis Lawson, 27, of Hayden Lake, Idaho.

A Med-Star crew pronounced Brantl dead at the scene.

Lawson was taken to Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene, where he died.

The driver of the car, who wasn’t identified, was not injured.

Brantl was wearing a helmet.

Thompson Pass Road is a scenic route for people traveling to Glacier National Park.

The Idaho portion of the road was a bumpy, unpaved stretch until a $10 million project improved the road between 1996 and 1998.

“Thompson Pass Road and the Coeur d’Alene River Road have become very popular in the last few years for day trips by motorcycles traveling in a loop into Montana and returning to the Kootenai County and Spokane area,” a release from the sheriff’s office said.

“Everyone is encouraged to slow down due to the roadway being narrow and numerous curves,” according to the press release.

Another fatal motorcycle accident happened there last summer.

The crash investigation concluded that the cause of the accident was inattentive driving, the Sheriff’s Office said.