MONROE, Maine — A Fairfield man died Tuesday afternoon in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash.
John Williams, 65, had been traveling north on Route 141 at about 2 p.m. when he came to the intersection of Route 139 in Monroe, locked his brakes and lost control, according to Chief Deputy Jeff Trafton of the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office.
“He was ejected off his bike and was killed instantly,” Trafton said.
Williams was not wearing a helmet, he said.
Police believe Williams may not have been familiar with the area and did not realize that he was heading into an intersection, because of the way he locked his brakes.
“We’ll never know for sure,” Trafton said.
Officials from the sheriff’s office were assisted at the scene by members of Brooks Ambulance and the Monroe Fire Department. The road was closed for about an hour and a half after the crash, Trafton said.
This happened just up the road from my home. Go through this intersection regularly. And the second fatality in this general area this summer.
Let’s be careful out there, guys (and gals).
Big John will most certainly be missed!
It is so funny when someone gets killed not wearing a helmet they always say it in the paper.When they die wearing one GUESS WHAT they never bring it up. May god take care of this fine man. Ride everday in heaven my friend.
Perhaps they don’t bring up if someone is wearing a helmet because it’s just frankly DUMB not to wear a helmet. ‘God’ might not of had to take care of this man if he had been wearing a helmet.
Well I have three very close friends that died and all three had helmets on. HMMMMMMMMMMMM imagine that
I think the point is that yes in a major accident a helmet doesn’t do much, but in a minor accident it could mean the difference between life and death.
Personally when I ride (KLR 650 dual purpose) I wear a full face helmet, a HANS systems, back/chest protector, boots, gloves, and protective clothing.
Sure it sucks to get all geared up on a 90+ day but every little bit helps when riding with the general public.
I have never said that helmets do not save lives at all. My point is,most people will bring the helmet thing up,even if the motorcycle rider gets broadsided with a tractor trailer truck. And you know what,i have been riding motorcycle for around 45 years now. I cant even start to tell you how many people have said,you should not ride motorcycle you could get killed on it. my answer to them is when are you going to get rid of your car??? do you know how many people die in them a year. Then its all different then when you say that.
“Then its all different then when you say that.”
Yes…they sit there and blindly agree with you because they realize arguing w/ someone of your mentality isn’t worth the effort.
“they sit there and blindly agree with you because they realize arguing w/ someone of your mentality isn’t worth the effort.”
Oddly, I was just thinking the same thing about your comments…
Do you wear a helmet when you’re riding a motorcycle?
Yes
Just to let you know,yesterday when going to work on my motorcycle a car passed five other vehicles coming in the opposite direction that I was going. I had to swerve into the side of the road to avoid that car hitting me. Now I do not blame all car drivers for this type of driving. But it was nothing at all that I did wrong. Now If I had got killed with my helmet on. Would that be OK ??????
Of course not. Anyway, you’re smart to wear a helmet. It improves the odds of not receiving a head injury.
Yes sir I do wear a helmet.
It’s so nice to you you (GoldWingers) out on the road. My dream-ride is a GW1800. I’m riding a Shadow 750 ACE right now, 2002, with 65,000+ (all mine) miles (my second Shadow.) I’m on-pace for 10,000 miles this year (8,000+ so far!)
Maybe we’ll bump into each other sometime.
“MaineRider”
Well maybe we will bump into each other sometime. This is my 12th bike.i love to ride.This wing now has 44000 plus on it in 2 and a half years. Ride safe my friend.
That would be great, my friend. If you see my black Shadow around, say hey. My plate says “Long Way Home” :-) As in, I’ll take the Long Way Home. You’ll know it when you see it.
Ride Safe, Ride Long, Ride Often!
My plate says RWAY2GO so if you see it say hi You ride safe and watch out for others.
You HAD three very close friends and there’s is a reason why people in the medical field call motorcyclists ‘organ donors’ – regardless of whether they wear helmets or not….. guess your three ex- friends would be prime examples of that HMMMMMM imagine that.
Do you know how many organ donors there are in fatal car accidents ??????????
Do I care?
No you dont unless it is a motorcycle accident.That is pretty clear to me.
But why do they bring it up when they arnt wearing one????????
Do you know how many people die every day wearing seatbelts????????
Yes, and they’re stupid, too. Still, it’s probably more dangerous not to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle than not to fasten the seatbelt while in a car.
Here’s some of those pesky statistics that people like to pretend don’t exist:”Motorcycles are the most dangerous type of motor vehicle to drive (1). These vehicles are involved in fatal crashes at a rate of 35.0 per 100 million miles of travel, compared with a rate of 1.7 per 100 million miles of travel for passenger cars.”http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml…
Or to simplify
Cars:1 Body per Mile,,every 5,280 Feet
Bikes:
20 Bodies per mile,,every 256 Feet
Centers For Disease ControlMorbidity and Mortality Weekly ReportDecember 3, 2004 / 53(47);1103-1106
They are more dangerous because of mostly the idiots that drive cars not paying attention to the bikes on the rode.
Possibly- however the ‘idiots’ in the car survive their unfortunate encounters with motorcycles far more often than the motorcyclists do…
you need to find out how many people die in cars per year verses motorcycles
Back of envelope calculation, using 35 per 100 million deaths fatalities…..
I ride 4000 miles per year…..dividing 4000/100 million X 35 deaths = .0014 deaths for drivers like me PER YEAR! I should statistically die once every 714 years of driving. I will likely ride another 25 years so my odds of death on a cycle are about 4% over that span.
Now, I stick to back roads, never ride on 1A in Holden…..I wear a helmet…no leathers….lots of deer in the sticks…..I’m rethinking riding….the wife is right.
Thanks a lot TLMMSW;(
I ride about 8,000 miles per year, with about the same number of years left in my “riding career.”
I also wear a helmet, almost always wear my leathers, and also live in the sticks.
I guess that makes my chance of dying in a riding death about 66%?
I am hoping to beat the odds!!!
The guy that had a car pull out at the intersection in Holden (and survived,) he flew head over heels over the back of the car, and had leather top and bottom on, helmet on, was prominently mentioned in the article. My friend saw the accident. Car just pulled right out, didn’t see him. No chance for reaction.
A buddy of mine was killed on his GoldWing about 2 years ago. The man who gave me my first motorcycle ride (on a GoldWing Aspencade) when I was a young teenager. I’m in my mid-40’s now, and aspire to ride a GoldWing of my own someday.
He was killed riding home from work, sitting at a light, minding his own business, when he was rear-ended by a kid going to fast, and not seeing the light.
You never know. You could do nothing wrong, and something tragic still may happen.
We’ve all gotta die of something, someday.I hope to die an old man, doing something I love.
I think of him often, and enjoy the thought that, in some way, I’m taking a ride for him.
LOUD PIPES SAVES LIFE!
it is MAINE DOT ‘s fault for having an
intersection that is harmful to motorcyclists
unfamiliar with the area
I disagree.
12 years of riding. Almost 80,000 miles. Not a scratch on me, or my bike.
Quietest pipes of anyone I know.
bro, you been brianwashed
we are one or we are none
LOUD PIPES SAVES LIVES
I don’t follow the “we are one or we are none” theory. I know what works, for me at least.
Patience, paying attention, anticipating the actions of others, and taking responsibility for my own safety.
It’s worked pretty well for me so far.
I will only say this David. You and I think alike. Most of the accidents are caused by others not paying attention. I keep my eyes wide open all the time to hopefully see those bad things coming my way.
I just traded for a bike with the best headlights available, put an air horn on the thing and I keep my speeds way down on hilltops, thumb near the horn always……hope it works.
I think we do, GW…and, as you know, sometimes, bad stuff happens, no matter how hard you try, no matter how safe you try to be. Truth be told, very little in life is under our complete control. All we can do, is to do the best we can to keep the odds in our favor.
Keep the shiny-side up!!!
I will only say this.Its strikes me funny the posts that get no responses. I hope all people no matter what they drive get to thier destination safe. No one deserves to be killed on the rode
I just drove by and the road signs indicating an intersection are obscured by branches. This gentleman likely didn’t know an intersection was coming up, and it’s a State maintained highway.
My condolences to the family.
Does anyone here know who to call about this? I will call them, and report it. I will go take photos and send them to them, if needed (it’s just up the road from me.)
I’d hate to see this happen to another fellow rider.
My condolences to the family…
I just called, better late, I guess.
That is great, TedJohn, Thank-you for doing that for all of us.