Recordpub.com - S.R. 5 crash kills Ravenna motorcyclist Highway patrol: SUV driver pulled into victim's path

By Marci Piltz
Record-Courier staff writer
A Ravenna man died early Wednesday in a crash at an intersection many residents consider one of the most dangerous in Portage County.
Gary N. Cline, 44, was pronounced dead at Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna shortly after the 6:46 a.m. crash at the intersection of S.R. 5 and New Milford Road.
According to the Ravenna Post of the Ohio Highway Patrol, which is investigating the crash, the vehicles involved were a motorcycle and a sport-utility vehicle.
The patrol said Cline was driving a 1981 Harley Davidson motorcycle. He was headed westbound on S.R. 5, the patrol said, when another vehicle pulled out of New Milford Road into Cline's path.
The driver of the other vehicle, a 2001 Chevy Blazer, was Catherine A. Paulus, 42, of Rootstown. Paulus was not injured in the crash, the patrol said, though her vehicle suffered heavy damage to the entire right side when it rolled onto its side after the crash.
According to the patrol, Cline's motorcycle collided with the right front fender of the SUV, causing Cline to be ejected from his bike. The motorcycle then burst into flames, the patrol said.
The patrol said Wednesday neither alcohol nor drugs are suspected to have played a factor in the crash, which remains under investigation.
The Ohio Department of Transportation will be holding a public meeting July 22 to present proposed traffic improvements to two intersections, including the one at S.R. 5 and New Milford Road. The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Reed Memorial Library in Ravenna and will address safety improvement alternatives.
The other intersection to be discussed is the one at S.R. 14, S.R. 59 and Newton Falls Road, also called Cotton Corners.
"
E-mail: mpiltz@recordpub.com
Phone: (330) 296-9657

14.	Posted by MILITARYDAD July 20, 2008
	01LHT , Not knowing Gary personally but being a biker myself I do agree that more attention needs to be shown while driving. I have had many family members hurt and even killed on motorcycles because of people being negligent. While it is sad and something needs to be done, the person who commits this horrible act will live with this for life. Knowing that they took a father, husband, son, etc is not something I would want to live with myself. We need to draw attention that most bikers are not careless and also they we need to respect the road and the machine that we are in. I am in no way saying this was Gary fault, I am commenting on the young man early this month being careless on his motorcycle.

13.	Posted by 01LHT July 19, 2008
	I didn't know Gary well, but I knew him enough to state that he was one of the nicest folks around. He always wore a smile and had something good to say every time he spoke. This is the second person that I work with injured on a motorcycle in as many weeks. Catherine A. Paulus will probably be charged with some minor traffic offense and possibly given a small fine. She has ended the life of Gary Cline and changed the lives of his family forever and as such, her life should be permanently altered as well. I believe that a more appropriate punishment would be for her to have to sleep with a picture of Gary beside her bed every night and apologize to his family each morning. She should have to think about what her negligence caused at the beginning and end of each day. Additionally, Catherine should also have her automobile license permanently revoked and only be permitted to operate a motorcycle. Maybe then she'll see what we go through every time we get on a bike. Instead, all we get is a promise that some bureaucrats will look into the matter. Gee, thanks. The punishment for drivers involved in an accident that kills or seriously injures another person needs to be more severe. Much of society has little or no regard for the safety of others, either out of a lack of compassion or a lack of the mental capacity to see the possible results of their behavior. There must be consequences to actions that affect the lives of others or they will not change their ways.

12.	Posted by Ohio Gal July 18, 2008
	It's wonderful that the bikers are taking this course you are speaking of. It just goes to show that the riders are actually spending more time on safety then the law requires for the drivers of automobiles. Statistically more vehicles are at fault than riders in accidents. The weather is nice, gas prices are up and the bikes are on the road, getting to work or home a few minutes sooner is not so important that safety shouldn't be first!!!!! Everyone slow down, meet your neighbor, smell the flowers and take the time to live life!

11.	Posted by Wiz-08 July 17, 2008
	You may be right whiskeygirl, I don't have the facts to back up one way or the other and from the 3 accidents I've read in the past two months, one clearly was the fault of the driver that was text messaging, one was the bikers fault for going over a double yellow line and weaving around cars, and this one could have been the driver of the SUV but seeing that it's a proven dangerous intersection, it's hard for me to say she was 100% at fault, it just sounds like a terrible accident. I realize a lot of these are caused by the driver of the vehicle, in fact its why I've been so reluctant to ride a bike even though I've always wanted to but I know one thing and that is there are a bunch of new inexperienced bike riders that are going to be on the road so it's now a matter of everyone paying closer attention to prevent more tragedies from happening.

10.	Posted by wbw1 July 17, 2008
	Wiz - I agree with your statement 100%. I just took the motorcycle ohio class and learned an incredible amount. This course is not only for beginners, out of the 12 in my class (that's the max they take) 9 were all experienced riders!! Accidents happen and unfortunately, this one was horrific. My heart hurts for Gary's family (I know them, however, I have a great deal of sadness for the lady that hit him as I'm sure she's devastated.

7.	Posted by Wiz-08 July 17, 2008
	One other note while some of us are on the topic of safety is that we need to remember that because of the soaring gas prices, there are way more bikers on the road than before and its going to continue to rise. I recently signed up for the basic biker safety course so I can obtain my license. This is the course needed for NEW riders. Out of approximately 210 classes surrounding Portage County, about 200 of them are full. Each class holds an average of 20 people which means there could conceivably be 4,000 new riders out there this year alone and those numbers will continue to rise as long as people are struggling with gas prices. Unfortunately we may continue to see more bike accidents because of the high number of bike riders so I think it serves as a warning to all of us (Bikers and Vehicle drivers) to use caution. This is the 3rd accident I've read about in Ravenna just within the past 2 months. I see just as many stupid people popping wheelies, riding their crotch rockets without holding on to the handle bars, speeding or weaving in and out of traffic as I see stupid people driving irresponsibly (such as text messaging) in their cars. None of us are perfect and have all made a mistake while driving and some things are hard to avoid but I just hope that people will stop and realize how fast and tragic something can happen that will change a life forever by not being a little more cautious and observant on the road.

5.	Posted by mouseboysmom3 July 17, 2008
	I hope many people turn out at the meeting next Tuesday. That intersection is a nightmare. Its bad for those of us who drive it daily, its worse for those who are not use to driving it. Something needs done and soon. Reminding people to be careful is great, but there are many who could care less, they hot rod thru that intersection because they are in too much of a darn hurry to get somewhere. As I have said before, I am EXTREMELY cautious there, and still pulled out with a fast car approaching me going east on route 5. I couldn't see the car for the cement baracade. Lets gather to let the Highway patrol know we want something done.