Sheriff to motorcyclists: ‘Please wear a helmet’
NEW PHILADELPHIA – Tuscarawas County’s Sheriff is imploring motorcycle riders to wear their helmets after a pair of fatal crashes with 24 hours of each on the first two days of spring.
A 38-year-old Strasburg woman was killed on March 20 when the motorcycle she was operating crashed into an vehicle that had pulled out in front of her. She was not wearing a helmet.
The next day, a 63-year-old New Philadelphia man was killed when he lost control of the motorcycle he was operating and crashed into a guardrail on state Route 800. The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office said he suffered multiple blunt force trauma to the head. Sheriff Orvis Campbell says he also wasn’t wearing a helmet.
“It could have been a survivable type accident – no helmet,” he said.
Campbell is asking motorcyclists to drive defensively.
“If have an image that you’re going to ride a motorcycle and just totally relax and let your mind go, you’re probably not the guy to be on a motorcycle,” he said. “You need to be scanning constantly because you need to pay attention for all those people who are eating their cheeseburger, who are looking at their phone that shouldn’t be, and all of those things, because the consequences are so much more catastrophic when you’re the victim on a motorcycle.”
Campbell says even if motorcyclists drive safely, there are so many things that can go wrong, from careless drivers to animals darting into the street. He also recommends riders take a motorcycle safety course. They are offered at Buckeye Career Center and Adventure Harley Davidson.