Shortly before 1 p.m. on March 13, a 49-year-old Ontarian was involved in a serious traffic accident. Reports said that the incident occurred when the man, who was travelling south along the Hagersville section of Highway 6, was struck by an oncoming vehicle. According to descriptions of the accident, the northbound Pontiac that hit him tried to execute a left turn onto First Line Road as the motorcycle neared the intersection, and the two collided.
After conducting an investigation, authorities charged the offending motorist, a 76-year-old woman from Six Nations, with turning unsafely. Although she escaped the incident without injuries, the motorcyclist apparently sustained near-fatal injuries, and officials did not indicate why she had decided to make the turn instead of affording the biker right-of-way.
The man received an emergency airlift to a treatment facility in Hamilton, but at the time of reporting, his condition and the precise nature of his injuries had not been specified. It is also unclear whether road conditions might have played a role in the collision, and police spent some time trying to reconstruct the events while they kept the highway closed to traffic.
The hardships associated with survival after a motorcycle crash may make life exceedingly difficult. Medical treatments might be expensive, and in cases of serious injuries, recovery may also necessitate therapy, medication or long-term consultation. While seeing police bring formal criminal charges against at-fault motorists may provide some closure for victims, these judgements do not necessarily incorporate monetary compensation for those who continue to suffer following a collision. As such, victims and their families commonly pursue civil actions, and many support their arguments by referring to official evidence, such as police reports and the existence of criminal charges.
Source: Simcoe Reformer, "Motorcyclist suffers major injuries; driver charged," March 13, 2015