Petition to restrict commerical traffic on Hwy 129 - The Tail of the Dragon

[Slide Panda]

Autohag posted this in CAM, but I thought it could use a little more attention

A petition to restrict US Highway 129 to non-commercial vehicles.
Via: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=715101

- Personally I think it needs to be a length limit as some private vehicles are too big for the The Dragon, but the sentiment is the same.

If you've been on that road, you know that it cannot be safely navigated by vehicles over a certain size.

For those who have not - Beyond a certain length even if the driver keeps the front wheels on the right side it's impossible to the rear or mid sections to cross the double yellow. For Semi sized vehicles, they cannot make it without purposefully crossing the double yellow. And even with them using both lanes it's common for trailers to damage the road, barriers, trees and get hung up and high centered.
Visit http://tailofthedragon.com/dragon_trucks.html or killboy.com to see photos of the issues with big vehicles on that road.

Due to the very limited sight lines on the road even folks not speeding at all have had run ins. Come around a blind turn and 15 feet from you is a semi in your lane...

As you might expect this causes a lot of accidents. Most recently a man (Ike) died as the result of a accident with a semi that was spanning the while road. So that's where this petition got started. It's just a petition, but it's a start.

[Howie]

Doneded!

[dark_duc]

Signed!

[hillbillypolack]

Good idea.  If you'd ever been to the Crossroads of Time, you'd see a number of pics showing semis, RVs, logging trucks etc stuck at the hairpins.  I don't know how these guys think it's a good idea to navigate, especially after reading a map (now GPS).

[Slide Panda]

Good idea.  If you'd ever been to the Crossroads of Time, you'd see a number of pics showing semis, RVs,  I don't know how these guys think it's a good idea to navigate, especially after reading a map (now GPS).

I read an article written by a fellow who, early in his trucking career, made the mistake of taking the Dragon. Granted this was years ago, well before GPS and such. He looked over a map and the one he had was of a scale that it didn't show the real flavor of 129. He thought it was a great cut from NC to TN- and at a large enough map scale it does look like it.

His narrative was amusing. As he was a bit out from 129 on an approach he started to get waves from vehicles going the other way. As he got closer the waves got more frantic and transitioned to rude gestures and a couple tossed soda cups as he got really close. Not knowing about 129 he was confused by all the hostility... then he figured it out after it was too late.

His piece was there to illustrate the folly of trucks using that section of road - but it did explain why trucks would find themselves on the road. At least before GPS

[smdub]

Thanks.  Done.

[lethe]

Done
I brought my wife down there just 2 weeks ago in my car and we got pushed off the road a few feet by a truck who didn't even slow down the slightest, thankfully there was a shoulder there so we didn't have any problems.

[corey]

sigh...
not going to turn this into a political thread, sign all the petitions you want... but i don't want to see anyone getting ticked off if they start petitioning for certain roads to be off limits to MOTORCYCLE traffic. regulation and restriction is a two-way street.

[lethe]

sigh...
not going to turn this into a political thread, sign all the petitions you want... but i don't want to see anyone getting ticked off if they start petitioning for certain roads to be off limits to MOTORCYCLE traffic. regulation and restriction is a two-way street.

But this is a very legitimate safety concern. That road is quite literally impossible for a big truck to navigate safely and they put all other traffic at a serious risk.

[corey]

just a personal point of view. i understand the safety concerns...
but it's also a public road. couldn't they solve the safety risks for non-truck drivers by making a truck ONLY road?
i know that's absurd, but that's the two-way point of view. don't push to limit their freedoms, and they won't push to limit ours is how i see it.
too much regulating. just do some public education on the road, maybe build in a by-pass at each end of the dragon to make a safe exit to other roads, and just be mad at the large vehicles that don't  heed the warning. no need to tell folks what they can and can't do.

[Slide Panda]

I brought my wife down there just 2 weeks ago in my car and we got pushed off the road a few feet by a truck who didn't even slow down the slightest, thankfully there was a shoulder there so we didn't have any problems.

There's photos of a few cars that didn't have any place to go and got mashed in similar situations.

sigh...
not going to turn this into a political thread, sign all the petitions you want... but i don't want to see anyone getting ticked off if they start petitioning for certain roads to be off limits to MOTORCYCLE traffic. regulation and restriction is a two-way street.

Well folks have sorta done this with speed bumps and such to deal with speeding traffic. But as noted by lethe it is impossible for big trucks to safely navigate that section of road. Over a certain size they cannot make it without violating the laws - it's just physics and geometry... just science.

Speeding, hooning and such is a human factor the same logic can't be applied... though that might not stop folks from trying. Either way to me it about the fact that big vehicles cannot navigate that road without breaking laws and endangering other folks.

[corey]

plenty of sense there, but if there already laws in place, then they just need to start enforcing them. if they start slapping tickets on every truck (and RIDER) that barrels over the double yellow, then 1) trucks will avoid it more, and 2) maybe riders will get better too

[Slide Panda]

1) trucks will avoid it more, and 2) maybe riders will get better too

We can hope...

The local LEOs can be pretty active and there's big warning signs for trucks... but still truckers still try to run it. You'd think folks would know better... but apparently this road and texting while driving are just irresistible!

[elvenhome21]

being both a truck driver and have ridden the dragon I have the real credentials to comment on this topic and not just people who are inconvenienced by commercial traffic.

First off, yes 53ft trailers and sleeper cabs do not fit on the dragon. It can be done but you better have a spotter in front of you to stop traffic. Now for my side of it being a truck driver, NO you cannot prohibit all commercial vehicles from the dragon period. dump trucks and delivery trucks need to have access to the dams and power companies and anything else in that area. Heck even the gap needs to get daily/weekly deliveries from a "commercial truck"

I feel there could be a length restriction with exceptions (required pilot car) but it is a US highway and not a small local road so you run into federal issues with funding and such if you put certain restrictions on certain routes.

[ducatiz]