The Maine Warden Service is asking drivers of all-terrain vehicles to wear helmets and keep safe speeds after handling at least three serious crashes on July Fourth.
At least six people were hurt in three separate crashes in Frenchtown Township, Burnham and Caribou, according to Cpl. John MacDonald, spokesman for the warden service.
“In many cases, game wardens are finding those injured were operating without helmets and are urging riders to wear protective headgear and maintain safe speeds,” MacDonald said in a statement Thursday night.
On Thursday morning, wardens responded to a dirt bike crash in Frenchtown Township. The driver, Bryndon McAndrews, 23, of Connecticut suffered a serious leg injury in the crash, but his 26-year-old passenger was not hurt. McAndrews was hearing a helmet but his passenger was not, MacDonald said.
A crash of a UTV in Burnham around 2 p.m. sent the 15-year-old male driver and his 26 year-old passenger to Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield. Neither was wearing a helmet, according to wardens.
Two 14-year-old boys and a 4-year-old boy were hurt when a UTV they were in rolled over in Caribou around 3 p.m. The youngest passenger was cut on his forehead, and his brother, one of the 14-year-olds, hurt his elbow. The other 14-year-old received a broken wrist and a cut on his face, according to wardens. None of the boys were wearing helmets, but they were wearing seat belts.
The warden service is still investigating all three crashes.
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