SpringfieldNewsSun.com

MOOREFIELD TWP. — A motorcyclist was injured in a two-vehicle accident that backed up traffic for nearly an hour Tuesday, May 13.

Luke Schafer, 25, was flown by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital shortly after the accident, which occurred about 4 p.m. The driver of the car, a Chevy Impala, sustained minor injuries, said Sgt. Rick Alonso of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

"Speed wasn't a factor," said Alonso of the highway patrol's Springfield post. "(The motorcyclist) just didn't stop in time. He probably didn't see it until the last second."

The crash occurred at the intersection of Route 4 and Moorefield Road when Schafer rear-ended a car waiting to make a left turn onto Moorefield Road. Another motorist, Kaitlin Toth, 17, waiting at the intersection, caught only a split-second of the accident.

Toth, a returning lifeguard at Splash Zone, a local water park, was turning right from Moorefield Road onto Route 4 when the collision occurred. She didn't see the motorcycle rear-end the Impala.

"I just saw him fly," Toth said. "He flew over the car and landed to the right on the road in front of the (Impala)."

She quickly parked her vehicle and ran to Schafer and stayed with him until help arrived. As a lifeguard, she knew to put him in in-line stabilization, holding him in such a way as to limit movement of his head and spine.

Schafer was conscious the entire time, she said.

"He was moving and talking," Toth said. "He pretty much wanted his mom and his family to know where he was."

The intersection was cleared and the mangled vehicles towed about 4:45 p.m. Bystanders at the scene said the intersection has seen its share of crashes.

Officials at Miami Valley declined to release information about Schafer's condition. The investigation to determine the cause of the crash is ongoing, Alonso said.

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