John K. Correia was killed when his motorcycle struck a utility pole in the area around 1:45 am on Saturday. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Correia was riding a 1993 Harley Davidson motorcycle, which, according to police, veered off the road to the right, then struck the pole and crashed into a grassy embankment.

The impact of the crash threw Correia off his motorcycle and against a parked vehicle before coming to rest in a driveway on North Main Street.

Correia suffered serious head trauma, police said, even though he was wearing a helmet. We sincerely sympathise with his family and friends.

The crash remains under investigation.

News Sources: WPRI, Herald News.

Gina Rogers, 43, was in a critical condition ever since she arrived last Monday at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH following a tragic motorcycle accident caused by her husband’s drunk driving. Gina Rogers was traveling as his passenger on the 2009 Harley-Davidson which struck a guard rail on Route 111  near Garland Drive in Hampstead, NH.

Route 111 near Garland Dr in Sandown NH

Gina was thrown from the motorcycle into the street suffering a severe head trauma. Neither Gina, nor her husband were wearing helmets. She was treated for extensive head trauma at the hospital, where she died on Friday.

Mark Rogers, 47, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated in the accident. It is not yet clear whether police will upgrade his criminal charges following his wife’s death.

Police say the accident remains under investigation.

According to local police, the victim, Thomas Beesley, 66, of Center Ossipee, died when his motorycle crashed with a car driven by Lillian Perry, 41, of Newburyport, MA, as she was attempting to make a left turn on Route 16.

Beesley swerved left to avoid Perry’s Chrysler Sebring by going around it, however, he struck the driver’s side door instead. Beesley was thrown from the 2010 Harley Davidson he was riding. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

This tragic motorcycle accident happened earlier in a week marked with other fatal motorcycle crashes, including the ones in which a Lowell police officer and a Marshfield motorcyclist lost their lives (in separate crashes). We hope the news of motorcycle fatalities will subside with the coming of colder months as riders will put their bikes away for the season.

News Sources: The Citizen of Laconia, Union Leader.

Johnson was off duty at the time.

Authorities said the person who struck him, Theary Chan, 26, also of Lowell, was driving while drunk. Chan allegedly ran a stop sign and hit Johnson’s Harley Davidson motorcycle at the intersection of Princeton Boulevard and Foster Street.

The impact of the collision threw Johnson from his Harley onto a lawn three houses away, news reports said. He was rushed to Lowell General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Chan was charged with motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence, failure to stop at a stop sign, and an open container violation.

He pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court yesterday. Chan is held on $5,000 cash bail, far lower than the $25,000 Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Sean Griffith requested. Chan will be back in court on October 13 for a status hearing.

During Chan’s arraignment Griffith said that accoridng to skid marks found at the scene, Chan “didn’t come to a complete stop but went through the stop sign.’’ Also, Chan told authorities after the crash that he had “several’’ beers. He also had two passengers in the car with him, who were also under the influence of alcohol.

Aaccording to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, Chan has at least a half-dozen previous entries on his record, including one for failure to stop and another for an accident in Lowell in 2005. His driver’s license has been suspended several times for failing to take a required driving test. His license has now been indefinitely revoked.

Johnson will be remembered as an excellend police officer who volunteered for a children’s charity, and helped take guns off the streets as part of an elite unit focusing on gang activity.

 Deputy Superintendent Deborah Friedl said, “He was a great officer, a great son, and a great father.’’

Johnson is a 1997 graduate from Lowell High School. He also served in the Marine Corps for four years before joining the Lowell police department in 2004.

A wake for Patrick Johnson will be held tomorrow, Sept 15, Wednesday from 3 to 8 pm in Dolan Funeral Home in Chelmsford. A funeral will be held Thursday at 9 am in St. John the Evangelist Parish.

In a few words, on Monday, Aug 2, a group of four motorcyclists after paying a visit to the Trailside Steak and Seafood Restaurant were travelling on Route 302 in Maine. One of the bikers, a Quincy man stood up on his 2004 Harley-Davidson Night Train motorcycle and started waving with one hand, while holding the bike’s handlebar with the other hand, going at 55 mph.

He then lost control and fell, sustaining fatal injuries. The victim, Justin Dilks, 34, landed in the middle of the road.

Hi friend and fellow biker, Marjorie Loonie, 45, of Melrose trying to avoid crashing into him, swerved and lost control of her own 2006 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and also crashed. Loonie suffered serious injury and was airlifted to Central Maine Medical Center where she is listed in a stable condition.

Neither Dilks, nor Loonie, nor any of the other bikers in the group were wearing helmets, which could have perhaps save them from head injury and trauma. Dilks was pronounced dead at the scene from severe head injuries, police said.

According to the police, the trick riding led to the fatal crash. Trick riding is dangerous and usually rare. We are sorry that a fellow motorcyclist got killed while engaging in this behavior, and that his friend got injured. It serves as a valuable and obvious lesson to other riders not to rush to do something which may put them and other people in the path of injury and death.

Many factors lead to the death of Justin Dilks and the injury of Marjorie Loonie, but we can narrow them down to the most obvious three:

1. None were wearing helmets.

Motorcycle helmets are essential safety gear which should we worn at all times. It saves bikers from severe head trauma and brain injury, and some models even prevent facial injuries. Even though helmet use is not required in every state, bikers’ common sense should tell me to put one on before hitting the road.

2. Dilks was riding while standing on his bike.

Even if he was doing it in on a parked motorcycle, instead of going at 55 mph, it just seems as a very irresponsible behavior – an accident waiting to happen. And it did. The sad part is that it ended terribly, both for Dilks and Loonie.

3. The stretch of US Route 302 where the crash occurred is known as a busy and a frequent crash site, so the motorcyclists should have been extra careful when travelling on it.

If you are riding on notorious, or unfamiliar roads, always stay alert and focused, epsecially at night.

Justin Dilks is remembered by friends as a kind man who lived life to the fullest, and his loss is felt by many. He was on vacation at the Keoka Beach Campground in Waterford, just north of Bridgton, police said.

News Sources: Patriot Ledger, KJ Online.

According to news reports, the man was standing on the seat of his motorcycle waving with one hand and holding the bike’s handlebar with the other. He lost control and fell off the motorcycle.

The victim’s name was not released due to pending notification of his relatives first.  

The other motorcyclist, Marjorie Loonie, 45, of Melrose, Massachusetts, was seriously injured in the crash, and had to be airlifted by a LifeFlight helicopter to a Maine hospital. Loonie’s condition was still being evaluated yesterday, a Central Maine Medical Center spokesperson said.

Loonie was a part of a motorcycle group of four which previously visited the Trailside Steak and Seafood Restaurant yesterday afternoon.

After the restaurant the four motorcyclists drove about a 1/4 mile on Route 302 from the restaurant when the man lost control of his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and fell to the ground. Loonie, trying to avoid a collision with him lost control of her own motorcycle and crashed.

No other details regarding this accident were released, except that none of the motorcyclists were wearing helmets.

Also, there is no word on why the man was standing and waving before the crash or if alcohol was involved. Police are still investigating the accident.

This unfortunate crash should remind other bikers about the importance of always wearing helmets and not engaging in dangerous behavior while riding a motorcycle, since it puts more than one lives in peril.

News Sources: Press Herald, Sun Journal.

News reports covering this accident said that David J. Haas, 62, of Keene, NH, was driving his Harley on Concord Street in Spofford, NH, when he swerved the motorcycle to evade a collision with a car backing out of a driveway. He went off the road and down a short embankment, with his Harley-Davidson landing on top of him.

Haas was flown by helicopter to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts for treatment of his injuries sustained in the Sunday crash.

Police said Haas was airlifted to the hospital for “precautionary” reasons, since the full extent of his injuries was not known at that point. According to police officials, “there was a chance of some paralysis.” It was confirmed from the hospital that Haas was still in the intensive care unit on Monday afternoon.

As fellow Harley-Davidson enthusiasts, professional personal injury attorneys, and fellow human beings, we sincerely wish David Haas a full and speedy recovery from his injuries.

In Volusia County Florida a biker, Robert Gam from Sanford, FL struck a deer while riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle and died at the scene. It was not determined if Gam was speeding but he was not wearing a helmet. It’s also unclear if Gamm would have survived the accident if he were wearing a helmet.

Despite his best effort to avoid the collision, Gamm struck the right side of the animal and lost control of his motorcycle. This motorcycle accident occurred around Noon.

When I first read this story, I thought that this is the epitome of a freak accident. It just sounds so far-fetched. But then, I thought about the story a bit more.

Volusia County is where two of the nation’s largest motorcycle events take place, Daytona Beach Bike Week, and Biketoberfest. Besides these events, Daytona Beach is a hot-bed of biker activity and bikers from all over the state of Florida flock there year round. Destination Daytona and the Main Street Strip are filled with bikers everyday and all year long.

I also started to think about all the rural areas where bikers ride. There are countless roads that are lined with wooded areas where animals of all types can run out without warning and cause a major accident.

There have been dozens of times I have either driven my car or rode my bike from South Florida to Orlando or Daytona and saw deer grazing on the side of the road. Sometimes, I see small herds and lately I have even seen a few wild pigs.

Collisions with animals is a major issue.

Gamm’s fatal motorcycle accident should give all bikers something new to think about. Not only do we have to watch out for cars, bad weather, road condition, pedestrians, and other bikers but we also have to be aware of animal crossings; even in the middle of the day.

Like Gamm, we may not be able to avoid hitting an animal but I’m convinced wearing a DOT motorcycle helmet can make a difference.

Hi, I’m Tom Kiley, and when my buddies and I go riding we always put safety first. Get a free copy of my motorcycle book for some valuable riding tips. And if you or loved one are ever hurt in the Massachusetts area, contact the Kiley Law Group for legal advice from a real motorcycle attorney.

In 2009, the motorcycle community said goodbye to Bruce Rossmeyer.

Rossmeyer, the world’s largest Harley Davidson dealer with 14 dealerships died on Thursday, July 30^th while riding with some friends to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. He died at age 66 and is survived by his wife Sandy and 5 children.

Rossmeyer started his first dealership in 1994 at the boom of motorcycles resurgence and through his high visibility marketing campaigns, became a huge player in the retail motorcycle world. He was a huge promoter of the Daytona Bike Week and built Destination Daytona in Ormond Beach, FL. Rossmeyer was also known for his philanthropic efforts as a major sponsor of Camp Boggy Creek for chronically ill children.

Oddly, Rossmeyer died while riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle with no helmet.

For over 15 years, Bruce Rossmeyer has been a giant in the motorcycle industry. As we turn the page from 2009 into 2010 let’s not forget the spirit of Bruce Rossmeyer as we honor his memory through our love of motorcycles.

The 2010 Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge borrows from that same warrior spirit as motorcycle enthusiasts from across the country battle across 7000 miles of rugged terrain to capture the first place prize:

$500,000 in Alaskan Gold

But this motorcycle run is not about the money. The Hoka Hey Challenge is about facing and overcoming extreme obstacles and the love of motorcycling. The 2010 event kicks off from Key West, FL on June 20^th and 2010 event should be the biggest and best Hoka Hey Challenge yet.

Here are some of the features of this challenge:

• The Course: 7000 miles from Key West, FL to the Kenai region of Alaska. The actual route of the challenge will be given to each rider as they arrive at various checkpoints along the way. These check points are great places to stop to reload supplies, rest, and do quick motorcycle maintenance.

• The Bikes: The only bikes allowed in this challenge are air cooled v-twin Harley Davidson motorcycles. There will be a few air cooled non-Harley motorcycles allowed in the challenge but that will be on a case by case basis.

• Entry: Each rider is required to pay $1000 entry fee however, sponsorships are accepted for riders who have financial backing. Each biker must agree to the terms and conditions of the event, sign a release and waiver, and present their bikes for pre-event inspection. If a biker is not selected for they event, their $1000 entry fee will be refunded in full. Bikers wishing to be part of TV telecasts for this motorcycle event will need to submit a bio and other personal information.

• Charitable Contributions: Some of the funds from this event will benefit a variety of charities.

For bikers who want to be part of this event but cannot dedicate the time and energy to complete the journey, all are welcome in Key West on June 20^th. The 2010 event will be huge and all bikers are welcome to join the Hoka Hey spirit.