Re: Deals Gap
Seth Hammond
<hop...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1190379930.2...@19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
> Just wanted to file a correction on the safety of Deals Gap. The
> official statistic on deaths on the road is 1.3 per year not 5 a week.
> 5 a week would be rediculous at over 250 a year. It's just not true
> however. It's not the number of curves, but the degree the curves and
> the changes in elevation that make the road what it is. It is a true
> knee dragger. I do agree there are better times to ride Deal's Gap
> than others. Weekends are crazy. Weekdays are good with minimul
> traffic. Smokey Mountains in the fall..........don't think you can
> beat the beauty.
>
It was I who passed on what I was told by locals when I rode the Dragon this
July. Here's a better source:
http://www.tailofthedragon.com/dragon.html
FATALITIES:
2006 - Two deaths: One rider went off road and hit tree another low sided
into an oncoming vehicle.
2005 - Three deaths: All three deaths involved failing to negociate
corners - two went off the mountain and one slid into an oncoming vehicle.
2004 - Two deaths: Both deaths apparently caused by speed and then
overbraking.
2003 - No deaths: There were several deaths in the surrounding area of the
Dragon, but none that we know of on the 11 miles of the Dragon itself.
2002 - Two deaths: On June 16 a 29 year-old Dale Bently a Valkyrie rider
from Michigan died on the Dragon. The rider was passing a car near the Horns
of the Dragon when he wrecked and suffered fatal head injuries. The second
death occurred on Sunday August 4 when Lendry R. Obanna Jr., 24, of
Jacksonville, Florida, lost control of his 2000 Yamaha R6.
2001 - Two deaths: The entire Blount County (home of the Dragon) saw a total
of four motorycle fatalities in 2001. The total includes the deaths of a
27-year-old Knoxville man who died March 10 in a collision on Old Knoxville
Highway in Rockford, the May 5th death on the Dragon, the July 5th death of
a 43-year-old Maryville man in an accident on Happy Valley Road, and the
October 27th death on the Dragon.
2000 - One death: Blount County had four motorcycle deaths in 2000 including
one fatality on the Dragon.
1999 - One death: Only one motorcycle death in 1999
1998 - No deaths: No fatal motorcycle crashes in 1998.
1997 - One death: A single motorcycle fatality is listed in 1997.
1996 - One death: A single motorcycle fatality in 1996.
1995 - Two deaths: In 1995, two men died in separate July 3 motorcycle
crashes on the Dragon during the July 4 holiday weekend.
Seth Hammond
<hop...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1190379930.2...@19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
> Just wanted to file a correction on the safety of Deals Gap. The
> official statistic on deaths on the road is 1.3 per year not 5 a week.
> 5 a week would be rediculous at over 250 a year. It's just not true
> however. It's not the number of curves, but the degree the curves and
> the changes in elevation that make the road what it is. It is a true
> knee dragger. I do agree there are better times to ride Deal's Gap
> than others. Weekends are crazy. Weekdays are good with minimul
> traffic. Smokey Mountains in the fall..........don't think you can
> beat the beauty.
>
It doesn't hold a candle to Coronado's Trail, but if it's all you poor Right
Coasters have going on, I say enjoy it the best you can.