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My visit to Deal's Gap today!

W

warredon

Guest
I don't live very far from Deal's Gap, about 70-75 miles. I try to stay away for the most part because of it's carnival atmosphere, but when I do visit once or twice a year, I usually do it during the cooler months or early morning midweek.

I took out the K1 this morning and headed to the Gap, it had been a year or so since I had been there. My plan was to ride just a couple hundred miles in the mountains and return by early afternoon before it got so hot.

Here are a few snaps from my old Nikon I keep handy. This isn't the first time I've found the road blocked. It may very well be the riders fault here, it appears the rider just ran into him from behind, I never did get the details. I just don't under stand why these truck drivers are so determined to use that narrow crooked road, they take up both lanes when they do. There are signs warning them not to try, but so many insist on using it anyway.

I saw the ambulance leaving with the rider and was told that it appears that he will be fine. He has some broken bones, but was conscious and speaking.


DSCN1798Custom.jpg


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There are several small towns that are served by U.S Highway 129. When it comes to trucking, the shortest way usually wins out. Especially if the driver is not local. Having said that, if you run into the back of a vehicle, you are at fault!
 
It's plainly visible in the pictures where the MC hit the trailer in the rear.
(see the reflector bar just above the "bumper")

Ken
 
I did the Dragon last summer while it was still closed due to a rock slide on the Tennessee side. That was a good time to ride it because there was no through traffic, no trucks, and no RV's.

Harry
 
They should ban trucks from that road unless they have deliveries on that road. It is too dangerous to other motorists to have them on that road. At the very least they should be required to have police escort. There are warning signs both ends warning them and even turn arounds available. It would not be breaking new ground in Tennessee for that to happen. There are bans in other parts of the state for just the same reasons. Some roads are not meant for a semi pulling a 48 or 53 foot trailer.
 
Empty

An empty truck taking up both lanes. There was no "exit strategy" for the biker. Of course if you hit the rear of a truck, you are at fault.
 
It almost looks to me like the truck was stopped when the bike hit it. If the truck
was moving at even 10 mph, it would have gone at least another 50 ft down the road after he realized he had been hit and then come to a stop. Regardless, it
goes into the paper as another motorcycle accident, giving all motorcyclists a
bad name.
 
JDOCKERY132445 said:
An empty truck taking up both lanes. There was no "exit strategy" for the biker. Of course if you hit the rear of a truck, you are at fault.
Click to expand...

I seem to recall signs posted prohibiting the standard 53' semi-trailers. Possibility BOTH operators will be getting pink slips! :deal
 
Greenwald said:
I seem to recall signs posted prohibiting the standard 53' semi-trailers. Possibility BOTH operators will be getting pink slips! :deal
Click to expand...

Look at cab( the tractor ) he is well within his lane. Due to the length of the trailer, in sharp turns, it's gonna cross over the white line. However, it does look like the trailer is a bit further in the opposing lane than I would think necessary. (this is my opinion as I drove 18 wheelers for over25 years ) As I said in an earlier post Hwy. 129 serves several small towns on the N.C. side.
 
JDOCKERY132445 said:
An empty truck taking up both lanes. There was no "exit strategy" for the biker. Of course if you hit the rear of a truck, you are at fault.
Click to expand...

His exit strategy should have been to stay behind the rig, or just pull off and wait. There ain't no place to pass a rig of this size safely!
 
2BikeMike said:
His exit strategy should have been to stay behind the rig, or just pull off and wait. There ain't no place to pass a rig of this size safely!
Click to expand...

If the rig was stopped covering the entire road, which it looks to be from the photos, then the rider may have had no options. It's easy for us to be armchair quarterbacks, but the Dragon has many blind curves and assuming the rider was traveling at a normal rate of speed, he could have easily come around a curve and happen upon a semi blocking any escape for the biker.

This particular road, combined with motorcycles, cars and tractor trailer rigs is an accident waiting to happen. They don't mix at all. We've seen this type of photo many times before where a semi can't cope with the tight turns, much less 318 of them in eleven miles. Tennessee and North Carolina should both prohibit all large trucks and semis from this section of road.
 
2BikeMike said:
Look at cab( the tractor ) he is well within his lane. Due to the length of the trailer, in sharp turns, it's gonna cross over the white line. However, it does look like the trailer is a bit further in the opposing lane than I would think necessary. (this is my opinion as I drove 18 wheelers for over25 years ) As I said in an earlier post Hwy. 129 serves several small towns on the N.C. side.
Click to expand...

I respect truckers who drive responsibly - many thanks to your many safe miles OTR.

Yes - the tractor is positioned correctly, but my point is that if this trailer length was prohibited, that could result in some form of enforcement action.
 
2BikeMike said:
His exit strategy should have been to stay behind the rig, or just pull off and wait. There ain't no place to pass a rig of this size safely!
Click to expand...

Short of a reliable witness or 'deathbed statement,' all of us are "Monday Morning Quarterbacking" this incident.

He may have rounded the curve at a speed where it wasn't about 'passing' so much as picking an escape path to try and avoid a collision.

My condolences to his family for their loss.
 
Greenwald said:
Short of a reliable witness or 'deathbed statement,' all of us are "Monday Morning Quarterbacking" this incident.

He may have rounded the curve at a speed where it wasn't about 'passing' so much as picking an escape path to try and avoid a collision.

My condolences to his family for their loss.
Click to expand...

Local reports say both vehicles were traveling in opposite directions. From the pix that are posted,one would logically conclude the motorcyclist hit the rig in the rear.
 
The Dragon

Those pixs are enough to keep me from going anywhere near the Dragon. I need to stay alive and large trucks on small roads scare me. Too many nice roads to fool with that stuff. This is not the first time I have seen trucks on the wrong side of the road on the Dragon.
 
2BikeMike said:
Local reports say both vehicles were traveling in opposite directions. From the pix that are posted,one would logically conclude the motorcyclist hit the rig in the rear.
Click to expand...

That is what I had thought at first too, from the look of the photos. But if the bike was coming from the opposite direction and ran into the trailer, then it ran over him, it's very conceivable that the damage on the rear of the trailer is after the initial impact and spun the bike around. Looked at the photos again and it looks like they've spray painted POI (point of impact) several yards behind the bike. Very tragic.
 
nobody said:
That is what I had thought at first too, from the look of the photos. But if the bike was coming from the opposite direction and ran into the trailer, then it ran over him, it's very conceivable that the damage on the rear of the trailer is after the initial impact and spun the bike around. Looked at the photos again and it looks like they've spray painted POI (point of impact) several yards behind the bike. Very tragic.
Click to expand...

I think you are correct.
 
Greenwald said:
I respect truckers who drive responsibly - many thanks to your many safe miles OTR.

Yes - the tractor is positioned correctly, but my point is that if this trailer length was prohibited, that could result in some form of enforcement action.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the accolades Kevin, if memory serves me correctly I was involved in 2 accidents. One, when a young lady turned left in front of me ( she couldn't see a big rig ?) The second was on a snowy, icy road ( no one but me involved ) I figure I drove at least 1.5 million miles. I don't recall seeing any signs on the Tennessee side that restricts trailer length, only cautions that suggest drivers consider another route. I can't imagine drivers of the big rigs wanting to drive this route. I suspect many just look at a map and see that that is the closet way to go and don't realize what they are in for. That happened to me a couple of times at least.
 
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