A 73-year-old Rootstown man died at the scene Saturday afternoon after a car crossed left of center on State Route 212 in Tuscarawas County and slammed head-on into his motorcycle near Atwood Lake. James H. Goodmote Jr. was riding a Harley Davidson Street Glide 103 eastbound when a westbound 2006 Honda Civic struck his bike around 12:30 p.m., sending the motorcycle sliding down an embankment.
According to the Times Reporter, the Civic was driven by 32-year-old Corey J.M. Fisher of Dover, who was traveling west on Route 212 when his car crossed into the eastbound lane and struck Goodmote's motorcycle before spinning and hitting a guardrail. The Ohio State Highway Patrol says it believes Fisher was impaired at the time of the crash, though formal charges have not been reported. Fisher was seriously injured and was not wearing a seat belt, per the state patrol's news release; he was transported to Aultman Hospital in Canton for treatment.
Goodmote was not wearing a helmet, the release states, and he died at the scene of the crash, which occurred east of County Road 86 in Warren Township. The stretch of Route 212 runs along Conotton Creek and crosses the Atwood Lake dam, a 1,540-acre flood-control and recreation reservoir managed by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, making it a well-traveled corridor to the lake's marina and day-use areas.
Highway Shut Down for Hours as Crews Responded
The crash forced a full closure of State Route 212 for about 3.5 hours while crews worked the scene, as reported by WKYC. The response drew in the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office, Fairfield Township Fire Department, Sherrodsville Fire Department, Smith Ambulance, Keith's Towing, and the Tuscarawas County Coroner's Office, along with the Ohio Department of Transportation, which assisted the highway patrol at the scene.
Neither man's lack of protective gear was against the law. Ohio does not require licensed adult motorcyclists over 18 to wear a helmet unless they hold a temporary permit or are within their first year of licensure, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Seat belt non-use for drivers is treated only as a secondary offense in Ohio, carrying a $30 fine, and officers cannot pull a driver over for that violation alone, per Ohio Revised Code as compiled by Safe Ride 4 Kids.
Impairment a Recurring Factor in Fatal Ohio Motorcycle Crashes
Statewide data shows how often those legal gaps intersect with tragedy. Ohio State Highway Patrol traffic safety figures covering 2018 through 2022 found that 72% of motorcyclists killed in Ohio crashes were not wearing a helmet, and that 54% of all fatal motorcycle-involved crashes statewide during that span were alcohol- or drug-related, according to data compiled by the Flickinger Legal Group. Locally, the highway patrol recorded 209 OVI arrests and investigated eight fatal traffic crashes in Tuscarawas County in 2025 alone.
Enforcement activity has climbed this year as well. Between January 1 and August 23, 2026, troopers statewide conducted 10,013 OVI stops, up from 9,621 during the same stretch in 2025, while investigating more than 32,000 crashes overall. Whether Fisher will face aggravated vehicular homicide charges under Ohio Revised Code 2903.06 — a felony carrying a mandatory prison term and license suspension if impairment is confirmed — remains an open question pending the highway patrol's crash reconstruction and blood-alcohol testing.
Second Fatal Motorcycle Crash This Month in Tuscarawas County
Goodmote's death marks the second fatal motorcycle crash investigated by the Ohio State Highway Patrol's New Philadelphia Post in Tuscarawas County within the same month. Earlier in August, troopers investigated a crash on State Route 39 in Sugarcreek Township that killed 26-year-old Marcus Miller, who Hoodline previously reported was wearing a helmet and protective gear at the time of that collision. The back-to-back fatalities underscore a pattern of deadly motorcycle crashes the local post has worked through this summer.
