Victim of the "Tail of the Dragon"
 

I took a short trip up to Tennessee to check out the fall color. Around noon on Tuesday I made my way to U.S. 129 in TN (Tail of the Dragon). I was about 2 miles into it when I came upon one of those really sharp curves where the website photographers hang out shooting photos of all of the vehicles that pass by and then sell them on their sites. As I was about to make the sharp left turn, a motorcycle came around from the other direction. He failed to negotiate the turn and slammed right into my front left bumper, fender and headlight area. The airbags deployed as the biker went flying over my head. Convertible top was down. Both of us were fine although the biker may have a wrist or forearm injury-could be broken. He was able to use it with some pain. I'm gonna try to post some of the photos the photographer shot. The entire sequence can be seen at the us129photos.com website. Click on the "crash" category of photos for Oct. 16th 2012.
I'm thinking the car is totaled. 2001 vert with 111,000 miles. Whadda you guys think?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3406793...in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3406793...in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3406793...in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3406793...in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3406793...in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3406793...in/photostream

http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8336/...aab0768a_m.jpg

That sucks for both of you, glad everyone is ok.

Your links say you must be signed it to see them.



found the pics on us129photos. wow they have about 4 with the bike rider in the air, he sure is lucky.

Sorry about your Vette. Those pics are crazy, looks like if the bike rider wasn't so busy waving for the camera he would not have missed the curve.

Good luck with repairing / replacing your car.

holy hell, i'm glad both of you are ok. Think of it this way if he didn't hit you i think he was going over the edge.

WOW!!!! That was some photo sequence. Glad everyone seems to be okay. Didn't seem to be many options for you.

Poor motorcycle guy needs to learn that where your head is turned is where you'll go. Motorcycle 101. Perhaps he should have just laid it down and took the slide.

Speaking of the edge. My right tire was right on the edge of a serious dropoff. It was a freaking cliff with trees growing out of it. Trees would have prevented me from going very far though.
The biker was definitely at fault and he kept apologizing for destroying my Vette. I told him "Don't worry about that. You were on a motorcycle that had a major collision with a 3100 pound car and you're able to stand here talking to me and I'm perfectly fine thanks to the seat belt and air bags which worked perfectly". I'm pretty sure the brake unit was demolished and I know the left front wheel steering and suspension parts were in pieces. It's messed up pretty good.

Oh Dang - - and a "maggie" too!!!! (Mag Red).....

Glad you were ok...

Wow, you can see the dude flying on pics 19 through 22. Looks like he panicked and just quit leaning it and went for the brakes straight into you. He's lucky he walked away. Sorry for the damage to your car.

I looked at pics 9 and 10 and can see his frame in contact with the road. May have kicked his rear out and stood him up.

I tried moving to the outside of the lane, but couldn't go very far because of the extreme dropoff. I don't think he had enough time to lay it down. I put together a time lapse video that I'll upload to Youtube which shows the action clearly.

Video is on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2R4D1vBOM8

Video is on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2R4D1vBOM8

Wow

Can you post a link to the pics without having an account please. I did a search on the term referenced above but no joy.

Watching the vid you did it looks like the guy aimed right for ya. Not sure why that is. That's the thing about those types of bikes tho, they won't turn to save yer life. My brother in law had one that he leaned too far and stuck in the weeds some years back. Spent a nice stay in the hospital on that one.

You may be right-it kinda looks like that in the video sequences.

First - Sorry about your C5, however I'm glad you and the motorcyle rider are OK.

Second - Proof again that wearing a helmet when riding a motorcyle is a good idea.

Third - If the motorcyle rider's insurance company or your insurance company gives you any kind of crap in fixing your C5, send them this video link! :yesnod:

Wow, Really, really glad you guys were o.k. That could have had a very very tragic ending!

You'll probably have to get the photos from the us129.com site as mentioned above. I don't have much luck posting pics here, but others have viewed the pics easily on us129.com.

I had a couple of close calls up there, myself. Some of those dropoffs are extreme. You certainly did your part, by trying to open up the distance, but there isn't much runoff on that road.

Simple lack of concentration on his part. It is hard to regain your concentration, once it evaporates in a panic situation.

The most important thing is that everyone is safe. Best of luck with the repair! Post a few pics of your car, when you have an opportunity.

They're getting all of the high resolution photos and the video anyway - Just in case there's any doubt.

I have nightmares about that kind of thing. Yikes!! Glad everyone is OK. Car looked great for 111k.

For those who'd just like a link to the pics...

http://xtremesportsphotography.photo...5&g=0QAK01AY08

Your car looked identical to mine. Wanna replace it with one with less miles? :) I think mine has 85K on it.

I have to say, since I got mine, I've had a LOT of people do stupid crap around me on the highway. Two times in a half mile I had one of these gasholes as we call them in PA (transient guys who work for the gas companies) try to kill me in mine. I am still not certain it was not intentional, since he twice swerved across a lane (as if he was making a last minute exit choice) and all I can say is, if my car didn't stop and evade as it does, I'd have had it destroyed in its first month right there. It's red, it's not like it blends in for cryin out loud.

I am not certain I ever saw a wrecked car thread in all my years on the F-Body forums I was on. But here, it's like a daily thing. No wonder the insurance companies crank up the rates on these. And now that I own one, I can't say it's the owners of the cars as much as the other people on the road smashing into em. Yea, there's the occasional one stuck in the weeds when someone looses it when playing around, or tracking a car, but, just look over the last months at threads. Rear ended while sitting still, sideswipes, etc. Must be all the smart phones...