Electric Motorcycle Rider, 42, Seriously Hurt in Collision With Pickup on West Avon Road in Rochester Hills

West Avon Road Crash in Rochester Hills: E-Motorcycle Rider, 42, Hurt | Sept 15, 2026

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By TruckCrash News Desk · Michigan Daily Crash Report

What Happened

A 42-year-old Rochester Hills man suffered multiple serious injuries Tuesday morning when the electric motorcycle he was riding collided with a pickup truck on West Avon Road in Rochester Hills, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office. The crash was reported just before 7:30 a.m. on September 15, near Old Perch Road.

Deputies said the man was riding the electric motorcycle on the sidewalk and began crossing West Avon Road at the intersection. According to the sheriff's office, a car had stopped in a position that blocked the crosswalk, and the rider traveled outside the crosswalk as a result. He continued into the path of a pickup truck that was traveling east on West Avon Road, and the two collided.

The pickup, a Ford Ranger, was driven by a 20-year-old Lake Orion man, the sheriff's office said. He and a passenger in the truck were uninjured. Witnesses reported that the Ford entered the intersection against a red traffic signal, according to the sheriff's office account. Neither driver has been publicly identified, and no citations or charges had been announced as of the sheriff's office's initial statements.

The rider was taken to a hospital, where WXYZ reported he was in stable condition. Deputies said he was not wearing a helmet, and that the electric motorcycle was not registered and was not legally permitted to be operated on either the sidewalk or the roadway.

Reporting: ClickOnDetroit (WDIV), FOX 2 Detroit, WXYZ, and Mid-Michigan NOW, with information from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

The Investigation: What Happens Next

The Oakland County Sheriff's Office said the investigation is ongoing. This crash has two separate threads that investigators typically work in parallel: the movements of each vehicle through the intersection, and the status of the electric motorcycle itself under Michigan law.

On the first, the account deputies have released includes a witness statement about the traffic signal. Signal timing is one of the few elements of an intersection crash that can often be established independently, through the controller's own logs and through any camera coverage at or near the intersection, and investigators commonly seek both. Accounts from witnesses are a starting point for that work rather than a conclusion.

On the second, deputies stated that the machine was unregistered and not permitted on the sidewalk or the road. Michigan's vehicle code draws lines between mopeds, motorcycles, electric bicycles, and machines that fall outside all of those definitions, and where a given electric two-wheeler lands determines where it may legally operate, what equipment it needs, and what licensing applies to the rider.

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard used the crash to renew a call for legislation covering electric two-wheelers. “Obviously, we are seeing more crashes and dangerous situations from E-bikes and E-motos,” Bouchard said in a statement reported by WXYZ. “The legislature must pass better guard rails on where, how, and who can operate these vehicles, as well as require disclosure to potential buyers about where, how, and who may operate them.” He added that it is “troubling that people sell kits to make it appear that an E-moto is an E-bike in an attempt to obfuscate illegal use.” No citations or charges have been announced in this crash, and the sheriff's office has not stated a conclusion about its cause or assigned fault to anyone involved.

The Legal Picture

<strong>How does Michigan classify electric two-wheelers?</strong> Michigan law treats mopeds, motorcycles, and electric bicycles as distinct categories with different rules for registration, equipment, licensing, and where each may be ridden. Some machines sold as electric motorcycles do not fit cleanly into any of those categories, which affects both their legal status and how a crash involving one is handled.

<strong>Why does classification matter for insurance?</strong> Michigan's no-fault system is built around the definition of a motor vehicle, and benefits available after a crash can depend on what the rider was operating and what the other vehicle was. That distinction can matter more than the severity of the injury in determining where benefits come from. Our overview explains <a href="https://www.truckcrash.com/how-michigan-no-fault-works/">how Michigan no-fault works</a>.

<strong>What are the general rules at Michigan intersections?</strong> Right-of-way depends on the traffic control in place and on the movements each party was making, and what happened at a particular intersection is a matter for the investigating agency to establish. General background is on our page about <a href="https://www.truckcrash.com/intersection-car-accidents/">intersection car accidents</a>.

<strong>What does no-fault cover for a rider with serious injuries?</strong> Michigan personal injury protection can cover allowable medical expenses, replacement services, and wage loss within selected limits, though the availability of those benefits for a rider depends on the classification questions above. General information is in our overview of <a href="https://www.truckcrash.com/michigan-no-fault-insurance/">Michigan no-fault insurance</a>.

<em>Nothing in this section assumes fault by any person involved in this crash. The investigation is ongoing and no citations or charges have been reported.</em>

This Stretch of Road

West Avon Road is an east-west arterial through Rochester Hills, a suburb of roughly seventy-five thousand in northern Oakland County. Avon Road carries commuter traffic across the city between Rochester Road and the Adams Road corridor, running past subdivisions, schools, and office and retail frontage, and it is a busy route during the morning peak.

Near Old Perch Road the corridor has the layout common to mature Oakland County arterials: multiple through lanes, center turn provision, signalized crossings at the main junctions, and a sidewalk set back from the roadway on at least one side. That sidewalk network was designed around people walking, and it now carries a growing mix of electric bicycles, scooters, and electric motorcycles moving at speeds far closer to traffic than to walking pace.

That mismatch is at the center of what has become a recurring crash pattern in Oakland County and across Michigan. A rider traveling at twenty or thirty miles an hour on a sidewalk arrives at a crossing much faster than a driver scanning for pedestrians expects, and at a point where a turning or crossing driver is not looking for a vehicle. The 7:30 a.m. timing puts this crash in the heart of the Rochester Hills commuter peak, with school and work traffic on Avon Road at its heaviest.

If You Saw This Crash

The Oakland County Sheriff's Office is continuing to investigate. Anyone who was on West Avon Road near Old Perch Road in Rochester Hills just before 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 15, and saw the electric motorcycle, the pickup truck, or the collision itself is encouraged to contact the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

Given that the released account includes a question about the traffic signal, dashcam footage from vehicles on West Avon Road during the morning peak is particularly valuable here, including footage from drivers who were stopped or approaching in other lanes. Businesses near the intersection with exterior cameras facing the roadway are also encouraged to preserve recordings from Tuesday morning.

More on This Crash

• ClickOnDetroit (WDIV): Electric motorcyclist seriously injured after being struck by pickup truck in Rochester Hills
• FOX 2 Detroit: Rochester Hills e-moto rider hit by pickup truck while crossing the street on West Avon
• WXYZ: Man riding e-motorcycle seriously injured in crash in Rochester Hills
• Mid-Michigan NOW: 42-year-old man seriously injured in electric motorcycle crash