SANDY RIVER PLANTATION — A Michigan couple was injured Thursday night when the motorcycle they were riding struck an embankment, throwing them both off the bike on Route 4.

According to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the motorcycle landed on top of them.

The 2013 Kawasaki driven by Keith Massey, 46, of Muskegon, Michigan, was southbound when it failed to negotiate one of the sharp S-turns on Route 4 near the Appalachian Trail, Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. wrote in a news release.

“As a result the bike ran off the road, struck the embankment, throwing both off the bike, with the bike landing eventually on top of them,” he wrote Friday

Massey was taken by LifeFlight helicoptor to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. His wife, Melissa Massey, 47, who was riding on the back of the motorcycle, was taken by a NorthStar EMS ambulance to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington. She was later transferred to CMMC, an FMH spokesperson said.

Both were wearing helmets and “it appears imprudent speed and unfamiliarity with the road were possible factors in the crash,” Nichols wrote.

The couple was riding with a second motorcycle which was ahead of them.

Deputies Sgt. Matthew Brann, Brian McCormick and Alec Frost responded to the accident reported at 7:10 p.m., along with members of the Rangeley Fire Rescue Department and Phillips Fire Department.

Maine Department of Transportation was notified as a curve warning sign was destroyed in the accident, Nichols wrote.

The motorcycle is registered to a Wakefield, Massachusetts, man.

Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or to participate in the conversation. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

filed under:
franklin county sheriff's office, motorcycle crash, sandy river plantation
Related Stories
Latest Articles