441 Gatlinburg/Cherokee deaths in Smokies

[Venturous Randy]

We had two on a motorcycle killed Wednesday when an SUV came around a curve and sideswiped another vehicle and then hit a motorcycle head on. I have not seen any more details, but I was just thru that same road Saturday. The Smokey Mountain area is a wonderful place to ride a motorcycle, but sometimes your paying attention is just not enough.

RandyA

[RandyR]

http://www.whnt.com/news/sns-ap-tn--smokiescrash,0,5623504.story

[Moose]

I try to give the cars ahead of me a lot of space -- just in case -- especially when we drove through that area in July!

What a tragedy!

[Pic]

We have had 2 bad wrecks in North Texas this week. One Monday and a death Thursday.

 

 

Monday was a sport bike on HWY 75 north bound lane in Allen, TX around 4:45 PM. I passed by in my cage just after it happened. Ambulance and Police just arriving. Bike was in right lane, helment was on the shoulder and he was on the other side of the guard rail laying in the grass. Someone was with, but could not see much, I was in the far left lane. I talked to a friend yesterday who told me he was 20 years old from Princeton, TX. Her daughter knew him. She said he was paralyzied from the waist down. Could not find an article about it

 

Did find this article in the Sherman News.

 

A deadly wreck Thursday, involving a motorcycle and a semi. Traffic was backed up for miles. And, now a truck driver behind bars.

It happened approximately 12:30 p.m. in the 500 Block of Highway 75 in the northbound lanes, right in front of Bearcat Stadium. According to police, the semi was driving in the right-hand lane, the motorcycle in the left lane near Pecan Street.

As they passed the on ramp, the semi changed to the left lane to get around oncoming vehicles.

The man driving the motorcycle, John David Cox, of Denison, swerved to avoid getting hit and instead was thrown from his bike into the guard rail.

Officials say the man was not wearing a helmet.

The accident backed up traffic on Highway 75 for close to three hours.

During that time, Sherman police arrested the semi driver, 46-year-old James Edward Cornelious, of Arkansas, was booked into the Grayson County Jail. He's facing criminal negligent homicide for unsafe lane change.

[raceman62race]

Back in june, I had a really close call in the North Ga Mountains with a State Trooper! I had the GPS out and 3 bikes were following me on a ride from Dalonaga to Helen. I can't recall the name of the road, but we were going around a sweeping left hand turn and going slightly up hill. The turn wasn't a hair pen turn, just a gradual sweeping turn. I was in the center of my lane when all of a sudden a state patrol cam flying by us (light on responding to a call) in the opposite direction and he was going so fast he couldn't stay in his lane and drifted over into our lane missing us by about a foot. I didn't have time to even think about reacting. Had I been in a car, there would have been a head on collision.

[Guest wrench]

That's a bad stretch of road, people cook the brakes then try to take the curves too fast or they're rubbernecking trying to see a bear. I came across the Blue Ridge to 441 last Labor Day weekend and had a Jeep ride my butt all the way to the G'burg Bypass. I know that by the way I was riding they had to smoke the brakes on it. It was way past dark and I didn't pull over to let them by, but I really should have.

[eazyduzzit]

I've been driving that road since I was a teenager. They don't just look for bears from their cars. I've seen 'em stop in the middle of the road and get out to take pictures.

If you ride in the Smokies, be ready to round a curve and see a stopped car in the middle of the road, or going 3 MPH.