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CHP: Silverado Canyon Motorcycle Crash 'One Of The Worst Ones We've Seen'

SILVERADO CANYON (CBSLA) — The Orange County Sheriff's Department has now identified the victims of Sunday's deadly motorcycle collision in the Modjeska Canyon area.

The four riders who died in the head-on crash were Regina Michelle Crowder, 48, of Fountain Valley; Jon Michael Schwarz, 50, of Tustin; David Mark Terman, 59, of Santa Ana; and Edith Mae Hegy, 62, of Elko, Nevada.

Zach Telatorri knew Schwarz and Crowder and said the couple, who had been dating for years, lived life to the full.

"Riding Harleys every Sunday, you know they lived a good life, just got back from Spain a month ago," Telatorri said. "They were there for two weeks.  They went to the river all the time, they lived their life, they had a great relationship."

The accident occurred when a Harley Davidson motorcycle carrying two people on East Santiago Canyon Road swerved into oncoming traffic on a blind curve to get around a car. It slammed into a Honda motorcycle heading in the opposite direction.

"It's probably one of the worst ones we've seen in a while," says California High Patrol Officer Florentino Olivera.

Katrina Kirkeby, who lives near the site of the collision, says the road is very popular with motorcyclist and drivers, especially on the weekends when the weather is nice: "It's a very special place in Southern California. You don't have many places where you can drive for a long period of time with a stop sign."

santiago canyon crash
(credit: CBS)

Previous deadly collisions have led to warning signs being posted on the road, however. But some wonder if more needs to be done to keep people safe.

Kirekby isn't so sure: "You don't want more lanes. It's a country road. Don't turn it into a highway... Maybe slow down on the canyon and be a little more conservative, because it can be very dangerous."

The road was reopened Monday.

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