A Martinsburg man riding an all-terrain vehicle was killed Wednesday afternoon when he tried to get ahead of another ATV rider and struck a pickup truck on Arden-Nollville Road, West Virginia State Police said.
Michael Smith, 34, of 1399 Poor House Road, was the second person to be killed in an ATV accident in the Eastern Panhandle in less than three weeks.
Smith and his cousin were riding separate ATVs east on W.Va. 45 and were approaching Arden Equipment Repair, Sgt. E.D. Burnett said.
The two were heading to a friend's house nearby when Smith decided to try to beat his cousin to the house, Burnett said.
Smith tried to get ahead of his cousin by cutting through a field owned by Arden Equipment Repair, Burnett said.
When Smith came out of the field and onto Arden-Nollville Road about 5:07 p.m., he lost control of his 2003 Polaris Trailblazer and struck a 1992 pickup truck driven by Glenn Marr, 59, of Inwood, W.Va., Burnett said.
Smith flew into the air when he hit the truck and was killed instantly, said Burnett, who was assisted at the scene by Sgt. C.C. Morton and Trooper E.M. McFarland.
Marr was not hurt, Burnett said.
On Sept. 21, a 13-year-old Jefferson County boy was killed when he struck a utility pole while riding an ATV on Bakerton Road near Harpers Ferry, W.Va.
Paul M. Brown, who lived in the Glen Haven subdivision, was trying to avoid two dogs that had wandered into the road, state police said.
Brown's ATV struck one of the dogs, then hit the utility pole, Sgt. E.D. Anderson said.
A 15-year-old boy who was riding on the ATV with Brown also was seriously injured, Anderson said.
