Kansas man riding motorcycle in the dark hits a black cow and dies

A 59-year-old Kansas man was killed when the motorcycle he was driving Friday night collided with a black cow on a blacktopped road.

Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Brant Birney said there were no witnesses when James Zordel hit the cow on a rural road about six miles south of Interstate 70 near Russell.

Zordel was driving in the roadway when the accident happened, and it is not clear whether he was speeding or whether the cow suddenly appeared from the side of the road.

“It was dark. He was driving down a blacktop road and he hit a black cow,” Birney said, adding that exactly what caused the accident may never be known.

Zordel, who was not wearing a helmet, died at the scene.

This story was originally published June 26, 2016 at 9:54 AM with the headline "Kansas man riding motorcycle in the dark hits a black cow and dies."