CONTACT:
Lieutenant Mark Ober
603-788-4850
603-271-3361
September 27, 2021
Cambridge, NH – At approximately 10:00 a.m., a Massachusetts man sustained significant injuries after crashing his All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) into trees on the Blackjack Trail in the town of Cambridge. The call came in via 911, and emergency response was initiated by EMS personnel from Errol Rescue and a New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Conservation Officer.
The operator, identified as Richard Saul, 45, of Worcester, MA, was operating in a group of six riders when the crash occurred. Members of his riding party had to ride out approximately 1 mile to gain cell phone coverage in order make the 911 call. When EMS personnel arrived on scene, it was determined that the injuries were severe enough to request a helicopter med-evacuation. Saul was placed in the Errol Ambulance and transported to the Berlin Regional Airport where he was picked up by the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Advanced Response Team (DHART) helicopter and flown to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon.
Saul had been evacuated and flown to DHMC before a Conservation Officer arrived, but a subsequent investigation at the scene revealed that Saul was traveling at an excessive speed, missed a slight curve in the trail, and was launched several feet off the trail into the woods. The ATV was upright, wedged in the trees with Saul pinned underneath.
According to his riding companions, they did not witness the crash and when the group stopped at a junction and Saul did not arrive they went back to look for him. When they found him, he was calling out for help. Members of his party lifted the ATV off Saul and dragged him out from underneath the machine and waited for emergency responders.
This is a good reminder to riders that the trail system in New Hampshire is not designed for going fast, and the speed limit on most of the trails up north is set at a maximum of 25 miles per hour.