By Trisha Nail
THE KEENE SENTINEL
CHARLESTOWN — The local man killed in Thursday night’s crash on Route 12 died protecting someone else, according to the town’s police chief, who called the incident “a tragic accident.”
Isaac Given, 20, of North Walpole, had been riding in a 2002 Ford Focus driven by a 17-year-old girl with a 17-year-old passenger, both of Charlestown, according to town police, who have not released the teenagers’ names. As they were traveling north on Route 12 (Bellows Falls Road), just south of Main Street, their car collided with a bear crossing the road, police said Friday.
As Given and the other occupants stepped out of the vehicle to check the damage, police said Gordon Dansereau, 59, of Claremont was also driving north on Route 12 in a 2017 Volvo S60 sedan when he collided into Given and the rear end of the Ford Focus. The Volvo then crossed the center line before coming to rest on the west side of the road, police said previously.
“It should be noted, too, that Isaac Given’s last act was pushing the 17-year-old female out of the way,” Charlestown Police Chief Patrick Connors said Tuesday.
Police said Friday that Given died at the scene and the driver of the Focus was taken by her family to the hospital. Emergency responders received a call about the crash at about 8:30 p.m. Police have said there is no indication impairment, distraction or speed contributed to the crash.
Connors said Tuesday that police have deemed the motor vehicle accident the result of poor roadway visibility. He said the segment of Route 12 where the crash occurred dips, raises back up and slopes down again.
“It was absolutely a blind spot,” Connors said. “It was on a straightaway; however, it would have been very difficult for anybody to see [the Ford Focus] on the roadway. [Dansereau] didn’t see it until it was too late.”
The Ford Focus’ collision with the bear disabled its radiator and front headlights, and the taillights were obstructed by the occupants standing behind the car, Connors said. He added that it was “pitch black” at that point in the evening and that the occupants were wearing dark clothing.
N.H. School Administrative Unit 60 Superintendent Brendan Minnihan said Tuesday that Given was a 2022 graduate of Fall Mountain Regional High School, while Dansereau is Fall Mountain’s athletic director.
“We have been in contact with the school, [and] we have talked with [Principal Tom] Ronning and kept him up to speed,” Connors said.
Minnihan said the crash was a “devastating situation” and “sad for our school community.”
“Immediately after we were made aware, the high school Principal Ronning called together a kind of support team,” Minnihan said Tuesday. “We made sure that we had supports available [for] students and staff who may need them.”
He said all counselors in the district visited the high school Monday morning and will continue offering on-campus assistance over the next several days. Ronning has been in contact with both Given’s and Dansereau’s families, according to Minnihan.
Several other fatal vehicle crashes have occurred on Route 12 in Charlestown in the past year. Connors said the town and police have requested the state install rumble strips on the roadway but were denied in a letter from state officials they received Tuesday morning. The northbound speed limit on Route 12 in the area drops from 50 to 30 as the road approaches Main Street.
A representative from the state Department of Transportation was not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s a litany of reasons why, but they said that we’re just not on the plan,” Connors said. “Route 106 and Route 2 in New Hampshire are the ones that are going to get them this year.”
Trisha Nail can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @byTrishaNail.
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