Bad Weekend for Bikers in Central, MA -- Two Fatalities

[Gunny]

Don't know whether or not any of us need to be reminded of our risks,
but these two stories appeared one right next to the other in today's
Worcester paper, and therefore stood out.

B2 TELEGRAM & GAZETTE -- MONDAY,JULY21,1997

Motorcycle crash
in Leicester still
under investigation

By Bradford L. Miner
Telegram & Gazette Staff

LEICESTER - Local police are
continuing their investigation of a
crash early Saturday morning that
claimed the life of a Cherry Valley
motorcyclist.

Matthew P. Taylor, 30, of 710 Main
St., a self-employed painter, died at
St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester.
Police said Taylor's motorcycle
struck a parked car at 112 Towtaid St.

Sgt. Joseph Fontaine said
yesterday that neither the
investigating officers or Chief
Russell Drake could provide any
additional information about the
incident at this time.

Reading from a report Saturday,
Fontaine said an unnamed officer
attempted to stop Taylor for "motor
vehicle violations" et about 1:30a.m.
Saturday as Taylor was heading east
on Route 9 (Main Street) in Cherry
Valley.

Police were unable to provide the
name of the officer involved in the
pursuit, the specific motor vehicle
violations that precipitated the
chase, or the speed at which Taylor
was traveling on Main Street Church
Street and finally Towtaid Street.

Fontaine said an officer pursued
Taylor, but lost track of him on
Towtaid Street until coming upon
Taylor and his wrecked motorcycle
near 112 Towtaid St.

Police were unable to provide any
specifics on the nature of Taylor's
injuries, or whether drugs or alcohol
were involved.

Fontaine said Taylor was brought
to the Worcester hospital by the
Leicester Ambulance Service and
later died of his injuries.

Sgt. Frederick LaFlash and
Detective Timothy Fontaine are
investigating.




Oxford man
killed in
cycle crash

By Jean Laquidara Hill
Telegram & Gazette Staff

OXFORD -- In one horrible flash
everything changed.

As friends chatted and waited for
him Saturday night, Richard H.
Wilbur Jr., 22, of 19 Little John Circle,
went for a quick spin on his
motorcycle.

Wilbur, known by friends and his
assistant high school principal as a
good person and cautious driver,
had been working on his motorcycle.
He wanted to try it out, according to
a lifelong
friend,
Brian P. Gonyea.

It was minutes | before 7 p.m.
More friends were expected and then
the group planned to spend the
evening together.

It was to be a . quick ride, just a
street away. Wilbur did not
wear his helmet.

The cycle spun out of control on
Nottingham Road and slammed into a
fence, horrifying friends and | neighbors
in the busy, close-knit
neighborhood of Sherwood Forest.

At 7 p.m. sirens screamed. Police
officers and four emergency medical
technicians rushed to the accident.

Wilbur's longtime sweetheart,
Rebecca M. Squire, hurried to his
side. The two had been a couple for
most of the past four years. They
were known as inseparable,
"together 24-7," as friends described
them.

Wilbur graduated from Oxford
High School in 1993. When Squire I
graduated in 1995, she listed "Ricky"l
after her parents and brother, writing
"I luv you" after his name.

At the accident scene, police and
EMTs performed cardiopulmonary
resuscitation because they could not
find a pulse, Emergency Medical

Oxford man killed
in motorcycle crash

1

Continued From Previous Page

Services Director Jeffrey A. Wilson
said yesterday morning. A paramedic
and EMT gave Wilbur advanced
medical treatment, Wilson said.

He was rushed to St. Vincent
Hospital in Worcester, where he
arrived at 7:32 p.m., according to a
nursing supervisor. Hospital
personnel continued treatment until
7:48 p.m., when they pronounced him
dead, the supervisor said.

Saturday night and yesterday
friends and family grieved and
shared memories. Some were too
traumatized to talk. Others tried to
convey a sense of who Wilbur was.

"I'm shocked. I'm really shocked,"
Oxford High School Principal
Michael F. Hackenson said last night
as he described Wilbur as "an all
around good person, good student
and a gentleman." Hackenson, who
was assistant principal when Wilbur
was an Oxford High School student,
said he remembered him very well
and that all his memories were
positive. Wilbur was never in
trouble, said Hackenson.

"I think he respected his
motorcycle and the road and knew
the dangers of it," Hackenson said.
Wilbur was "very careful, very
responsible," he said.

Wilbur's neighborhood friend
Brian M. Willar, 21, remembered
Wilbur as "a happy-go-lucky guy.
He was a great kid. He had a lot of
friends and no enemies. He enjoyed
life to the fullest," Willar said. "It's
sad and it hurts to see him gone."

Looking at a photograph of him
self with Wilbur, Joseph S. Bagnell,
21, remembered him as the kind of
friend who stood by him, no matter
what. "Usually we'd just hang out,
play volleyball. I could just sit in the
 room with him and have fun. "

"He- was always there for me.
When I came home from the military
on Christmas break, he was already
waiting for me with Becky at my
house when I got there. He'll never
leave my heart," Bagnell said.

Like Bagnell and other friends,
Gonyea is reeling from the shock.
"Me and Rick are next door
neighbors since I was like six months
(old) and he was nine months," said
Gonyea, 22.

"When you got to know him, he
was outgoing, but he mostly stuck
with his close-knit friends. He used
to always talk about his girlfriend,
Becky Squire," said Gonyea. "He
loved the Honda Shadow. That was
his first motorcycle. He got it for
graduation."

Gonyea said Wilbur also loved the
outdoors, "loved camping and
enjoyed just hanging out by the
campfire, listening to music, country
music."

Laughing for a moment, Gonyea
recalled how he and Wilbur would
sneak cigarettes against their
parents' wishes. "Trying to cover
ourselves up with cologne on the
hands wearing gloves to cover up
the smell," he said, chuckling.

Gonyea's voice became a
monotone again as he spoke about
the motorcycle accident. "I believe
he was trying to fix something and
he thought he had it fixed. And I
think he was just taking it for a run
to make sure it was fixed."

"To me he was like a brother "
Gonyea said. -

[Raw...@atl.com]

On 22 Jul 1997 12:22:12 GMT, Joe Wronski <jwro...@bbn.com> wrote:

>On Mon, 21 Jul 1997, Gunny wrote:
>
>> Don't know whether or not any of us need to be reminded of our risks,
>> but these two stories appeared one right next to the other in today's
>> Worcester paper, and therefore stood out.
>

>> Laughing for a moment, Gonyea
>> recalled how he and Wilbur would
>> sneak cigarettes against their
>> parents' wishes. "Trying to cover
>> ourselves up with cologne on the
>> hands wearing gloves to cover up
>> the smell," he said, chuckling.
>

>I knew them cigarettes are DANGEROUS and should be outlawed.
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Joe Wronski jwro...@bbn.com AMA 408082 Better a racer for a day
>96 Suzuki GSF600ST Bandaid Than a spectator for a
>Yes, its fast...No you can't ride it! lifetime!
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was bad here in Atl too. We had 2 fatalities in N Georgia. Not that
it matters at all, they were Harley cruisers. One was turning lft from
a full stop and a VW Beetle was comming down the street, in the same
dirrection as the bike was turning, and was completing a pass of
another vehicle, crossing back into his lane and accelerating because
of the pass, rear-ended the Harley. Rider never stood a chance. The
second was on I-85, it seems that there were 2 bikes lane sharing
(about 2am) and one biker inadvertently bumped a CAR and ricocheted
off into his friend!!! Both riders went down, one bounced off of the
concrete barrier and died from his injuries. The other rider is still
in ICU. In both cases neither driver has been charged. The VW driver
may not fair so well in court (although purely UNINTENTIONAL) . The
second driver was just minding his/her business and the biker bumped
him. Our shouts and condolences goes out to all those families.
RIDERS BE SAFE, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.

*****Rawster 93 GSX-R750*****

[Reto]

Raw...@atl.com wrote:

<> It was bad here in Atl too. We had 2 fatalities in N Georgia. Not that

^^^^^^^^

<> it matters at all, they were Harley cruisers. One was turning lft from

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

At first I misparsed that as meaning the accidents didn't matter as
they only happened to HDs ...

Then I realized it was only the accent that threw me off ...

Reto
--
R A Lichtensteiger ra...@tifosi.com -or- ra...@world.std.com

The Internet has conclusively proven that a million monkeys can't type
the collected works of Shakespeare ...