All photos are available in Weekly Update - September 15, 2010
As always, shots from the last seven years are up in Our Store here, and be sure to check out the recent additions to the area scenery/wall art selections. Below are some of the highlights from last week.
DON'T FORGET to hit the "Older Posts" link at the bottom of each page to get to the end. ;)
Beautiful, cool conditions last week/weekend, with a storm Saturday morning and night that knocked down a few trees around the area. The temps are just perfect for riding during the day, a bit chilly at night but still great...plus the night sky is super clear most of the time now with little haze. The leaves are just starting to fall and change too.
This weekend is the "Out Smarting the Dragon" Smart car rally, and Triumph Rat Raid motorcycle rally. Weather forecast looks excellent for now.
I did something bone-headed yesterday while trying to be nice to a fellow rider, (Tuesday, Sep. 14) and want to apologize to anyone working the scene of an accident near the state line about 1pm, including BCSO officer in the #385 patrol car who was kind enough to let me slide with a tongue-lashing. I was following a slower bike up to the state line on the way in to work, in no real hurry...trying not to push him as he seemed a little unstable. Well he pulled over at the state line and looked a bit wobbly for my tastes, so I wanted to get by before he came to a stop and potentially fell over. Accelerated past at a brisk pace, which put me just over the hill at the line, and bam, right into an accident scene with the road down to one lane as they had a tow truck pulling a bike up or something. (he went out empty) It doesn't help that the Mini is easily the loudest car we have, and sounds fairly obnoxious at full throttle. I could see the look on the officer's face directing traffic go to something along the lines of "Everybody stop so this jackass can blow through the accident scene." I had come to a stop, but he waved me on through and yelled at me to slow it down, and rightly so, although I'm not sure that I would change a whole lot given a chance to do it over again...it was just a crappy set of circumstances and we're all more uptight at accident scenes, expecting everyone approaching to know what's going on before they possibly can. I've always tried to get by people who pull over with enough expediency to allow them to keep rolling and pull right back out without stopping, always waving to say thanks...I dunno, what do you think? I'm open to suggestions.
On to highlights!
29 comments:
If there wasn't anything to indicate an accident before you tried to pass the guy it would be hard to change normal procedures. Maybe the cop should have left his car at the top of the hill for better visibility (flare, safty triagles or something). Sounds like I might have done about the same thing. You can only act on the information you have at the time.
Seems to me that if they had time to already have a wrecker there then they should have had time to display some type of caution warning especially with only one lane open. We all do things we regret sometimes -- at least you owned up to yours. ^^ ^^
Well, after the previous 2 posts, I don't think you really need any further confirmation.
I agree w/ both posts. You can only act on the info. available at the time. Furthermore, SOMEBODY should have had the common sense to somehow give warning to traffic approaching from beyond the blind hill. Especially since it seems to be quite some time from the time of the accident to when you were approaching. Just mho.
There should have been some warning. The leo got mad because his screw up could have made things worse.
Darryl,
Can you give me the sticker email again please. I could not get a e mail to you.
Thanks,
Mark.
In all fairness the LEO was working the scene alone...I'm pretty sure they can't just commission civilians to direct traffic for liability reasons, but it sure would have made things safer. Maybe we need to start encouraging visitors/regulars to help out with traffic when this stuff happens...I'm sure there were a few locals sitting on the porch that knew about the wreck not even a mile up the road.
Did you cross the yellow you bad boy !
Nope, didn't cross the center (especially since I was approaching a blind hill) and didn't really speed...30-35 MAYBE. Just sounded crazy I'm sure.
Oh, and RC: You can email me at stickers@killboy.com with your mailing addy. If you have problems, try killboydotcom@gmail.com
Amen to all of the above. If anyone ever stops to help with an incident, survey the scene and think about where moving traffic is coming from and if they have a line of sight to get stopped in time. Glad nothing worse came of this. Darryl, as always, you're a gentleman and a scholar.
any word on the rider? i was the first to stop but left after we had authorities and ems coming. she seemed ok when i left but i'm just curious. and when i left there was a guy standing at the gate waving down traffic.
I haven't heard anything, other than it didn't seem that bad from someone there that day. Like I said, the wrecker even went out empty.
As a bicyclist (many years ago) I learned that going down hills, it made safety sense to cross to the 'wrong' side of the road at the crest, travel downhill on the shoulder against traffic until I was far enough away from the crest of the hill that I wouldn't be rear-ended, then cross back to the right side of the road.
Would the BCSO officers consider putting a caution triangle at the crest of the road while they're processing accidents?
Killboy, It was good of you to apologize for running up on the accident scene. I have done it before and feel like a jerk for doing so. However, if you are going to apologize for your actions you should get very few points for trying to justify them. If I had a quick car like the mini I would probably have done the same thing, get on it a little bit just because I could, because I like to hear the exhaust & because I am frequently late & in a hurry. If you were going faster than the speed limit or faster than you should in this area you are guilty of bad judgement and the run up on the accident is your fault and no others. My son is studying for his driver's license and hills such as this are one of the things they warn you about. You had no way of knowing if there was an accident on the other side of the hill so you have to drive across the top assuming there is. If the folks working the accident are at fault, it is up to them to take responsibility. I get somewhat irritated at some who post comments on here who act like it is always someone else acting irresponsibly and that they never drive unsafely. I was on 28 north
of Franklin the other day when I met a rider with a knee down in a sharp curve. My wife about had a fit but I thought it looked pretty cool. Then I realized that if my wife had been driving just across the yellow line there would have been a collision. She would have felt the accident was all her fault when in fact both drivers would have been responsible. There would have been no way for the biker to change his line at that speed. I grew up in this area and used this road frequently. There were very few accidents here because there was very little traffic & most everyone drove at a reasonable speed. Crossing the yellow line at that time was not the crime it is made out to be here on this site today. If everyone drove at a safe speed for the road conditions, crossing left of center would, in most cases, cause few problems. Don't get me wrong, I push my bike most everytime I come through. That's one of the reasons people ride motorcycles. They are dangerous and pushing yourself to the limit is exciting. When I have an accident because of my excessive speed, even though someone in my lane might have initiated it, I will have to take responsibility for my own actions. I should have been driving defensively instead of assuming the right lane belongs to me and that other drivers are not allowed to make mistakes. Thanks for the site & the great photos.
I think the right lane is mine, and any intrusion into it while I am there is not going to be" oops my bad, shouldn't be here while you are driving". I had an insurance adjuster tell me that no mattar what the circumstances are in an accident, both sides share blame, but there is always one that bears the bigger part of the blame. Being in the wrong lane would be the bigger half the blame. KB was , in my opinion, trying to take more blame then was due to him. He said he might have been a touch fast (his exaust probably breaks a few noise ordinances as well, which if it was quiet the cop wouldn't have noticed him). He also said he stopped, which meant that he had enough in reserve for upcoming unknown events.
I still say that he didn't do anything different than a majority of the drivers on that road would have done.
ah heck, we all do stuff like this, but most of us get by un-noticed were as you have your name in 2 foot letters on the side of your car. lol. I say no harm no foul.
Geezz we all will end up with a little egg on our face sometime somewhere no matter what. Nobody has a perfect day everyday. Enjoy laughing at yourself and you will never stop laughing. Just another " Aww Shit Day"
Killboy,
You are a man with the courage of your convictions! What can I add to all of this except to compliment you on the courage to publically acknowledge your "mistake" when almost all of us would never have known.
Keep the black side down!
Jeff
Gentleman + 1
Scholar ?
Good guy, for sure !
Shields up Captain.
Killboy, You are a class act sir.
Killboy, never beat yourself up for skilled driving.
Cops never carry warning cones to display BEFORE crashes in blind corners. What's that cost, $7 at Walmart?
When they're not suing traffic tickets for illegal quotas, they're getting paid bribes to let towtruckers charge $600 tow bills for bikers, in violation of THP Wreckers Services Manual.
That's why cops are required to have low IQs, as condition fo employment.
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4389953.html
BTW driving slow causes more crashes than driving fast, according Ralph Nader. Speeding on rural highways is SIX times SAFER than driving a posted speed limit, accordign to USDOT: Solomon, David. 1964. Accidents on main rural highways related to speed, driver, and vehicle. Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Public Roads.
The Hurt Report says the average speed of bike crashes is 21 mph, with only 1 in 1,000 crashes over 80 mph.
I never saw a crash on the Autobahn while driving hour after hour at 130 mph in commuter traffic at up to 200 mph, 100% legal, compared to 4 huge crashes I saw this week at 30 to 60 mph on 4-lane fed highways/interstates.
That's why the TN Court of Appeals says the 30 mph speed limit is illegal on the Dragon. SLOW KILLS!
http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/opinions/tca/PDF/053/OakRidgeOPN.pdf
One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.
END RANT
All this butt kissing is making me sick.First I hate cops,second,I would not stop and help no one,I've seen people with flats to body parts on the road.I have never stop,just laughed at them,I've had cops yell at me and I yell back.I've been to jail and its no big deal.
Gotta give a big pat on the back KB for doing the right thing. I don't feel like I can add anything to the above posts legitamate posts but I do want to thank you KB for this site, and everything you do for the area we all enjoy, better known as the Dragon.
Thanks KB, you're a class act!
P.S.
Please instert a coma between posts and legitamate for easier reading =)
@ 06cobalt
Do you really think it would be ok for someone to cross the yellow line and kill a motorcyclist? and then turn around and say that the motorcyclist should have avoided it?
Word verification: fishi
Battle, I don't know where you read in my post that it would be OK to cross the yellow, kill a cyclist and blame him for going too fast. What difference will it make in your life who's to blame anyway when someone else is cleaning up after you because your limbs don't work anymore. All I was saying was that it is up to the individual driver to look out for himself and to assume that not everyone else is going to act responsibly. Please remember, the dragon is not a closed track for professional drivers only. I also have to disagree with martvol. The right lane does not belong to him. It is where he is supposed to be driving. I think you must remember that we live in an imperfect world and that if you rely on yourself and everyone else to be perfect, you are going to be very disappointed.
I WILL REPEAT>>>> THE RIGHT LANE IS MINE>
i know it is imperfect when someone can act like a head on in a speeders lane is the speeders fault. He could have been sitting still and the lane crosser runs him over. Do you get it???? You can prepare yourself only so much, then you lock yourself in a closet never to come out again.
Martvol,
I give up. It is your lane. But I continue to believe that a rider with a knee down on a public road should be prepared for the consequences of that type of behavior. I've not said anything in my post about the biker's error crash under such circumstances & what the consequences of that could be. If nothing else, think of the children that might be involved. If you're on a track, everyone out there is on the same page and is prepared for it. I also think it would be pretty foolish to be stopped in the middle of your lane, especially on the dragon.
My Fucking Lane Bitches!
;-O ;-) ;o)
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