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Boston Motorcycle Lawyer

Taunton Biker Killed in Pickup Truck Crash
June 22, 2010

A Taunton biker was killed last week in a crash involving his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a pickup truck in New Hampshire.

The officials identified the victim as the 56-year-old Michael Bator, while his friends and relatives remember him as an all around good guy who would literally take the shirt off his back for a friend, the local newspaper, Taunton Gazette, reported.

Medics at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH, pronounced Bator dead upon arrival last Thursday. The crash had occurred on Route 175 in Campton after Bator’s motorcycle crossed the center line of the road and struck the left front corner of the oncoming pickup truck. Route 175 is notorious among the local motorcyclists for its twists, turns and change in elevation.

The truck driver was not injured in the crash, and there have been no charges so far.

One of Bator’s friends, Teddy Benson, said that he, Bator and a small group of Harley-Davidson enthusiasts from Taunton had been making an annual pilgrimage to Laconia, NH, the newspaper reported. Thousands of motorcycle fans have been flocking to Laconia for years for the annual motorcycle event near Lake Winnipesaukee.   

Officials and Bator’s friends confirm that Bator was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, but Benson said that a helmet wouldn’t have helped as Bator died from massive chest trauma and a badly damaged leg.

Bator is survived by his 93-year-old mother Jean, two daughters, Stephanie, 25, of Taunton, Alyssa, 30, of Vermont and two grandsons.

“He was loved by everybody,” Bator’s sister said. “He would do anything for a friend.”