Motorcyclist in Friday accident identified as former Meredith police officer

LACONIA — Bart Merrill, a former Meredith police officer, has been identified as the motorcyclist involved in a collision Friday with a moving truck, according to Laconia Police Chief Matt Canfield. Merrill, 62, died on Sunday.

Merrill's cause of death was significant trauma sustained from the accident, Canfield said.

The accident happened Friday morning, involving Merrill on his motorcycle and a U-Haul truck at the intersection of Grant Street and the fork of Belmont Road and South Main Street. The cause of the accident is currently under investigation by the Laconia Police Department and the Belknap Regional Technical Accident Reconstruction Team.

Canfield said many officers and significant resources are committed to the investigation and it will be months before the accident reconstruction is done. Things like downloading any available black boxes on the vehicles to look for pertinent data will take time and require search warrants. Vehicle autopsies, as well as medical records and toxicology records, will be required for the investigation.

“It's a lot of information gathering and then the certified accident reconstruction looks at all the evidence that's put together, they draw a conclusion and issue the final report,” Canfield said. “They're usually very, very comprehensive reports that just take a while.”

As the investigation continues, Canfield encourages anyone who may have witnessed the collision or with any information to reach out to the police department to help assist in the analysis of the incident.

“If anyone in the area has video of the collision, whether it be home video, or phone video or any other types of video evidence, we'd be interested in talking or getting that video, as well as if anyone saw or heard the collision,” Canfield said. “If we have not spoken yet, we would certainly be very interested in doing so.”

Anyone with information should contact Sgt. Richard Carlson at 603-524-5257, ext. 502, who is leading the accident investigation, the Laconia Crimeline at 603-524-1717, or anonymous tips may be left via Tip411, a free app.

This accident occurred a week before Laconia Motorcycle Week, and Canfield is encouraging the public to be cautious on the road. 

“Coming off the heels of this very tragic and sad fatal motorcycle accident, we would encourage motorcycle riders to particularly stay off the line, use proper precautions, helmets, protective gear, certainly drive within the speed limit, drive cautiously, as well as the responsible consumption of alcohol,” Canfield said. “In addition to that, we request the general motoring public look twice for motorcycles. They're smaller than other vehicles so certainly much harder to see.”