Clark F. Oakley, 45, must have felt extra safe when his Harley crash racket struck the embankment with all of the protection provided by the Blount County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday evening. Clearly the officers were preventing accidents since only four happened in the late afternoon hours. We would like to commend them on the bang up job. We're not so sure about the effectiveness of the "awareness campaign," however.
Blount County Sheriff, James Berrong, in a statement issued after Wednesday's conference said, "This is a great, proactive enforcement effort, and we are happy to participate in this multi-jurisdictional initiative. Our No. 1 traffic priority is to save lives. Our presence on the Dragon has proven to slow down drivers, and ensures everyone arrives home safely." Well, everyone except Clark Oakley.
The other thing that is proving to slow down drivers is the side of the mountain at the 4MM. It has an almost 100% success rate and doesn't require taxpayer dollars to operate. Maybe Blount County could hire more mountainsides to "slow drivers down."
Four Wrecks occur on 'Dragon"
Accidents reported amidst police awareness campaign
From Staff Reports
Four accidents occurred on "the Dragon" Wednesday night even as authorities held a press conference to raise awareness of the dangers of poor driving.
Blount County Sheriff's officers responded to one of the accidents at mile marker 4 on "the Dragon" section of Calderwood Highway.
Clark F. Oakley, 45, Orangeville, Ontario, Canada, was traveling north when he came around a curve and lost control of his motorcycle and struck a bank, said Blount County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Marian O'Briant. He was taken by Rural/Metro Ambulance Service to a landing zone in Tallassee.
Oakley was flown by LifeStar to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, she said. The 45-year-old, who was driving a 2009 Harley-Davidson, was wearing a helmet.
Accident reports for the other accidents weren't available from other agencies as of Wednesday's press time.
Earlier Wednesday, The Blount County Sheriff's Office, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Governor's Highway Safety Office, Knoxville Police Department, Knox County Sheriff's Office, Alcoa Police Department, Maryville Police Department and the University of Tennessee Police Department collaborated in the press conference.
Officials said a review of the 2012 traffic fatality chart showed there is a significant number of fatalities across the state between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Friday and Saturday showed a steady increase in fatalities, which could be related to the increase in traffic for those commuting from work with the thoughts of the day's events and preparation for evening activities taking precedence, causing motorists to lose focus on driving.
Officials added that 54% of those killed in vehicle crashes are not wearing a seat belt.
Following the press conference, five Blount County Sheriff's deputies officers went to Calderwood Highway to saturate the area for the afternoon and evening.
"This is a great, proactive enforcement effort, and we are happy to participate in this multi-jurisdictional initiative," Blount County Sheriff James Berrong said in a statement. "Our No. 1 traffic priority is to save lives. Our presence on the Dragon has proven to do(sic) slow down drivers, and ensures everyone arrives home safely."
2 comments:
Car 64 where are you?
Has TN done an Engineering and traffic investigation on 129 yet? If not, the speed limit is defaulted to 65 from my understanding of the law. Please advise!
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