STEUBENVILLE, Ohio, 19 (UPI) -- A 34-year-old man who was legally blind died outside Lisbon, Ohio, after crashing his all-terrain vehicle into a tree, police said.

Columbiana County Chief Deputy Allen Haueter said that despite his medical condition, Charles Hoyle attempted to ride his vehicle home last weekend and ended up crashing into a large tree, Ohio's WTOV-TV, Steubenville, reported Wednesday.

Haueter said several of Hoyle's friends helped him onto his all-terrain vehicle Sunday, only to watch their friend die after speeding into a nearby tree.

"When the men put Mr. Hoyle on there, he took off, full acceleration,” he said. “And they were screaming at him to hold back and stop, and they couldn't catch up to him. Then he struck a smaller tree and he hit a larger one head-on.”

The deputy said the shocked friends later admitted that Hoyle, who did not have a valid driver's license due to his poor eyesight, had been intoxicated at the time of the accident.

"They advised they'd been drinking but they weren't at a point of no return,” Haueter told the TV station. "It shouldn't have happened. It's a tragic accident."