Motorcyclist in critical condition after crashing into back of garbage truck

A motorcycle crashed into a garbage truck Monday morning near Antioch causing injuries to the rider, authorities said.

Around 10:25 a.m., Lake County sheriff’s deputies responded to Grass Lake Road and West Park Avenue in unincorporated Antioch and found the motorcycle rider unresponsive.

A preliminary investigation shows the garbage truck, a 2019 Mack, driven by a 46-year-old Ingleside man, was traveling eastbound on Grass Lake Road, just east of the Grass Lake Bridge. Behind the garbage truck, also traveling eastbound, was a 2017 Harley-Davidson, driven by a 35-year-old man of unincorporated Spring Grove, authorities said.

The driver of garbage truck began to slow down to make a left turn into a parking lot. The motorcycle rider attempted to pass the truck on the left and struck its rear as it was completing its turn, authorities said.

The motorcyclist, who was not wearing a helmet, sustained life-threatening injuries and is in critical condition at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, authorities said.

The garbage truck driver was uninjured and is cooperating with the investigation, authorities said.

Authorities said the speed of the motorcycle appears to be a factor in the crash, which remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team.