Petition to ban commercial vehicles from US129 (Deals Gap)

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Re: If You or Want To Ride The Dragon

CruisnGrrl said:
maybe you didn't read some of the above posts, even at/below the speed limit the trucks make it unsafe on some of those corners by blocking the entire road.
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And maybe you didn't read some of my above post..... I've been going there for the last 10 years. If its your first time or your 5000th time you know the risks on that road. And I'm sorry, but NO, doing the limit at the gap gives you plenty of time to stop on every corner. I'll be the bad guy here, I'll be the turbodish of this particular thread and make the unpopular statement and ya'll can hate me all you like.


We go to the gap and we ride the **** out of it everytime. By doing so we all know the risks and we travel thousands of miles just to do so. People really gotta start accepting responsibility for their actions, you take a risk and get burnt or worse that was YOUR choice. Or in this case his, like I said in my first post R.I.P. to the rider I can only hope to go out doing what I love most in the world.

Flame away
 
Re: If You or Want To Ride The Dragon

Riding the **** out of it now and riding the **** out of it 10 yrs ago is completely different. Nowadays youre a bad bad man for goingn 50 mph thru there. Back in 1998 I recall looking down at the speedo on a short chute beween corners and seeing the nrth side of 110 mph before braking for the next turn.
 
Re: If You or Want To Ride The Dragon

Graves said:
And maybe you didn't read some of my above post..... I've been going there for the last 10 years. If its your first time or your 5000th time you know the risks on that road. And I'm sorry, but NO, doing the limit at the gap gives you plenty of time to stop on every corner. I'll be the bad guy here, I'll be the turbodish of this particular thread and make the unpopular statement and ya'll can hate me all you like.


We go to the gap and we ride the **** out of it everytime. By doing so we all know the risks and we travel thousands of miles just to do so. People really gotta start accepting responsibility for their actions, you take a risk and get burnt or worse that was YOUR choice. Or in this case his, like I said in my first post R.I.P. to the rider I can only hope to go out doing what I love most in the world.

Flame away
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Horse poop.

I've been down to deals gap myself a few times - starting about 1999. Last time i was able to go down is a while ago now, in 2004. I took the following photo on the Deals Gap website circa 2002.

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Typical Deals Gap blind corner, the motorist really didn't see what was going on, until that truck was slicing into the side of his vehicle at head height. He had no chance to save the situation. The car was at the speed limit, the truck was well under it.

When down there, i also helped escort a few of these trucks through. As other posters here have posted, once they get to the sign on the entrance to Deals Gap - it is far too late for them to turn around. They are committed. Without exception, the big-rig drivers that i talked to were scared poopless, once they realized what they got themselves into. Some are routed by clueless dispatchers, some led astray by GPS, and some were led down the garden path, so to speak, by outdated and erroneous truckers route guides. All the drivers that i talked to, were new or newish truck drivers.
 
Re: If You or Want To Ride The Dragon

I was down there earlier this year. I only saw one semi go through for the few hours I hung out at the resort, and this happened to be just as we were gearing up for a run. I'm thankful it was before and not during. As people have mentioned, semi traffic isn't common, but it does happen. Everyone outside the resort held their breath as the semi made the Wheelie Hill climb to start the Dragon. We didn't see any vehicle traffic either way for at least 10 minutes or more. Regulars riding the gap said it might take that semi 45 mins to finish the 11 miles of curves. We headed out about a half hour after we finally saw motorcycles making their way back to the resort. I can't imagine having to come face to grille with one of them coming around a blind corner. It's a public road and yes it's unfortunate that truckers use it, I'm sure most truckers would rather avoid it, but they have a right to use it like everyone else, until such point that they are banned - we can only hope - although the idea of banning has been ongoing for years, and nothing yet has been done about it. I'm not saying it's not wrong for them to use it, they are putting alot of people in danger and I signed the petition because I truly believe they should not be on the 129. RIP rider.
 
Re: If You or Want To Ride The Dragon

Bandit Bill said:
Without exception, the big-rig drivers that i talked to were scared poopless, once they realized what they got themselves into. Some are routed by clueless dispatchers, some led astray by GPS, and some were led down the garden path, so to speak, by outdated and erroneous truckers route guides.All the drivers that i talked to, were new or newish truck drivers.
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Dispatchers do not plan a route, that is the sole responsibility of the driver. The GPS, while a very handy tool, is not the be all and end all of route planning and many inexperienced drivers have trusted its display instead of the more current and up to date road signs, often with catastrophic results. The Rand McNally Motor Carrier's Road Atlas is the standard choice for new and old drivers to plan their routes by; it lists the 129 as a designated truck route in TN as far as Tallassee, but from that point on it is listed as not recommended. On the NC side, the entire highway is listed as not recommended for trucks.

So, any truck that ends up winding its way through the Tail Of The Dragon is doing so because there is an inattentive and inexperienced driver at the wheel. Problem is, unless there is a sign specifically stating that it not a designated truck route, it is not illegal for a truck to drive on it. I personally have not been down this route (I am a trucker by profession), having taken the I-40 from Asheville to Knoxville instead, so unless there are signs on both ends of the 129 advising that trucks are prohibited from using it, there will be the occasional errant driver trying to negotiate his/her way down there.

With that in mind, I agree with the petition, but common sense would dictate that any long vehicle - commercial or private - should not be allowed on the Tail Of The Dragon.
 
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Re: If You or Want To Ride The Dragon

Graves said:
....You want people to sign a petition so we can break the law :confused:
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i want people to sign the petition because it's crazy to let a truck through there, seeing as they can't negotiate it while staying in their own lane.

If they can't travel on it without crossing the double yellow (which is against the law down there), it's clear that they shouldn't be allowed on it
 
Re: If You or Want To Ride The Dragon

People have mentioned, trucks being routed down the Dragon by faulty gps's or taking that route to cut time as it is a "short cut". Would there be an option to have a booth right at the start or before with an information worker / guard there so people can ask for information etc and if a truck comes by it can be stopped and turned away to take another route?
 
Re: If You or Want To Ride The Dragon

BusaBob said:
Fortunately, because of the danger posed to everyone, once a hapless truck or bus driver finds themselves on the dragon, locals on the road (in cars or motorcycles) will often escort them by travelling ahead of the trucks with their highbeams and flashers on, warning oncoming traffic of the potential danger around the next bend.

Keep in mind, these transports literally crawl through this area at a snail's pace for 11 miles.
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Not just the locals .. ive escorted a transport myself through the entire Dragon. What a pain in the *** it was too.

Nothing more scary no matter the speed to see a transport in your own lane in any of those blind turns.
 
Re: If You or Want To Ride The Dragon

TwistedKestrel said:
Most truckers would never go near that road if they had a choice. It's a routing problem where they are sent down there by GPS or dispatch. By the time they get there, they're already screwed - there's nowhere they can possibly turn around. I'd guess that most of them come off of I-40 or I-140 - maybe put huge signs at the exit warning them not to go through? Or maybe banning all large commercial traffic from the whole Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Just banning them from 129 won't fix anything.
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There are tons of huge signs saying switch backs ahead, turn around, with paved areas to do so. There's about 3 from each side, and the last one says, last chance to turn around.
 
Re: If You or Want To Ride The Dragon

We all agree safety is key, were all riders and would love never to see trucks there again (even if you haven't gone or don't plan to, take a few seconds and sign, you might just save a riders life and keep the riders a bit more safe who ride there, we are a family, there is a comrodery to our riding addition). Lets get some signatures
 
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Re: If You or Want To Ride The Dragon

S500K said:
People have mentioned, trucks being routed down the Dragon by faulty gps's or taking that route to cut time as it is a "short cut". Would there be an option to have a booth right at the start or before with an information worker / guard there so people can ask for information etc and if a truck comes by it can be stopped and turned away to take another route?
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that costs more money than the states can spend
 
This petition was started on another non-bike forum that I'm on. A member there lost a friend last week when he came around a corner and there was an 18 wheeler in his lane. I've heard of some close calls from members here and figured that I'd post the link to the petition. Whether or not it actually makes any difference, I don't know. It certainly can't hurt however. I've never personally been to the Gap myself, but just seeing pictures from Killboy's website tells the story pretty clearly.

This is the post from the other forum. I'd link the thread but I'm pretty sure you have to be a paid member to read it.

Petition - http://www.change.org/petitions/ikes..._term=own_wall

All,

Last week, a friend was riding Deal's Gap, aka the Dragon when he came around a corner to find an 18 wheeler in his lane. Unfortunately, he did not survive the incident. This is not the first time such an incident has happened, but with your help, it can be the last.

We are putting together a petition to bar 18 Wheelers from Deal's Gap. If you don't know about Deal's Gap, it is a winding stretch of road on the TN/NC border. The road is so tight, that tractor trailers cannot negotiate it without crossing into the oncoming lane.

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With your help, we can prevent future problems.

Thanks

Petition - http://www.change.org/petitions/ikes..._term=own_wall
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If for whatever reason someone finds this to be inappropriate, let me know and I'll take it down or have a mod delete it.
 
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