Motorcyclist’s collision with pickup truck results in fatality; numerous emergency personnel assist at the scene

  • by Jennifer Kneuss
  • May 22, 2011
  • 293
Motorcyclist’s collision with pickup truck results in fatality; numerous emergency personnel assist at the scene
Motorcyclist’s collision with pickup truck results in fatality; numerous emergency personnel assist at the scene
Motorcyclist’s collision with pickup truck results in fatality; numerous emergency personnel assist at the scene
Motorcyclist’s collision with pickup truck results in fatality; numerous emergency personnel assist at the scene
                        
Summary: Motorcycle-truck collision on St. Rt. 39 results in fatality for 68 year old New Philadelphia cyclist just after 4 pm on Sunday, May 22. A sunny Sunday afternoon drive on St.Rt. 39 near Pleasant Valley Road turned into the unthinkable just after 4:00 pm as a motorcycle being driven toward New Philadelphia strayed into the oncoming lane. According to a passenger, Thomas M. Lute, 30, of Dellroy, who was in the Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Ronald A. Cross, Jr., 29, of Roswell, the truck’s driver was forced to swerve off the road to the right in order to avoid a collision, but the motorcyclist plowed into the driver’s side rear tire area of the truck, lost control, and slid a considerable distance. “He (the cyclist) was looking straight ahead, it’s not like his eyes were closed or anything,” said Lute, who was obviously badly shaken when interviewed just a few minutes after the accident. “If we hadn’t gone off the road to try and avoid him, he would have hit us head on. He just careened off our back tire, and flew down the pavement. It was bad.” “The motorcycle westbound on 39, went left of center, and struck the pickup going east bound,” said Trooper Clinton Armstrong, of New Philadelphia’s Ohio State Highway Patrol. The cyclist was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. Ironically, the truck’s rear window had several pro-motorcycle stickers displayed, including: ‘Motorcycles. Start seeing ‘em,’ as Cross himself is an avid motorcyclist. Neither the truck’s driver nor passenger were injured, and no charges will be filed against the driver, according to Trooper Armstrong. The motorcycle operator, Monte Freshwater, Sr., age 68, of New Philadelphia, was taken by emergency personnel to Union Hospital in Dover, where he was pronounced dead. Assisting at the scene were a number of cruisers from the Highway Patrol, County Sheriff’s Department, and New Philadelphia Police and Fire Departments. Officers blocked off the road as they collected evidence, measured skid marks, and took photographs of the accident scene. May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.


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