Lorain/Elyria, OH
Motorcycle crash on 113 kills Lorain man
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BIRMINGHAM — A biker heading to a memorial motorcycle rally died Saturday afternoon in a crash on state Route 113.
Steven L. Dittmer, 45, of Lorain, died almost immediately of severe brain injuries, county Coroner Paul Matus said.
“He was thrown about 30 feet from his bike and had skull fractures,” Trooper Clifton Dowell of the Ohio Highway Patrol said. “There was a witness that checked his pulse within a few seconds of the crash, and there was no pulse, nothing at all.”
Dittmer had been heading east at 3:27 p.m. and tried to pass three other vehicles between Baird and Vermilion roads, Dowell said.
But he said one of the cars —a Mazda CX7 driven by 63-year-old Joanne M. Wright of Wakeman — turned into the driveway of Harbourtown Towing & Auto Body, and Dittmer smashed into the rear door on the driver’s side.
Wright was not injured, but there was nothing anyone could do to save Dittmer, who was not wearing a helmet, Dowell said.
There was no evidence of alcohol or drug use, and the crash remains under investigation, troopers said.
Dowell said Dittmer was looking to join a large group of bikers heading to a memorial motorcycle ride.
Art Koppenhafer of the Blue Knights Motorcycle Club in Amherst said he doesn’t know of any such rides this weekend.
Contact Jason Hawk at 329-7148 or jhawk@chroniclet.com.
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I drove past this accident and immediately it looked tragic. People must wear the helmet. It’s for your safety. I thought it was the law. Plus, lets slow down a bit. We all have a destination. Let’s slow down, be cautious and be smart. Saving 5 minutes of time is not worth life.
My heart goes out to the family’s of everyone involved.
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My heart goes out to this poor family. My husband was also involved in a motorcycle accident this weekend. Fortunately, he will be fine. A car load of 16 year old kids ran a red light and broad sided him totaling his bike. Luckily he saw the car coming and dove of his bike just in time. Had he not, he would have more than likely lost his leg if not his life.
Both riders and drivers need to be cautious!! As gas prices rise more and more bikes will be on the road. And the right to choose to wear a helmet is just that, a riders right. My family is choosing to wear helmets, especially after this weekends wreck. God graced us with saving the life of my husband. I wish it could be the same for all families.
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Passing THREE cars? No helmet? I wonder how fast he was going.
I feel sorry for the woman who was driving the Mazda. She has to live with this for the rest of her life.
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I guess that it is still your right to NOT wear a helmut but you’ve got virtually NO chance of surviving a motorcycle accident without one.
What do you wanna bet that the helmut law gets changed as more people lose their lives while riding motocycles to save gas?
Did the driver of the Mazda signal for a left turn or did she just whip it over to catch the driveway for her turn around?
Mr. Dittmer died while doing something that he loved, riding his motorcycle.
I hope that he didn’t leave behind any small children.
Tragic.
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Passing three cars in a row on a motorcycle is reckless riding. He wouldn’t have been able to tell if her signal was on if he was third behind her. If she did use her signal, she may have flipped it on after he started to pass. There are no two ways about it. Passing three cars on a two lane road, on a motorcycle is foolish and in this case it turned out to be a fatally reckless move.
I don’t think that there should be a helmet law. The riders who are more responsible and smart already wear them and those who want to have the freedom of the wind whipping through their hair and accept the fact or don’t care that their heads may be smashed should have that right.
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I too, drove past this accident. By the time I had gone by they already had the tarp up which is an automatic indication of a fatality. I was warned of the accident by my mother ahead of time as she had passed by it about 10 min. before I did and said the bike was totally mangled. What Mr. Dittmer did was foolish and it cost him his life. That is tragic. But we need not judge what others do. All we can do is be careful out there on the roads. Now that gas is so high no one can afford it more and more people will be purchasing motorcycles and learning how to ride. That is where tragedy will strike. And with there being a no helmet law it will be even worse. For us that drive in our cars and trucks we just need to be extra cautious of motorcycle riders. We can’t control those who are riding the bikes but we can control what we do. Be careful out there this summer and may the family of this terrible tragedy be comforted during their grieving.
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my heart goes out to mr. dittmer’s family and friends
as far as whether or not to wear a helmet, my wife of 29 years died on her bike almost a year ago, and she WAS wearing a helmet.
when god calls us home, we will go home wheter we’re riding a cycle, or sitting in a chair watching tv.take comfort that your loved one is in a better place
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How tragic. I couldn’t imagine what this poor woman feels like who was driving the Mazda. As far as wearing a helmet — my uncle was in a motorcycle crash the night that my father was in a coma dying. The police said that if he had been wearing a helmet he would have died. We would have been having 2 funerals instead of one. My heart still goes out to this gentleman’s family. As road king said, when God calls you home you’re going to get there no matter what.
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Whether or not he was wearing a helmet is irrelevant at this point. Whether or not he was reckless is also irrelevant at this point. The point is, whatever happened out there cost him his life. What I would ask people to remember is the fact that he DOES have a family, and we ARE grieving. We don’t need to hear about it being his fault. I would be mortified if his mother or children saw some of these postings. Thank you to those who have been kind enough to post condolences. We miss him and love him, no matter how he died.
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We don’t know if a helmet would have changed anything at all on the outcome. Maybe it would have and maybe it wouldn’t have. The point is now a very special person to a lot of people is dead. Please have some respect when posting and know many lives has been affected by this!
None of us were there when this happen. We don’t know what was going on. It was a 67 year old trying to find some place she was going. Who knows if she was driving slow for miles and then stopped to look at a map or around and then decided to turn into the driveway without looking both ways? No one thinks how she might not of made sure it was clear in BOTH ways before turning into a driveway. I know I always look both ways before turning. Again I wasn’t there and neither were any of you when it happen so please don’t sit here and judge my dad without knowing any of the facts.
My dad was a very loving father and one of the best men I knew. You could always count on him no matter what. He would drop anything he was going if you needed help. It didn’t matter who it was he was there. He loved his 2 grandchildren with all his heart and they loved him to no end also. He touched so many lives and everyone that knew him knew how kind and loving he was. I can’t even put it into words how much he meant to me and everyone that knew him!
I can’t even think of what it is going to be like going on without knowing he has my back. The one person that I knew always did without question is now gone. He is never coming back. He will never get to see his granddaughter first day of school or her riding her first bike or anything. She looked up to him so much it breaks my heart even thinking how to explain to her he will never wake up.
Dad I hope you knew how much I loved you and how much you will be missed. You will be forever in my thoughts.
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Wearing a helmet is NOT a law in the state of Ohio. It’s by your own choice as to whether you wear one or don’t. I hate to inform some of you uninformed people with this fact. 75% of bike accidents are NOT the bikers fault. It’s not the biker that needs to learn how to handle his bike or learn to drive in traffic, it’s you people in your vehicles that don’t pay attention to the bikers. My son works for one of the biggest Harley shops in Lorain Co. He sees daily the damage to bikes and fixes them. And he sees the insurance reports on those accidents. He also sees how many of those drivers are still alive because they did NOT have a helmet on. Helmets can cause a broken neck in a heartbeat. People don’t realize this. Helmets have their pros and cons. I personally beleive helmets should be worn, but that is the riders choice.
Jumping to conclusions about this accident is dead wrong. None of you were there, yet your ready to blame the biker. Try having some compassion instead of ranting your opinions about something you know nothing about.
Steve you and your family have our deepest sympathies for your loss and I’m sorry to had to even bother writing to answer some of the ignorance posted here. God Bless.
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Steve, you are 100% correct. We all loved your Dad & miss him terribly. I am so sorry you have to go through this sweetie. We will get through this together, as a family. I love you.
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I’m very sorry you lost your father. The pain of his loss eases with time. I know right now it’s hard to believe this, but it does. God bless you and your family.
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I also saw the accident, and was not warned ahead of time about it. We had to pull over for the emergency crews to get by us on their way to the accident site. We came upon the accident and were slowed down enough for me to see enough to affect me deeply. There were no tarps or covers up yet and I have been very traumatized over what I saw.
I did not know Mr. Ditmer or any of his family members, but my heart goes out to you all. Your father/son/grandfather has been in my mind constantly since Saturday afternoon and I have cried many tears for your lose. I know personally there is not much anyone can say to help ease your losing your loved one, but just remember that he loved you all in this life and will continue to do so in his eternity.
God Bless you all ….
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First off….i would like to say how tragic this whole situation is. I feel sorry for both Mr. Dittmer and Mrs. Wright.
Secondly…I am the “nursing student” who was the only witness to the crash.(that actually stayed at the scene) I would like to say to family and friends of Mr. Dittmer that I ran to the scene of the crash as fast as i could, with full intentions of saving his life….and I am so sorry that i could not do anything in my power to do so. I wish i could have helped…
….as far as the crash (Im going to keep this short) ….i was driving behind a black truck that turned on his signal to turn into Harbour Town Autobody…he braked hard and i had to slow up really quickly….i veared off the the right hand of the road trying to avoid a white car hitting me from behind. At that very moment …..Mr. Dittmer rode past me accelorating I thought he was going to hit the black truck but missed it (the truck was one tire over the center line) and then for the first time i saw the Silver mazda…. trying to turn into the autobody…
For all i know…Mr. Dittmer was trying to avoid hitting the white car behind me….then he might have saw a gap to get by before oncoming traffic became close.
What i do know…Mr. Dittmer was trying to pass multiple cars. I dont know if he used a turn signal. I do know that he did not use a horn to warn us that he was passing by. I could not see if Mrs Wright was using a turn signal. An yes, there was a lot of hard breaking before the initial crash. I am very angry that the black truck in front of me did not stay at the scene nor did the white car behind me!!!!
……i feel horrible about this whole situation….and i am short of words to describe how i feel right now….especially for the family and friends of those affected….God Bless
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