Sen. Baucus injured in motorcycle crash

HELENA – Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., was admitted to a local hospital for observation after being injured in a motorcycle crash near Lincoln on Saturday afternoon, according to his spokesman, Barrett Kaiser.

Baucus, 62, was going to a family picnic in the Flesher Pass area when he failed to negotiate a curve on Secondary 279 and lost control of his Harley-Davidson Screaming Eagle. He swerved to miss a car and hit the guardrail, Kaiser said. He was alone on the bike. He suffered cuts on his foot and leg and bruises and scrapes on his hands in the 3:30 p.m. crash. He was treated in the emergency room and then admitted to the hospital for observation.

Baucus was wearing a helmet and a leather jacket, which helped minimize the injuries, but he was still in pain, Kaiser said. Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Cheryl Liedle said Baucus had not been drinking.

Last month Baucus was hospitalized for several days after undergoing a procedure to help correct an irregular heartbeat, and getting a pacemaker implanted. In November, he injured his head in a fall while running a 50-mile race. In January, he needed an operation in which two small holes were drilled into his skull to relieve pressure from fluid.