BURLINGTON, Maine — Three people were taken to Penobscot Valley Hospital after an all-terrain vehicle left a dirt road off Madagascal Pond and went into a ditch late Saturday afternoon and a second ATV hit two others who had stopped to help the first ATV’s driver.
Maine game wardens Sunday continued to investigate the crash, according to a press release issued by the Maine Warden Service. The injured are expected to recover.
Paul Boucher, whose grandchildren, ages 3 and 11, were passengers on his ATV, was approaching a corner in the road when an oncoming ATV met him in the turn, wardens said. Boucher, 68, of Lewiston was startled, quickly turned to the right, then overcorrected, causing his machine to roll over as it struck a dirt embankment.
The Lewiston man and his passengers were trapped under the ATV. The 11-year-old managed to free herself but the 3-year-old and his grandfather remained trapped, wardens said. Rachael Dorais, 41, of Biddeford, who had been on the approaching ATV, was helping the 11-year-old get the younger child out from under the machine when Dorais and the older child were struck by a third, runaway ATV, according to wardens.
A child, who was not identified, grasped the accelerator of a parked but still running ATV, according to the warden service. The machine was propelled into Dorais and the 11-year-old.
“It was a mess,” April Thompson, Dorais’ sister, said Saturday. She was on the oncoming ATV with Dorais and Dorais’ sister-in-law Tracy Botting, 39, of Woodville.
Dorais and the elderly man suffered apparent head and rib injuries. Dorais kept falling in and out of consciousness, Thompson said.
The victims were not at Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln on Sunday, according to a nurse manager.
State police, a Penobscot County sheriff’s deputy, several Maine Warden Service game wardens and several volunteer firefighters responded to the accident, which was reported at 4:40 p.m., a dispatcher from the Penobscot Regional Communications Center said.
Mike Lamontagne, a 35-year-old resident of Warren who has a camp on the pond, wasn’t surprised at the accident.
ATV riders who ride near Madagascal Pond “drive way too fast, with no helmets and carelessly,” Lamontagne said. “We go fishing off the bridge here and they almost run us off because they are just driving carelessly.
“We have five kids up here this weekend and it’s just scary,” said Lamontagne, who said he has reported ATV speeding problems in the area previously.
The warden service reminded Maine residents not to leave children unattended on or near an ATV, whether it is running or not.
BDN writer Judy Harrison contributed to this report.
…I wanna go fast.
Could someone who rides ATV’s please explain to me how a 3 year old somehow engaged the engine and propelled it forward if the engine was turned off?
If the engine was off how would a 3 year old start it and get it to move in the first place? Are ATV’s that simple to ride these days that a 3 year old can figure it out in a matter of seconds?
A relevant question.
If the 4 wheeler is electric start and the key is turned to the on position, all it takes to start it is pressing a little button, mines on the left handle bar near your thumb. Its pretty easy actually. And my kids have a little 50 scrambler fourwheeler and that has electric start too, its an automatic, so when you press the button to start it all you have to do is press the throttle with your right thumb and go.
However it doesn’t say its a 4 wheeler it just states ATV so that could be I think its called a ranger, they have bucket seats and steering wheel like a car, foot pedal to go.
You would be surprised what an intelligent toddler can do. When my youngest son was 2 he unfastened his car seat that even I had to exert a lot of strength to unfasten (it had a hard foam full chest harness), scaled a full bench seat, put the car in drive and took off…all in under 15 seconds. I stepped out of the car to grab something, bent over to pick it up, turned around and saw my car heading for a big tree. I ran, opened the door and jumped in to stop it and never left the keys in the car again after that. I never figured out how he did it, but the kid was like a little ninja, lol.
So yeah, a 3 year old can turn a key and hit the gas.
That is the problem here Kev, it sounds from the story that the son-in-law put his son on the green ATV with it still running. He may of yelled to someone to shut it off but it doesnt look like the did it in time before the little guy accidentally put it in gear. In either case the father should have been mindful enough regardless that his father in law was in the ditch, that he turn off his ATV before placing his son there to wait. I am sure he realizes that now. Hopefully all will be fine, and thank god the 3 year old wasnt also injured. this should definately be a lesson to anyone recreating on ATV’s with children.
it says his father asked one of the girls there to turn off the engine, my guess is they didn’t get that far. engine was still on, all this kid had to do was push the throttle and it was over…
You are informing me to get a life but yet you took the time to make a comment and accuse me of something I do not do.
Amusing you are says Yoda.
Edit: Who flagged his comment? I found his insult amusing.
Thanks for the chuckle!
Looks like you might need a life too, if you know Kevin post all articles
Not a relevant reply. We all can comment as may times as we want with (hopefully) something relevant to say. Seriously, dude…… get over yourself!
Very simple Kevin ,the parents screwed up, a 3 year old couldnt put an atv in gear from neutral , or start it, or in the case of the newer ones from park, however its like a snowmobile ,same drivetrain ,if its in gear,obvviously it was ,then you just push the thumb throttle and away it goes ,any 3 year old can do that.
So you are saying the ATV was left in gear when the 3 year old was placed on it then, correct?
It’s quite simple. Second ATV responds to first ATV’s incident, driver goes to aid the first ATV rider, perhaps only focusing on the first ATV incident, (some chaos involved) and probably didn’t realized what they were leaving behind on the second ATV.
thank you CMY6 that is probably just what happened a person trying to be helpful jumps off in the heat of the moment…..trying to save or help someone injured….makes sense to me and my oldest who is 18 started driving a battery operated one at around one and a half and could drive all of the farm equip by 5 …..it happens…
Not all ATVs are geared and set up the same way . . . on some models once you turn the key on the ATV you can engage it in one of the forward gears simply by pressing up on a handlebar mounted gear shift (Honda ATVs with Electronic Shift) and then give it some gas . . . or as stated if the ATV is one in which you engage the drivetrain by shifting a lever and then push the thumb throttle if it had been left in gear then the three year old could also have operated it in this fashion.
When my youngest son was barely TWO he was able to start the car, put it in drive and step on the gas pedal hard enough to take off into the back yard and nearly hit a tree. I am quite certain a 3 year old (who may be closer to 4 years old) would have no problem doing the same with an ATV.
Who would put a 3 year old on an ATV?
That’s my question !
A child too young to ride a bike shouldn’t be driving something with a motor.
These things happen. No one should be charged with anything. It’s not a perfect world.
Is it really legal to have two children, one of whom is three years old, as passengers on an ATV?
If you read the article it says that the 3 year old was on the first ATV that flipped onto the boy’s grandfather. The young boy’s father picked him up and sat him on the other ATV so that he could lift the first one off the elderly man it landed on top of while a little girl held her grandfather’s head in her hands. In light of the situation the father most likely felt the safest place for the toddler was on the seat of the other ATV, out of the way of the flipped ATV, for his own safety. I’m sure he didn’t expect the little boy to start the ATV and run them all over with it.
Yeah, thats a safe place for the child .On an idling ATV,in the middle of the trail,close to a corner,with responders on the way(coming from who knows what direction and how fast)and after the child was already in an accident.SERIOUSLY?
The article implies that the ATV the boy was on was turned off and the young boy started it. The man’s elderly father was being crushed by the first ATV…and the accident had JUST happened…on a dirt road, without 911 having been called yet. Yes, by all means, the man should have driven the child back to camp and just left his injured father under the other ATV….not. The man did what he thought was the safest option in the situation.
Really? I don’t see any of your explanation in the article. Has it been rewritten since you posted this? Just curious.
Trolling to day I see :)
You should be charged…
You should be charged
ACCIDENT-
An accident or mishap is an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance, often with lack of intention or necessity.
What was the 3 year old’s blood alcohol level?
At least the child was not home in front of A TV.
was it that little devil from Etrade ? look dad its my speed face!!
Sooo, what became of the 3 year old? Was he hurt? Charged? Maybe we can get him to write the story!
I hope everyone involved is okay! And FYI…that county sheriff that is standing there with Fiske..is not Peter Stone…that is Michael Knights!
Very simple cure….Hook the tether too your jacket.When you get off you kill the whole machine….That is WHY all the major retailers put tethers on their machines…..Some people aren’t smart enough to keep a 3yr old off an ATV so the smart poeple at Cat,Bombardier,Yamy,Polaris,do it for them…Just glad to hear it wasn’t worse….
Almost all modern day sleds have tethers attached to the key or kill switch . . . I’ve ridden and seen many brands of ATVs though and have yet to see a tether.
& so the “story” goes!
I hope all are well & survive their injuries. Sound quite crazy!
My Grizzly doesn’t have a tether, never came with one, actually I don’t think I have ever seen a tether on an ATV.
If you are going to sit a 3 year old on an ATV, put it in park, then shut it off, take the key. If your ATV is even fancier and only requires pushing a simple push of a button to turn it on…don’t bother seating a three year old on it.
That’s why they put kill switches on them. It only takes 1 second no matter what the emergency is.
and it takes a push of a button to start one these days…
That looks like Fiske speaking to Deputy Mike Knights not Stone.
This is just plain Bizarre. All of these people having accidents in the middle of the woods and in the middle of no where. A 3 year old boy put on a running ATV how foolish is that? A lot of lawyers are going to get rich on this fun ride in the woods. Wonder how many were high on drugs and alcohol?
None actually :)
Glad they were wearing helmets.
Could have been worse.
OMG!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK6TXMsvgQg
Slow down, put your freaking helmets on and stay OFF the road with your children. Take your children slowly, with a helmet into the woods NOT a freaking road!!!
I agree with yoy ATV’s should not be on a road built for vehicles. Thats just an accident waiting to happen.
I hope everyone ends up ok outta all of this!
Thats my family, so I suggest you all HUSH
I hope they are all ok. Don’t mind the jerks on here…they get a sort of sick satisfaction out of running their mouths about people and situations they have no clue about. It helps fill their empty lives, I suppose.
Okay… so the entire thing really was an accident and everyone is probably hurt and shaken up enough so everyone should probably just leave them alone. But, even still I would question the wisdom of riding with a 3-year old on an ATV. It’s as dangerous as riding with a 3-year old on a motorcycle. It’s not worth the risk if you ask me. But, that’s just my opinion.
Why are 3 people on one ATV that’s probably made for one rider?
wait til the dumb, welfare loving rednecks start
letting their 3 year olds set off fireworks
You know what a redneck told me once? If their kid gets kill,
they can always have another one. THAT is the mental state of
these “parents” of kids that get killed in freak deaths. Life has less
value among classes of humans.
Regardless of cause, thanks to the firefighters of Burlington and Lee, along with the EMS staff of both Penobscot Valley Ambulance and Lee Rescue for preventing a bad situation from worsening.