WASHBURN, Maine — The driver of the truck involved in last Sunday’s accident that sent a bicycle racer to the hospital with multiple injuries has been charged with a traffic violation.
Kenneth Ayotte, 53, of Presque Isle was charged Friday with failure to yield to traffic on entering a public road, according to investigating Officer Roy Guidry of the Washburn Police Department.
The infraction carries a $139 fine.
“That will be it,” Guidry said late Friday afternoon. “There will not be any other charges.”
Cyclist Thad LaVallee of Boston was participating in the Presque Isle Time Trial Race held on Parsons Road when he either struck or was struck by a Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Ayotte about six miles into the race.
LaVallee, 38, suffered multiple broken bones, fractures and lacerations and was taken by ambulance to The Aroostook Medical Center, where he has undergone surgery and continues to recover.
“We will probably never know what happened,” Guidry said. “The only thing I can say conclusively is [Ayotte’s] vehicle was at least partially in the road and the bicyclist was in the road.”
Ayotte told the officer he was pulling out of the driveway, stopped to make a comment to his passenger and heard the impact of LaVallee hitting the truck, Guidry said.
“That is why [Ayotte] didn’t see anything,” Guidry said. “There is no indication of any malicious intent.”
The accident serves as a strong reminder that all who travel on the roads must be aware of their surroundings, Guidry said.
“That’s why we have traffic laws,” he said. “We want to make the roads as safe as possible.”
LaVallee races for the Designturn Velocite USA Team out of Sharon, Mass., and has competed throughout North America and Europe as a professional elite cyclist for more than a decade, with close to 100 wins.
“I feel really badly this happened in our town,” Guidry said. “I wish Thad the best for his recovery.”
Reporter Julia Bayly was a participant in Sunday’s time trial race.
Licience bikes, if they are going to use the road they need to be registered. $$$$$
Cars pay taxes for fuel and excise and the owner of cars paid sales tax on their cars. also many other taxes.
What do bikes pay? It doesn’t matter if bike owners own cars it’s their bikes that need to be taxed at least $150.00 per year . no exemptions. little stickers on them so they can’t put ther tags on another bike.
Seriously? A careless motorist almost kills a cyclist and your solution is to tax bikes more than the fine for failing to yield?
Cyclists pay sales tax. A $5000 racing bike generates $250 in sales tax in Maine. And bicycles cause zero wear and tear on the roads. Maybe you should have your shoes registered. It’s too bad we can’t tax crappy grammar.
Wearin and tearing my brakes out as they zig and zag in traffic.
Nonsense. Next you’ll want to tax pedestrians, roller-bladers and others.
Don’t laugh the state Democrats are working on it
I go running every day… would you like to tax my running shoes?
I think the guy on the bicycle was either distracted or not paying attention, it’s up tothe bicycle rider to be on the lookout.
Clearly this is correct. Bike riders must have friends in high places. What a ridiculous outcome.
You are both wrong. The cyclist was through-traffic. The truck was pulling out onto the roadway from a driveway and could not possibly have the right of way. To be fair, it is often difficult for motorists to judge the speed of a cyclist, especially when they are used to seeing slow moving riders and suddenly here comes a ITT racer going 30 mph. But there is no legal argument for anything besides the cyclist having the right of way, just as a through car would. Sorry for you people who wish bicycles would go away because they sometimes slow you down 10 or 20 seconds on your way to Olive Garden. Bicycle use is proliferating and will continue to do so, probably for centuries, after the demise of the internal combustion engine and age of the personal motor car. So I’d get used to them.
No, it’s up to the driver of the 2,000-plus pound deadly weapon to be on the lookout for the bicycle.
If the bicyclist was already on the road, it was the driver that was suppose to stop. If it were a car instead of a bike that would be the law. What is the difference?
I am confused here. Doesn’t it say that the vechicle was stopped and not moving, and that the passengers it it were sitting talking.. and when they were sitting chatting they heard the biker hit the truck. If this is the case then why did the driver get a traffic violation, if he was in a non moving car.?
You don’t understand, the police only pay lip service to enforcement of traffic laws when bicycles are involved. This is an outrage. If I were the driver first I’d file a civil lawsuit against the bike rider and then I’d hire an attorney to fight the charge in court.
Read it agenan you will have your answer
He may of pulled in front of the bike then stopped, usually if you hit a stopped vehicle it is your fault.
Once again:
The majority of bike riders do not follow traffic laws.
The majority of bike riders do not stay to the side of the road.
The majority of bike riders impede motorized traffic.
Groups of bicyclists on our roads do not save gas because the motorized traffic must respond to their presence and this uses more fuel. Every time a line of vehicles must stop, slow, or go around a bike it takes extra gasoline to do so.
Bicyclists should be licensed.
Bicycles should be registered, inspected, and taxed just as motor vehicles are.
Contrary to claims made by pro-bicycle groups, roads were built to promote commerce not to give bike riders a place to ride.
Road laws governing bicycles should be modified to disallow riding side by side and bikes should be required to pull over and stop when a vehicle is passing them.
There should be an minimum age that a bicyclist can get their license to ride. Allowing young children on the same roads as motorized traffic is ridiculous in the extreme.
You make the same sick commints all the time an the same can be said for people that drive cars an trucks
Please point to statistics which support your claims.
… because your statements are based on fact and not conjecture, right?
We’ll all wait for links to relevant stats.
A sad statement for the American childhood experience, huh George? “There should be an [sic] minimum age that a bicyclist can get their license to ride. Allowing young children on the same roads as motorized traffic is ridiculous in the extreme.” So much for that idilic Americana 1950’s picture of the 12 year-old riding his/her cruzer bike to the country market for a pack of Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum.
The only statement i disagree with is about the kids, atleast they pay attention when they ride and dont think they own the road. And why is racing allowed on public roads? My buddies and I can’t race our motorcycles on the streets unless it is a closed course. If the bicyclist want to race have it on a closed course.
There is never any common cause here with blogging about politics why would we think there would be for bikes and autos. Common sense would lay claim for both to be aware of their surroundings. Bike riders have laws to follow and car drivers theirs. There is plenty of room for adjustment here and both biker and driver own the issue. There will always be accidents, maybe less with a bit of healthy respect for one another is shown. When the driver put his nose out side of the driveway and stopped he was asking for trouble. And when the biker didn’t notice his surroundings he was asking for trouble. Solutions to this are out there, and good judgment would be a start.
The other day I was making a left turn & nearly hit a man riding his bike on the wrong side of the road. Another time I was making a left & a quick right to pull into my driveway and almost hit a bicyclist riding on the correct side of the road. He wasn’t doing anything wrong in that case, I simply didn’t see him.
It is very difficult to see (some) bicyclists while turning. Our eyes are typically looking out for other cars/trucks in the road. I always appreciate bikers (motorcycles and bicycles) that wear fluorescent clothing. They are probably 100x easier to spot.
Hey bikers share the road. Don’t hog it. Iwant to get to work !!
Hey a reply to some of the comments. Most if not all kids ride bikes with more caution then 75 percent of all adults going through a mid life crisis who want to wear tight pants.