Two motorcyclists died within hours of each other after hitting the backs of cars in separate highway incidents Wednesday, Oregon State Police said.
Shortly before 5 p.m., Michael Smith, 70, of Redmond hit the back of a 2018 Ford truck on U.S. 20 waiting to turn onto Jordan Road in Deschutes County. He died before emergency personnel could take him to a hospital, police said. The Ford driver was uninjured.
Then after 7 p.m., Matthew Elinsky, 53, of Manzanita hit the back of a Jeep Cherokee waiting in traffic on U.S. 101 near Gearhart, police said. Responders pronounced Elinsky dead from injuries. The Jeep driver was uninjured.
— Ryan Nguyen; rnguyen@oregonian.com; @ryanjjnguyen