Friday, October 21, 2011
Power understeer
This is why motorcycles must be banned from the Dragon, to prevent distraction of caged wankers.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Big Brother videocams inside every car...
Land of the coward and home of the slave
Gov't cameras in your car? E-toll patent hints at Big Brotherish future
By Bob Sullivan
MSNBC
Patent application number: 20110161140
Imagine that you couldn't drive on major highways without agreeing to put a camera in your car -- one that could film either the occupants or the vehicle’s surroundings and transmit the images back to a central office for inspection.
You don't have to read George Orwell to conjure up such an ominous surveillance state. You just have to skim through filings at the U.S. Patent Office.
It's hard to imagine Americans would tolerate such a direct, Big-Brotherish intrusion. But they might not notice if the all-seeing cameras were tucked inside another kind of government tracking technology that millions of Americans have already invited into their cars.
Kapsch TrafficCom AG, an Austrian company that just signed a 10-year contract to provide in-car transponders such as the E-Z Pass to 22 electronic highway toll collection systems around the U.S., recently filed a patent on technology to add multi-function mini-cameras to their toll gadgets. Today, transponders are in about 22 million cars around the U.S. Adding inward and outward facing cameras to the gadgets would create surveillance capabilities far beyond anything government agencies have tried until now.
The stated reason for an inward-pointing camera is to verify the number of occupants in the car for enforcement of HOV and HOT lanes. The outward-pointing camera could be used for the same purpose, helping authorities enforce minimum occupant rules against drivers who aren't carrying transponders.
But it's easy to imagine other uses. The patent says the transponders would have the ability to store and transmit pictures, either at random intervals or on command from a central office. It would be tempting to use them as part of a search for a lost child, for example, and law enforcement officials might find the data treasure trove irresistible. The gadget could also be instructed to take pictures when the acceleration of a car "exceeds a threshold," or when accidents occur, so it could be used like an airplane cockpit flight recorder.
It's important to note that a patent filing is a far cry from the invention and manufacturing of a new product. Many patent filings are nothing more than a defensive measure taken to protect the farthest reaches of intellectual property. Officials at Kapsch declined to be interviewed for this story, but in a statement said that citizens shouldn't read too much into the filing.
“This patent filing is part of the standard intellectual property protection process followed by every company that invests in research and development," said Erwin Toplak, chief operating officer of Kapsch, in an e-mail. "Kapsch, for example, files approximately 20 patent applications a year. This process protects our unique ideas; it does not signify that a commercial product is in development or even contemplated .”
And P.J. Wilkins, executive director of the E-Z Pass Group consortium that manages the massive toll collection cooperative, said he hadn't even heard of camera technology when told about the patent by msnbc.com.
"It's not an upgrade we are working on here," said. "We just signed a long-term contract with them and this wasn't a requirement."
Enforcement of HOV and HOT lanes is a labor-intensive and expensive issue for many state agencies, he said, and he understood why a company like Kapsch would try to invent a technology to deal with the problem, But he said he couldn't imagine it being used in the E-Z Pass system.
"Before anyone goes down that road there's a whole host of questions that would have to be answered,” he said. “What's the impact on privacy? What's the impact on the data stream? I just don't think it's something that would gain a lot of traction."
Kapsch sells its technology in 41 countries around the globe, and 64 million cars worldwide have been outfitted with its transponders, according to the firm's website. Occupant cameras could be attractive, and more acceptable, outside the U.S.
And while it's possible cameras-in-cars technology would be a non-starter in America, that doesn't mean Americans shouldn't be worried, said Lee Tien, a privacy expert with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
"I think (drivers) should be pretty concerned," he said. "You want to make sure any use of that technology is very carefully regulated. People should let the E-Z Pass folks know now what they think about any possible plans to introduce cameras in their cars, now, while it's being developed, rather than before it's already a fait accompli, and some agency says it's already spent millions on it and can't turn back now."
Tien said there's nothing inherently bad about using new technology to enforce tolls, but he cautioned against what is sometimes called "surveillance spillover." Technology designed for one function is inevitably used by law enforcement officials and other government agencies in unintended ways.
"You could imagine that they could limit the capacity of devices -- say the images would be destroyed after a very short period of time -- so it would not be as powerful a surveillance device. But that's not the general dynamic," he said. "Once you have the device out there, someone says, 'Why not use it for this, or that.' That's usually where the battle between privacy and other social goals is lost."
The dynamic is playing out right now in a European scandal surrounding use of a secret government program used by German law enforcement officials to monitor citizens' Internet behavior through the use of Trojan horse software called R2D2. German courts had permitted use of the software only when officials were fulfilling a legal wiretap order, and only to listen in on Skype conversations. But the R2D2 Trojan has allegedly been used by German authorities to send thousands of screen shots detailing suspects' Internet explorations, to keylog their typing, and in a host of other potentially illegal evidence-gathering methods.
The solution, says Tien, is to design privacy right into the gadget in the first place, to minimize the inevitable temptations for law enforcement and security officials.
"It doesn't bother me that (Kapsch) filed this patent. Surveillance technology is constantly being developed. There is money in surveillance," he said. "The question is less about lamenting the invention of these things and more about questioning our demand for surveillance, and thinking about the kind of society we are building and encouraging when we legitimize the continual, gradual architecting of the social world into a surveillance society."
News of the camera patents comes as electronic toll collection continues to expand around the U.S. -- and while options for using the systems anonymously have finally become commonplace. After years of complaints from skeptics that E-Z Pass toll paying created an undesirable public record that could be used to track individuals, systems in Texas and Washington state now allow users to register for the devices without disclosing their identities. And a new "E-Z Pass On the Go" gadget is being sold in the Eastern U.S. that functions much like a disposable prepaid phone card, allowing anonymous use of the E-Z Pass tolls.
E-Z Pass has had to beat back a lot of conspiracy theories through the years, Wilkins noted -- such as the idea that the gadgets would be used to catch speeders and issue tickets. E-Z Pass users now register very few complaints, he said, and are overwhelmingly happy with a system that helps them avoid delays at long toll booth lines.
"The whole tracking thing is a bogus argument," said Wilkins. "If you have a cell phone you are being tracked anyway. Law enforcement can get to cell phone records just as easily (as E-Z Pass records). And the phone company keeps that data a very long time."
Boy racers beware: your parents are watching
By Anna Gizowska in Sydney and David Harrison
Daily Telegraph
14 Aug 2005
It's bad news for boy racers: Big Brother is watching you - and so are your parents on a new in-car video camera that records how motorists drive.
The palm-sized device, to be launched in Britain this month, is fixed to the windscreen beneath the rear-view mirror and captures any dangerous or erratic driving. Parents can then download the colour footage onto a computer to see - and hear - how their children behave behind the wheel.
The £1,000 camera, which is being compared to the "black box" used on airliners to record flight details, was invented by an Australian, developed in the United States and has been approved for sale in Britain.
So far the device, called DriveCam, has been used mainly by fleet car companies who use it to monitor their drivers and to provide evidence for insurance claims, but the makers are also planning to market the camera as a "car nanny".
Gary Rayner, who invented the camera after reading about the car crash that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, and the lack of information about the moments leading up to her death, said: "It's an ideal way to keep an eye on the kids' driving. Parents, like fleet managers, can see bad driving behaviour before it turns into accidents and give their children advice."
More than 3,000 people die on British roads every year and a quarter of the victims are drivers aged between 17 and 25. Mr Rayner says that the device will save lives. It has reduced road deaths in America, where it has been fitted in 30,000 fleet vehicles, he said.
The camera, which also has a red "panic button" to capture incidents such as muggings or road rage attacks, records sights and sounds inside and outside the car continuously but "saves" footage only when there is a "trigger incident". These include excessive speed, sharp cornering, hard braking or accelerating, and going over bumps. The camera saves footage 15 seconds either side of each incident.
A spokesman for the Institute of Advanced Motoring said: "It's early days yet but we have endorsed this product because we believe it can make a contribution to road safety."
Parents welcomed it too. Jeff Joyce, who runs an insurance business in East Sheen, south-west London, and has an 18-year-old son who has been driving for a year, said: "It can only be a good thing if it helps young drivers to be a bit more aware of how important it is to drive safely.
"It also gives the parents more sway over the children because if they have evidence of bad driving they can stop the kids using the car and make them pay for any damage."
The prospect of being filmed, however, horrified his son James who has had two crashes since he passed his test. "It would be terrible," he said. "If my mum and dad were to see a film of me driving I don't think they would let me drive again.
"I suppose it could help you with an insurance claim, but I don't think any teenager or other young driver would want their driving to be captured on film."
In Australia, where 350 people aged 17 to 25 die on the roads and 5,500 are seriously injured each year, the device is being used to improve teenagers' driving.
Gene Corbett, the director of Total Driver, a driving school in Queensland, recently carried out a three-month study of 40 young drivers with DriveCam fitted in their cars and found many dangerous flaws in their driving because of their lack of experience.
"We give them a few lessons then put them in charge of a car at legal speeds of up to 110 kilometres an hour, with little or no education or coaching and expect them to learn the rest by experience, which is ludicrous," he said.
Mr Corbett's assessment and coaching reduced "trigger incidents" by up to 80 per cent and most of the drivers said the study had made then drive more cautiously.
Smile For The Camera: Big Brother Is Watching You Speed Via Satellite
TheCarConnection.com
April 27, 2010
Satellites do many awesome things: they allow us to communicate with friends and family, they help us find our way home when we're lost, and of course, they bring us television -- delicious television. But there are a few downsides to those hunks of metal and circuitry floating above the surface of the earth, and for drivers in Britain, one of those downsides is now speed traps.
In London and Cornwall, a pilot program has just been launched that combines all the fun of terrestrial speed cameras with the creepy omniscience of GPS. In a nutshell, the program -- called "SpeedSpike" -- uses positioning satellites to track motorists as they travel between traffic cameras. By calculating the time it takes a driver to move from one point to the other, SpeedSpike can determine whether or not the motorist has been speeding. When the car reaches the second camera, calculations are made, and if they're out of line -- blammo! -- a photo is taken of the license plate, and a ticket is mailed to the owner.
Obviously, this is terrible news for leadfooters. Garden-variety traffic cameras are confined to a particular area: if you're not driving by one, it can't give you a ticket. But SpeedSpike allows the camera system to expand exponentially, with far less on-the-ground hardware. As long as you drive past two cameras, your speed can be measured and you can potentially receive a citation. Taken to its logical extreme, the British government could roll out enough camera checkpoints to cover the entire nation.
And just because this is happening in Britain doesn't mean that those of us in North America can relax: the company behind SpeedSpike, PIPS Technology, is based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Not to get all survivalist or anything, but: yikes.
Of course, the real problem with SpeedSpike goes beyond overbearing traffic enforcement: SpeedSpike opens the door to serious breaches of individual privacy. It's hard to argue that anything as illegal and dangerous as speeding is a-okay, so SpeedSpike itself is, in theory, justifiable. But the jump from traffic enforcement to more insidious applications is a short and easy one.
Unfortunately, just like cell phones, in-car internet, and Lunchables, the genie is out of the bottle on this brand of technology. PIPS's pilot program might fail for any number of reasons -- political, logistical, or otherwise -- but the idea is there, and the technology is there, so our guess is that the service itself will eventually be there in some form or other. As drivers (and voters), we need to make sure it rolls out in a way that ensures safety while also respecting the privacy of individuals.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Deals Gap Dragon Dragstrip
Death rate skyrockets on the Dragon after 'speed limit' reduced by 35 mph
See Fake Propaganda Death Map by THP and Knoxville News Sentinel's bankrupt Maryville Daily Times versus Truth Map by TailOfTheDragon.com: THP claims 3 deaths in 2009 but there were actually 5 deaths. THP claims zero deaths in 2010, but there was actually 1 death with the road closed by martial law for 6 months.
Daily Times forget to mention the rider literally run over by a tractor trailer in 2011, since big rigs block both lanes in every curve with immunity from prosecution (no ticket for the biker-killin trucker). North Carolina has already banned large trucks from US129, thus denying access to the Dragon, a law this trucker violated in order to murder Ike Woodard. Yet cops refused to ticket this trucker for his homicide at Deals Gap.
In fact, Blount County renamed Interstate 140 (Pellissippi Parkway) to honor the convicted hit-and-run killer of a sportbike tourist.
The actual cause of biker deaths is the 4-hour to 24-hour rescue time by Rural Metro and THP on the Dragon (as if any cop ever performs first aid or has first responder equipment and certification).
‘The dragstrip' to the Dragon now a concern
By Joel Davis | (joeld@thedailytimes.com)
“The Dragon” might be a cruel and unforgiving stretch of road, but it doesn’t stop thousands of motorists from being drawn to its seductive challenges each year.
An 11.1-mile segment of U.S. 129 from Tabcat Creek to the North Carolina Line at Deals Gap, The Dragon draws motorcyclists from across the nation and from around the world to pit themselves against its world-famous 318 curves. Many rise to the occasion — discovering the exhilaration of conquering the legendary road. Sometimes, though, they fail. There has been an average of 2.4 motorcycle fatalities per year for the past six years on the stretch.
Harold “Monk” Hood, 71, is a veteran motorcyclist. He’s traveled The Dragon at least 100 times in the past six years but admits it’s not his favorite ride. He prefers the nearby Cherohala Skyway in North Carolina, which is more suited to touring on his 2010 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic. “I don’t like to be crowded,” he said.
And The Dragon is crowded.
Thousands of vehicles travel the route during busy season, which sometimes leads to sticky situations as riders of very different temperaments encounter each other, Hood said. “All of a sudden, you’ve got two crotch-rockets coming around you in the middle of a switchback curve. ... It’s scary.”
Daily Times photographer Tom Sherlin, a motorcyclist himself, had five separate encounters with sports bikes while filming a first-person account of riding The Dragon, which can be seen on (http://TheDailyTimes.com) “The first time it was just surprising because he appeared out of nowhere —all of a sudden he’s going past on the left, and then you see him fly away,” Sherlin said.
Still, there is a place for everyone on The Dragon, whatever bike they ride, Hood said. “I’m not saying they shouldn’t be there. It’s a federal highway so everybody has got the right to be on it. It’s overcrowded, but everybody has a right to ride their own bikes. If they’d stay within the speed limit, nobody would have a problem.”
Unfortunately, it is the riders unfamiliar with the curvy roads who most often prove to be a danger to themselves, Hood said. “Most of the ones who wreck are out-of-staters. I hate to see that. They come out to enjoy themselves and leave in a bag.”
Speeding common
With thousands of travelers crossing the mountain on U.S. 129 each year, the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) and Blount County Sheriff’s Office deputies stay busy. THP alone wrote 2,365 citations to motorists traveling U.S. 129/SR115 in Blount County in 2009 and 2010. Speeding was the most common violation on the roadway, especially regarding motorcycles.
In 2009, 227 out of 388 motorcyclists cited were ticketed for speeding violations. These citations increased in 2010, with 383 out of 666 motorcyclists cited for speeding. In 2009, only 228 speeding citations were issued out of 690 total to non-motorcyclists. In 2010, there were 272 non-motorcyclists cited for speeding out of 621 total citations.
Improper passing was the second most common violation for motorcyclists.
The Daily Times received the citation statistics through an Open Records request made to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Marian O’Briant said an annual grant from the state allows deputies to increase enforcement on the Dragon. “It is an overtime grant exclusive for the Dragon. We use it May through the end of September for direct patrols two or three days a week. Without those grants, we couldn’t do that.”
From 2008-2011, the Sheriff’s Office received $366,706 from the state to pay for overtime incurred during the Dragon patrols.
‘The Dragstrip ...’
The path to The Dragon has its own perils.
Local resident and farmer Dan Ashby believes Calderwood Highway, which leads to The Dragon, has become a danger in its own right. He calls the 10-mile segment of U.S. 129 that stretches from U.S. Highway 411 to the Calderwood Dam “the dragstrip to The Dragon.” He said there is danger every day.
“It’s utter chaos,” he said. “These idiots come flying up through here in speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. ... It’s anarchy out here at night.”
Ashby said he’s been trying get public officials to take steps to improve safety on the road for several years now, but feels that little has been done, He has written more than a dozen letters to officials during the past three years, but feels nothing will be done about the road until “someone powerful, rich or politically important gets hurt on this road.”
Governor’s Highway Safety Office Director Kendell Poole said he respects Ashby’s statements, but explained that efforts have been made in order to curb these problems. “Over half a million dollars in overtime has been sunk into patrols on The Dragon and the areas surrounding The Dragon,” he said.
‘Dangerous task’
Although Ashby gives credit to Blount County Sheriff James Berrong and the THP’s efforts to tame The Dragon, he doesn’t believe local law enforcement has sufficient resources.
“I feel sorry for the deputies putting their lives on the line when they are restricted in what they can do up here,” Ashby said. “Only Sheriff Berrong has made an effort, but it is fairly nonexistent on weekends due to manpower. The deputies and troopers are to be commended for a thankless and dangerous task of enforcing laws of Tennessee without any manpower support and real involvement from Nashville.”
While in his frustration Ashby cites a lack of involvement from Nashville, there has been some funding provided by the state.
O’Briant said the Sheriff’s Office especially concentrates its efforts during peak cruising season and uses state grant money to help finance those patrols. “Between the months of May and the end of September, with the gracious assistance of the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office overtime grant money, we are able to send extra enforcement to The Dragon five days a week — Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then two other days during the week. There are usually two Sheriff’s Office cruisers up there on those days. We concentrate on areas of The Dragon where there are the most problems and the most accidents.”
Slow it down
Living just past Hatcher’s store, Ashby said he also believes that the intersection right before his house at Six Mile Road creates part of the problems and is a huge danger by itself. “It’s got to be one of the most dangerous intersections in the state.”
Ashby, a motorcycle rider himself, said he is not opposed to riders, sightseers or tourists in the area and that all he is asking is for the Tennessee Department of Transportation to slow the speed limit down a “little bit.”
The posted speed limit for the stretch of highway that runs parallel to his property is 50 mph. Ashby said he feels even decreasing it to 45 mph could help the situation and prevent accidents.
“The fact that this road has a 50 mile-per-hour (limit) on it is especially ludicrous when compared to TN 411 in Madisonville, Englewood and Etowah that limit the speed to 45 mph on a five-lane road with very little residential or business activity,” he said.
See also: Dragon’s toll: 17 in 6 years (Ike Woodard rolls in his grave because of the Police State)
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The speed limit on the Dragon is 65 mph, according to TDOT, TN Code 55-8-152 & 153 , Blount County Attorney General, Blount County Courts, TN Court of Appeals and TN Supreme Court in CITY OF OAK RIDGE v. DIANA RUTH BROWN. Lowering the speed limit has quadrupled the death rate on the Dragon, which is why it is illegal to post a limit of 30 mph without a TDOT performing a mandatory traffic engineering survey speed audit .
"Dear Mr. Lee: Please find enclosed the Road Safety Audit Review of U. S. 129 from North Carolina State Line to Tabcat Bridge in Blount County, dated July 25, 2007. We have no record of a Traffic Engineering Survey and/or Speed Audit for this location."
-Marion E. Hilt, Staff Attorney, TDOT, Tennessee Open Records Act Request, February 23, 2011
A $6-million class action lawsuit was filed in Knoxville this week, against Bluff City for suing speeding tickets without an engineering speed audit.
Every cop on the Dragon is guilty of felony official oppression, conspiracy and racketeering, according to TN Code. Is USA really land of the coward and home of the slave? Cops on the Dragon are paid $100,000/yr salaries according to THP and BCSO public records.
COP.
2. to steal; filch. 3. to buy (narcotics). 4. cop out, a. to avoid one's responsibility, the fulfillment of a promise, etc.; renege; back out. 5. cop a plea, a. to plead guilty or confess in return for receiving a lighter sentence. b. to plead guilty to a lesser charge; plea-bargain."
-Random House Unabridged Dictionary
“I’ll burn your house down, set your dog on fire and there won’t be a member of your family left, do you understand me? I won’t hire it done, I will do it myself! Do you understand me?”
-Blount County sheriff James Berrong, United Stated Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, Nuchols v. Berrong, No. 04-5645, July 11, 2005See More
Biker Tickets Increase 11,400% on the Dragon, brags THP
THP bans all commercial businesses in Blount County on the Dragon, says TDOT Report.
"The median pre-crash speed was 29.8 mph, and the median crash speed was 21.5 mph, and the one-in-a-thousand crash speed is approximately 86 mph. Motorcycle riders in these accidents showed significant collision avoidance problems. Most riders would overbrake and skid the rear wheel, and underbrake the front wheel greatly reducing collision avoidance deceleration. The ability to countersteer and swerve was essentially absent."
-Dr Harry Hurt PhD, Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures, USDOT
Countersteering is the only way to steer a motorcycle, and requires steering in the opposite direction to a curve. THP censors countersteering from it's Motorcycle Operator Test and Study Guide, thus intentionally causing 95% of all motorcycle crashes.
The main cause of motorcycle deaths on the Dragon is the 4.5-hour response time by Rural Metro. Knox County has a 10-minute response time required by contract, or Rural Metro has to pay a penalty out of its billion-dollar profit.
Your odds of dying in a motorcycle crash are about the same as stangulation by inhalation, or by fire.
You're THREE times more likely to die by gunfire than in a motorcycle crash.
You're FOUR times more likely to die by FALLING DOWN or by poisoning than in a motorcycle crash.
You're TEN times more likely to die by suicide than in a motorcycle crash. (Does riding a bike protect you from suicide?)
You're EIGHTEEN times more likely to die from the FLU than in a motorcycle crash.
You're TWENTY-SEVEN times more likely to die playing ordinary sports than in a motorcycle crash. 200,000 stick-and-ball athletes die every year in USA, according to CDC.
500,000 Americans are killed every year by tobacco.
Medical doctors are the leading cause of death in USA, with virtual immunity from prosecution. For every 1 driver killed in a car or motorcycle crash, doctors murder 250. The most dangerous part of a motor vehicle crash is the medical treatment.
"The most stunning statistic, however, is that the total number of deaths caused by conventional medicine is an astounding 783,936 per year. It is now evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the US. (By contrast, the number of deaths attributable to heart disease in 2001 was 699,697, while the number of deaths attributable to cancer was 553,251.5) Using Leape's 1997 medical and drug error rate of 3 million multiplied by the 14% fatality rate he used in 1994 produces an annual death rate of 420,000 for drug errors and medical errors combined. Using this number instead of Lazorou's 106,000 drug errors and the Institute of Medicine 's (IOM) estimated 98,000 annual medical errors would add another 216,000 deaths, for a total of 999,936 deaths annually. Our estimated 10-year total of 7.8 million iatrogenic* deaths is more than all the casualties from all the wars fought by the US throughout its entire history. Our considerably higher figure is equivalent to six jumbo jets are falling out of the sky each day."
—Gary Null, PhD; Carolyn Dean MD, ND; Martin Feldman, MD; Debora Rasio, MD; Dorothy Smith, PhD, Life Extension Magazine, Death by Medicine, March 2004 (plus 10-Million annual aborticides in USA)
"One hundred forty years ago, the Royal Society in England warned against the railroads, claiming that at speeds over 30 miles per hour, the air supply to the passenger compartment would be cut off and people would die from asphyxiation. And the college of physicians in Munich, for its part, warned that at 30 mph, travelers would suffer headaches, vertigo and possible lose their sight because of a blurring effect. Over 30 mph great catastrophies were predicted, because everyone knew that even a twig would shatter the wheels."
-Jules Burgman, ABC News, NASA Langley Research Center, The Impact of Science on Society, NASA SP-482, NASA Scientific and Technical Information Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1985
Telling the Truth in Motorcycle Crash Statistics
Famous Person Says Leave Bikers Alone on the Dragon
"There has been an average of 2.4 motorcycle fatalities per year for the past six years on the stretch." - I travel from the west coast to ride your beautiful hi-ways and sadly on my last trip arrived just after one of these sad tragedies. and was nearly hit by the same semi that killed the rider before I arrived. Yes I said Semi, big rig, 18 wheeler, that's what killed that poor rider and many others through the years NOT speed! Apparently North Carolina has laws banning trucks of this size from this hi-way but turns a blind eye after all who's it gonna hurt a biker? and Tennessee doesn't care about safety either because cry's to stop the trucks has fallen into that same category (who cares! it was only a biker). Speed is an important factor on all roads not only excessive speeds but also speeds that impede the flow of traffic and the arrogant self righteous people that think others should follow them well below posted speeds or risk going around rather than using provided turnouts to let others pass safely. This could have been a great article if you had sat down and interviewed all involved rather than getting a biased one-sided opinion and puking it out as the Gospel but then again why should you have any integrity in your reporting when all the other major journalist have sold their integrity for a fluff story. Enforce the laws that exist before throwing mankind into chains.
I'm a frequent tourist to the area - and if it were not for winding roads, I wouldn't be there (and spending money) - and there are plenty of others doing the same. But, be that as it may, and having just spent two weeks in the area, my perspective is that the sport riders doing truly high speeds are rare (I never saw it at all) and overwhelmed by the number of cruisers, many of whom ride VERY slowly but will not do the courteous thing by using the paved pull-outs to let others pass safely. Tractor-trailer units are another scary thought; a 53-foot trailer can not fit on that road and stay in its own lane. When will Tennessee do the right thing and ban tractor-trailers with longer than 30 foot trailers on that road, the same as what North Carolina has done (but seems not to be enforcing very much)?
As far as speed limits, the 5...0 mph speed limit from 411 to the lakes seems reasonable (I could do that in my tow vehicle with ample safety margin), the 40 mph speed limit by the lakes is surely under-posted as a revenue-generator (no apparent reason for it to be any different from the 50 zone), and the 30 mph speed limit in Deals Gap itself is under-posted and can easily and safely be exceeded by someone on a scooter, nevermind a decent car. If there is a problem with a small number of people exceeding a speed limit by a huge margin, then reducing that speed limit is not going to help - the artificially low speed limit will just annoy everyone else and won't affect someone who is already exceeding it by a huge margin.
Deals Gap is not a good place for inexperienced riders, nor is it a good place for oversized vehicles (tractor-trailers that simply won't fit on the road), nor is it a good place for vehicles with handling problems (motorcycles with inadequate cornering clearance, and particularly trikes - many of the fatalities in the last few years have involved trikes of home-built or kit-built design, which are often prone to overturning).
If the real problem for the residents is noise (and I suspect this to be the case), then where is the enforcement for that?
By the way, I appreciate the enforcement on staying on the correct side of the center line. Let's see it applied to the tractor-trailers equally ... and on balance, let's see some enforcement for those who block traffic from passing by going very slowly and not using the pull-offs.See More
The state could obviously give $0.02 about the safety of motorcyclists. If the state cared anything about the safety of motorcyclists they wouldn't have "cleaned" the ditches on 129 from the state line to Tabcat bridge, which effectively did absolutely nothing except put large amounts of dirt and gravel in the road. Law enforcement is not on "The Dragon" to protect anyone, they are there for revenue purposes. As far as the speed limit on 129 North of Tabcat Bridge, if anything it should be raised by at least 15mph, no engineering survey has ever been completed on the road, the speed limits are arbitrary numbers. The road along Chilhowee Lake is wide and straight, for it to have a 40mph speed limit is especially ludicrous. Comparing the speed limit on 129 to the speed limit on 411 is completely irrelevant, 411 has a much different traffic flow, volume of traffic, and far fewer cross streets, schools, businesses, and driveways which if anything would negate a higher speed limit than that of 411.
What they don't say or even ask about are the Cruisers that do 5mph and wobble through out every corner is a danger to the people behind him. Then if you pass this rider that can't even ride his own bike. then you are the bad guy for getting away from a situation that might put your self in danger. Funny how they say a sportbike passing them at the posted speed limit is dangerous but the guy on a cruiser that trys to show off in front of a photographer and wrecks goes into the other lane and takes me out is the good guy. kind of twisted right? 8 out of 10 fatalities are cruiser riders that don't know the capabilities of their vehicle. Nor even understand the most basic rider skill of counter steering.
Now on the reducing the speed limit. That is a great idea!! When the speed limit was lowered to 30 mph on the 11 mile stretch the death rate increased dramatically........... I love people that don't have a clus about what they are talking about and blabbering on like they do. They idiot diarrhea of the mouth.
Right... decreasing the speed limit saves lives...
Mr. Ashby didn't mention how conversation has to stop (inside your home)until 25 to 30 bikes go by. I love to hear the single sound of a Harley, but together it's just a loud roar. It breaks by heart when they go roaring by, praying that they will all be comeing back in one piece.
AND if people that came from across the land to ride the fabled 'dragon' knew how to ride, there would be no need for passing. I have been behind riders that go 10 mph..... if you are that scared, don't go up there because you are putting everyone in danger. I do the speed limit, no more, no less. I am not one of the 'passers' but am friends with some of them I am sure...
Riding is fun dont know why young people think getting killed is should have a place 4 a chance to recieve jesus i mean if u want to get hurt or killed go out the right way huh
Please read what you have written and then tell me what the hell you are talking about. And i am sorry you seem to be dressed like the rest of the people who cause the most of the problems up there let me guess you dont have a full faced helmet or protective leathers. how many times did you ride in overalls and flip flops this year. Please if you are going to comment please at least be educated enough to make sense when you type a message.Thank you
THP Troopers Die in Motorcycle Crashes...945 To Go
$6-Million case vs cops quotes the Dragonater
Attorney Dan Stanley has filed on behalf of motorists Chris Cawood and Jonathan Kelly Proffitt a $6 million proposed class-action lawsuit against Bluff City and its mayor, Irene Wells, and the Arizona-based traffic camera firm American Traffic Solutions Inc. The lawsuit alleges Bluff City dropped the speed on the section of Highway 11E that is subject to the speed camera enforcement program without performing "an engineering and traffic investigation pursuant to statute and, therefore, was negligent in assessing the need for (a) speed reduction on Highway 11E. Such reduction was much lower than required, thus creating a 'speed trap.'"
Where have I heard that argument before?
Dan Stanley worked in my family's law firm where I once worked as an investigator, after having to sue the TN Bar Assn just to get get his "license" to practice law after passing the bar exam. Seems a traffic ticket for "reckless driving" was all it took to allegedly bar him for a career as a lawyer.
Dan's cousin Cole Smith went to college with me 30 years ago, when I was VP of the freshman class and Cole was president. Cole sued the cops and won $30,000 for false arrest and false imprisonment, after being framed and jailed 3 months for his dad's suspected dope biz. Apparently, Cole won the civil case pro se, from what I saw in the courtroom.
Dan's condo building burned down on Gay Street in what I suspect was another of the rampant arsons for police-approved insurance fraud, that nearly incinerated me and my family 10 years previously. A KFD supervisor threatened me with arrest for daring to give him photos of the arsonist setting the fire with a flame in his hand -- complete with diabolical grin. That billion-dollar gbmint contractor then burned down its own HQ 6 months later, getting a new free one from the insurance company (wink wink nudge nudge).
Dan was my lawyer when I sued the cops for stealing my 2 cars with their mafia towtrucker chopshop copkillers, since my brother and dad refused to appear in court for hearings due to threats or extortion (that was one of Dan's first cases -- "voluntarily dismissed" 2 months after my dad got 2 guns put to his head by a gang of 4 "muggers").
I worked as unpaid paralegal for Dan's case of a woman murdered by cops in a TN jail, by denial of all food, water and medical case in a diabetic coma. She had not been convicted of any crime, just too poor to afford bail or a real lawyer. I believe he won that case for her family.
So is Dan getting tired of being kicked around by a pack of gangbangers in uniform? Will the gangbangers play dirty? Will Dan kick a$$?
Bluff City faces $6 million class-action lawsuit over speed camera enforcement program
By Associated Press
October 15th, 2011
An Upper East Tennessee town's already troubled traffic camera enforcement program has hit another speed bump — a federal proposed class-action lawsuit.
Attorney Dan Stanley has filed on behalf of motorists Chris Cawood and Jonathan Kelly Proffitt a $6 million proposed class-action lawsuit against Bluff City and its mayor, Irene Wells, and the Arizona-based traffic camera firm American Traffic Solutions Inc. Cawood is a Kingston attorney.
The lawsuit alleges the city and the firm are conspiring to violate the Fair Debt Collections Act, state law and the city's own ordinances by imposing an administrative fee of $40 on top of the $50 fine imposed for motorists allegedly captured on the city's two speed enforcement cameras on Highway 11E. The plaintiffs further allege the city and firm are "threatening criminal prosecution for contempt of court and suspension of driver's licenses" if the fees and fines aren't paid.
The action also alleges the city created a "speed trap" on the section of Highway 11E under enforcement by the city's cameras by dropping the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph less than a mile from where the cameras are posted.
The city's traffic enforcement program was already embroiled in controversy in two separate instances involving a new law that took effect in July and imposes limitations on red light and speed camera enforcement programs.
In the first incident, the Bluff City Police Department fired an officer who allowed a reserve officer to review and approve hundreds of tickets after the law took effect. The law requires potential violations captured on camera to be reviewed and approved by an officer who is certified under the state's Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission.
The city estimated it would have to refund some $12,000 in collections as a result.
The second incident came when the city was hit with complaints, similar to those in the lawsuit, that one of its two cameras was positioned less than a mile from a sign that signaled a drop in the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph. The new state law bars the placement of speed cameras within a mile of any 10-mph drop in the speed limit.
City officials have said they believed their program was grandfathered, giving them until 2015 — when the contract with American Traffic Solutions expires — to make the change. However, an August state Attorney General's opinion opined that no such grandfather provision was included in the new law.
Bluff City last month shut down the offending camera and began the process of tallying refunds. Records showed that more than 1,300 tickets had been issued by that camera, which monitors the southbound side of the section of Highway 11E. Of those, 640 had already been paid.
The lawsuit alleges Bluff City dropped the speed on the section of Highway 11E that is subject to the speed camera enforcement program without performing "an engineering and traffic investigation pursuant to statute and, therefore, was negligent in assessing the need for (a) speed reduction on Highway 11E. Such reduction was much lower than required, thus creating a 'speed trap.'"
Bluff City and American Traffic Solutions have until Oct. 27 to file a formal response to the lawsuit. Neither attorney J. Paul Frye, who represents Bluff City, and attorney C. Crews Townsend, who represents American Traffic Solutions, responded to requests for comment Thursday.
See also:
2011 law bans 95% of redlight camera tickets in Tennessee, allows ignoring of the other 5%
"It is extremely easy to beat this type of ticket in court. Your easiest defense is to simply throw the ticket away. If it does not come with a return receipt that requires a signature, there is no proof that you actually got the ticket and they cannot prosecute you on that."
-Norman G. Fernandez, attorney at law, free ebook How to Beat a Speeding Ticket - Photo RADAR
75% of AZ Drivers Refuse to Pay Photo Traffic Tickets
85% of TX Drivers Refuse to Pay Photo Traffic Tickets
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
And that's when I took the acid...
The Quest for Entelecheia and the Making of "The American Flesh Eater"
Hard to believe this is actually USA today and not some 3rd world backcountry. Some folks just don't obey the Police State.
Obviously USA is not suffering from overpopulation, requiring the current genocide of 100-million US citizens, no matter what the NWO wants you to "think".
Monday, October 10, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
TDOT slays the Dragon
Dusty Run - 10/04/11
TDOT turns Dragon into gravel road. Calamity ensues...
Well if you ever wanted to know what it's like to drive up Pike's Peak, come on out to the Dragon. It's a dusty, gravely mess for the next couple of days at least...here is a video I shot today doing what I could to clear the road off some. ;) DOT is cleaning the ditches on the northbound side of the road, so that lane has a lot of debris...southbound is pretty clear. They've got signs up while they work warning of stopped traffic and all, but they're gone when they leave. Not sure why they didn't bring a street sweeper...maybe waiting until finished? In the mean time, be careful on that first run through and scout it out. (Like you always should anyway.)
-Killboy.com
Had two guys go down in front of me at Sunset, one was airlifted out. The other was taken to Blount via private party. I am taking these guy's bikes back home to them on Monday in Cincinnati. As I was headed down 129 with their bikes a Yamaha crusier directly in front of me highsided at the sharp right hander where the road travels away from the lake if you are headed towards Maryville on 129. Since I was headed to the hospital to meet up with the earlier injured parties I offered him a ride after I took his bike up to the Harley T-shirt shop for safe keeping. Hey I was fresh outta room for wrecked bikes on my trailer. Two separate events 3 crashes, I'm absolutely exhausted. Oh yeah they did sweep the road, just gotta wonder if it had something to do with 3 crashes occurring within a short time (there was a cruiser down in 2 Sqaure when I went to make the call) and one of those riders having to be airlifted?
-ETR
Tennessee, in a bold display of compassion and bravery, terminated their ditch cleaning contract with the Harley Owners Group. TDOT commissioner John Schroer said, "The HOGs just weren't getting the job done. We wanted more from our ditch cleaners. That's why we signed Jerry's Kids. Sure, they're retarded, but hey....the ditches are clean and a clean ditch for a Harley to ride in is what the Dragon is all about." Spokesperson for the HOG, Richard Dumass, expressed disappointment in the decision stating, "Hey, we cleaned those ditches all the time. The only thing we didn't do that Jerry's Kids are doing is bring the ditch out of the ditch and put it in the road. We wish we thought of that! It takes a very special person to think of such brilliant things. If we'd have thought of putting the ditch in the road, it would have kept the Slayers out of the ditch. Ditch in road means Harley in road. Dammit that's genius, man!!!" Dumass added, "We won't stop cleaning the ditches, though. We can't stop cleaning the ditches. It's what we do."
-Slayerhater
Mud Corner renamed Gravel Pit at Deals Gap
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