CLARK CO. – A Jeffersonville man was killed Wednesday afternoon after the motorcycle he was riding was struck by a semi-truck and trailer on I-265.
Around 2:43 p.m., Indiana State Police and other Clark County emergency responders received 911 reports about the accident in the westbound lane of I-265 near the I-65 interchange at the seven-mile-marker.
New Chapel Ambulance service was one of the first to respond to the scene and advised officers the crash was a fatal accident.
Troopers from the Sellersburg post, officers from the Clarksville City Police Department, and state highway workers from the Indiana Department of Transportation closed a portion of westbound I-265 and diverted westbound traffic onto northbound I-65 as an ISP crash reconstruction team conducted the investigation.
A preliminary investigation reveals that a green 2021 Harley Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle, driven by 52-year-old John Billman, of Jeffersonville, was entering westbound I-265 from the northbound I-65 ramp. At the same time, a 2012 Freightliner tractor-trailer, driven by 51-year-old James Mayfield, of Andrews, North Carolina, was traveling west on I-265, approaching the same onramp. Investigators believe the Freightliner crossed into the onramp at the same time the motorcycle was beginning to merge left towards the westbound lanes and struck the Harley Davidson.
John Billman was pronounced dead at the scene by the Clark County Coroner’s office.
Mayfield was not injured in the crash.
Neither drugs nor alcohol is believed to be a factor in this crash.
I-265 was closed until approximately 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
This crash is still under investigation.
