Slower vehicles refusing to obey pulloffs, use of rear brake, failure to countersteer, lack of body armor, bankrupt 4-hour ambulance taxi service and a crooked sheriff cause many injuries and fatalities on the Dragon
Sheriff identifies motorcyclist killed on "The Dragon"
(WBIR-Blount County) The Blount County Sherriff's Department has identified the victim killed in a Saturday night crash on "The Dragon."
Sheriff James Lee Berrong said Patrick Brian Noll, 46, of Dallas, Georgia, had passed a slower bike and started slowing down for a left-hand curve when the rear wheel locked.
Noll went into a straight line skid and flew off the motorcyle into a large tree.
He was wearing a Department of Transportation compliant motorcylce helmet.
The Sheriff's Office Traffic Safety Unit is investigating the fatal crash.
Original Story:
(WBIR - Blount County) Blount County Sheriff's Department confirmed that a man driving a motorcycle was killed Saturday night after crashing on "The Dragon."
Blount County dispatch told 10News they received a call about the wreck at mile marker 9 on U.S. Route 129 around 7 p.m Saturday.
Witnesses told 10News it appeared the victim's back wheel on his motorcycle locked up. They said he then skidded off the road, went off an embankment and hit a tree.
Witnesses said they helped perform CPR but made the decision to stop shortly before first responders arrived on the scene.
Officials told 10News they believe this is the first fatality this year on "The Dragon."
Sheriff Comments:
"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 firing his secretary in the Blount County Justice Center, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, Nuchols v. Berrong, No. 04-5645, July 11, 2005The 4-hour ambulance "rescue" is a popular tool for killer cops who want "criminals" to die for lack of medical treatment, judging by those daily news reports, especially in East TN where THP troopers were arrested for murder by blocking rescue to crash victims. Our soon-to-be-indicted governor's family business was recently raided by 100 FBI and IRS agents and owns 10,000 acres on the Dragon for his private gated VIP resort "nature conservancy" with its maximum-security private airport, so 18 cops per 11 miles are ordered to ethnically clense all bikers and biker businesses from the Dragon, according to TDOT report at Dragonaters. Funny how European Rural Metro ambulance corporation filed bankruptcy despite trillions of dollars in annual revenue.
-The Dragonater
Rural/Metro to Burchett: Bankruptcy filing won't curtail Knox County service
August 5, 2013
Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett saw no need for alarm Monday over news that Rural/Metro Corp. announced it had filed for bankruptcy protection as it seeks to reorganize.
In a prepared statement, Burchett said he had been in touch with officials from the company that provides ambulance service to all county residents and business and fire protection for those outside the city of Knoxville.
“I have been in touch with Rural/Metro’s leadership and they’ve assured me that their operations in Knox County will continue as normal,” Burchett said. “Their contract with Knox County contains provisions in the event that they are unable to fulfill their obligations. If their obligations are not met, Knox County will take appropriate action. In the meantime, my staff and I will continue to monitor Rural/Metro’s financial situation.”
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Rural/Metro announced Monday that it has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. This comes after Rural/Metro announced Thursday that it had elected to skip an interest payment on unsecured bonds that was due July 15. This was done as part of an effort to realign its capital structure and operations, the company said in a statement.
Mayor’s spokesman Michael Grider said Thursday that the county was keeping tabs on Rural/Metro’s situation and if the company was no longer able to provide ambulance service, the county would take steps to cancel the contract and find another provider.
In 2012, American Medical Response, another ambulance company, had sought the contract with Knox County, and contested the awarding of the five-year contract to Rural/Metro. Contacted Monday for a response to the Rural/Metro bankruptcy issue, AMR spokesman Mike Cohen said the company did not wish to comment.
In announcing its bankruptcy filing, Rural/Metro gave assurances its East Tennessee operations, including serving Knox, Blount and Loudon, counties, would continue.
“All operations in East Tennessee will continue as usual,” Rural/Metro of East Tennessee Division Manager Rob Webb said in a statement. “Rural/Metro will continue to meet all of our contractual obligations, including maintaining excellent medical and fire protection services to the citizens we serve here.”
The company said it had reached agreement in principal on a comprehensive financial restructuring plan that will reduce its funded indebtedness by about 50 percent by converting certain debt to equity and cutting its interest expense in half.
“We expect to move through this process quickly and to be a stronger, more competitive and more profitable organization,” Rural/Metro Corp. CEO Scott A. Bartos said in a statement.