HAMPDEN, Maine — A local motorcyclist and a deer apparently both escaped serious injury Thursday when they collided on Main Road North, which is part of U.S. Route 1.
The accident happened shortly before 5 p.m. near 201 Main Road North when a deer ran into the road — and into a motorcycle being driven by Hampden resident Jason Richard, 38, Hampden police Officer Joshua Gunn said Thursday evening.
Gunn said Richard was traveling north when the deer darted out of the woods, into the roadway and struck Richard and his motorcycle from the right.
“It happened so fast, he didn’t even see it until its head was right near him,” Gunn said.
The impact caused Richard to lose control of his motorcycle, which took a spill that caused less than $1,000 in damage to the bike, Gunn said.
Richard did not have a passenger aboard when the accident happened, Gunn said.
“He actually was fairly well protected,” Gunn said, adding that despite the heat, the rider was wearing a helmet, a padded protective jacket, gloves and jeans.
“From seeing the marks on his coat and the helmet, his injuries would have been a lot worse if he hadn’t been wearing them,” Gunn said.
Richard was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for treatment of what appeared at the scene to be minor injuries, namely an abrasion on his arm and pain in his sternum. Further information about his medical condition was not immediately available.
The deer bounded away after the accident.
Why does the BDN need to editorialize every bike mishap by describing helmet use/not use, protective clothing, etc. If they have something to say, put it on the Editorial Page and maintain the impartiality of what a well written news story is intended to convey. Ken
read the bike down embankment article , couldnt communicate well with dispatch.. he had broken ribs and a punchured lung.. “he wasn’t wearing a helmet” was in the story. Im sure it would have helped him just as that tree walloped his chest.. helmets keep your face pretty for burial. neat and clean like everyone likes.
Yea, like THAT would ever happen at BDN!
Obviously the deer was texting and not paying attention when entering it’s intersection!
If they didn’t say whether a person was, or wasn’t wearing a helmet, the first 50 or so comments would be people debating whether the person was or not. By giving us the information, it HOPEFULLY stops people from focusing on the more important things- like this rider being ok. Obviously, it didn’t work the way they intended, did it?
Editorials contain opinion. It’s a fact that helmets and Kevlar clothing and gloves offer protection. This protection was a factor in this riders surviving relatively unscathed. If the bdn had left this information out of the story, it would have been incomplete. The bdn told us all the pertinent facts they were aware of, just what a newspaper is supposed to do.
Running out of things to criticize, are we? Sheesh!
Reporting the facts and the facts in this accident show very clearly that the safety devices made for motorcycle riders work quite effectively…..when actually worn by said motorcycle riders…..
Ah, survival of the fittest. Glad his precautions paid off! Hope he’s back out riding soon.
It isn’t editorializing. He escaped more serious injury because he was properly equipped for what he chose to ride. You ride in a car, you have a metal cage protecting you, you wear a seatbelt. You ride a bike, you wear your leather and kevlar, and you put on a helmet. It was good reporting.
You don’t wear a helmet… And hopefully I don’t have to scrape your face off the pavement. It’s your choice to wear it… I disagree. Seatbelts are mandated for a reason. They save lives. If helmets were mandated as they should be, they would save lives…as they have for years for those who wear them.
You will maintain that it is your life. Your decision. You’re right, it is… But remember this.
We have to respond to these accidents. Your face, your head, or lack thereof, won’t matter to you, because you’ll be dead. We, however, have to live with these images for the rest of our lives. Hundreds, thousands, of these images will be in our heads forever.
Please, wear a helmet, so you can go home to your family. Wear a helmet so I don’t have to see those images.
That, sir, was an editorial. That was my opinion, based on years of experience and innumerable fatal accidents. You’re welcome to yours.
Editorial comment: If you didn’t love your job, you wouldn’t do it.
I never stated that I didn’t love my job… I do, it’s the best job in the world. But every one of us would rather not see people seriously injured, especially when injuries are preventable. Our job, first and foremost, is public SAFETY. We are tasked with keeping the public safer, oftentimes from themselves. Our job begins with prevention of fires and injuries through education.
I applaud your service, but you love the blood and guts too. Isn’t it referred to as being an “adrenaline junkie”.
You worry about you, and let us worry about our own safety. We don’t need another well-intentioned nanny looking out for us.
Another potential organ donor I presume…..most EMS workers do not “love the blood and guts”…..it comes with the job and very often as the result of poor decision making…..
Here’s the thing… People prove time and time again, when it comes to issues such as these, you do need someone to tell you what to do.
I’m in this profession for one reason. I like helping people. It isn’t because I’m an “adrenaline junkie” as you stereotyped. The simple fact is, it’s always easier to help the rider that wore a helmet. They’re usually alive.
Riding without a helmet isn’t rebellious. It’s stupid.
I agree–If ya cant stand the heat than get outta the kitchen. Or get a job at IGA
Now helmets even protect riders from deer! Now if they could only ward off stupid cagers!!
Modern motorcycles, properly operated, can make an emergency stop from a speed of 35 mph at a distance of about 10 ft. The speed limit on North Main is 35 mph with thick coverage coming right up to the outer edge of the roadway, a distance of 20 feet to the traffic line. Operating with the front brake covered and paying close attention to events happening in front of the rider, would allow a cyclist to emergency stop for a deer with 10 ft to spare, or be traveling so slowly at impact the collision may not not harm rider or deer. (Riders who experiment with emergency braking, know what velocity is needed to stop what distance, in the worst case possible predictions) What most motorcyclist would appreciate in a report, is the type of bike, years of riding experience, speed before the incident, and lane of travel. i.e.-Did this rider hug the right shoulder, limiting time and space for an animal jumping out from the woods? The riding gear is irrelevant in the report. If a rider is never in an accident they could ride naked. Other riders learn from the mistakes of others. But not if the details are not printed in a report.