Cyclist succumbs to injuries from wreck on Tuesday

This 2004 Suzuki motorcycle slammed into two vehicles on Tuesday before coming to a rest in the middle of the 200 block of Broadway. A relative and an acquaintance both said the driver, 29-year-old Donald Eugene Ragan, Fort Scott, had recently purchased the vehicle. Ragan died of his injuries at Mercy Health Center about an hour after the accident.

A 29-year-old Fort Scott man died Tuesday when he lost control of a motorcycle on Broadway and slammed into a car parked on the side of the road.

Around 12:30 p.m., Donnie E. Ragan, 410 W. Eighth St., was riding north on Broadway when he unexpectedly lost control of the 2004 Suzuki motorcycle north of the intersection of Broadway and Third Street, according a Kansas Highway Patrol crash report. Ragan caused the front wheel of his motorcycle to leave the pavement -- a maneuver popularly called "popping a wheelie" -- upon entering the intersection, KHP Trooper Jason Mills said. He said he did not determine how fast Ragan was riding at the time of the accident.

Ragan lost control of and was thrown from the motorcycle, slamming his body into a maroon 2000 Ford Contour parked on the right side of the 200 block of Broadway. After he was ejected, the motorcycle struck a parked maroon 2002 Chevrolet Blazer and a white 1988 Ford F-150 Fort Scott Public Works truck that was occupied by city employee Wade D. Young, 52. Young, who was not injured in the accident, was driving the truck when the bike struck it from the rear, Mills said.

Emergency workers rushed Ragan to Mercy Health Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 1:30 p.m., Mills said.

Ragan was not wearing a helmet, which is not required by law for motorcyclists in the state of Kansas.

When asked about what happened at the scene, many of the witnesses declined to comment on the accident. Fort Scott Police, who turned over the crash investigation to KHP, also declined to provide information about the accident.

Neighbors said motorcycles and cars frequently speed up and down the street. Many times, they can hear the high-pitched "zooming" sounds of high performance motorcycles traveling fast, neighbors at the scene of the accident said.

The issue of safety on the long, straight road, which has no stop signs, was brought up at a commission meeting last month by former city commissioner Kevin Allen. City Manager Richard Nienstedt, at the Sept. 5 meeting, said the city will conduct a survey asking residents how they feel about options for improving traffic safety on the street. He said city commissioners and staff might personally go door-to-door with the survey.