SENIOR Constable Stewart Hulls has one Christmas wish - no more fatalities.
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The Central Goldfields Highway Patrol member was one of the first people on scene at a fatality in Maryborough on Thursday morning.
A 56-year-old Maryborough man was riding a motorcycle east along Old Tullaroop Road about 9am when he failed to negotiate a bend in the road and collided with a tree.
The man died at the scene with his blue Kawasaki trike wedged between the forks of the tree.
Senior Constable Hulls has his fingers crossed he is not called to anymore fatalities this festive season.
"That's my absolute wish," he said.
"Everybody's been really careful but at the end of the day accidents happen.
"Sometimes we walk away and sometimes we don't.
"Unfortunately, today we don't."
Senior Constable Hulls said the man's death would rock the Maryborough community.
"This close to Christmas, it's a really sad time," he said.
"Obviously it's a sad time for the family because now someone's husband, father, grandfather is not going to be there at the Christmas table this year.
"It's also hard for the local community because he would have been well-known, so it's going to be felt right through the community at this time of the year."
Senior Constable Hulls said attending fatalities in rural areas was also hard for emergency workers.
"In a small community like this it's quite difficult because a lot of times we know who they are as well," he said.
"Now we might not socialise with them on a regular basis but we still know them to say, 'G'day', in the street, we know them to wave to as they drive past.
"And, regardless of who they are, in a small community like this it touches everyone - the police, the ambulance, the emergency services.
"Anybody who comes to this sort of scene is affected by it, without a doubt."
Police are working to determine the cause of the incident.
"We're not sure whether there's a fault with the vehicle or whether there may have been a medical issue," Senior Constable Hulls said.
"But he's come around the bend here, there's been some sort of difficulty, he's entered the gravel shoulder and then gone straight through the trees and been wedged between the trees."
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.