Motorcyclist killed in Lumpkin County Sunday afternoon.

[Dana Young]

I was a leiutenent with lumpkin co fire department for about 10 yrs and after you have seen the total disregard that is shown by some of these riders it starts to harden your stance against them. I have worked many fatalities sometimes multiple ones in the same day on hwy 60 and hwy 129. Just because there have been 2 fatalities in the same weekend doesn't mean they shut the road down. There are even people taking pictures of them in the curves and encouraging them.
I have been running code three to one wreck and have had others pass me at high rates of speed going up the mountain. I would just call ahead to law enforcement and they would have them in custody by the time I got there.
so you see why those of us in the rescue business maybe seem so cold hearted. I will add that I will stop to help anyone that is injured but if they have passed you just down the rd in a blind curve it sometimes is hard to feel sorry for them.
I ahve spent entire weekends on the mtn running one call after another of motorcycle wrecks some were fatalities others were critically injured and we had to land helicopters in the middle of the rd.
I will also add that a minimum response time will be at least 20 minutes if the station is manned at the time of the call. and while we were out there helping rescue someone that by there own foolishness had gotten hurt or killed them someone else might have been hurt or killed due to no fault of there own and ems or fire was stuck with a dead body on the mtn and could not respond
what if that was your family needing help for an emergency and couldn't get it because someone else did something stupid.
Also I will add that every firefighter and ems crew member has to put their life on the line to help someone doing foolishness.

 

[watermedic]

When you figure in the number of motorcycle riders on average weekends, the statistics arent that bad.

Lumpkin County isnt even in the top ten for motorcycle involved fatalities.

Hard to believe that the average number of fatalities is 3 per year.

I would have thought more than that.

 

[jkdodge]

Being a rider myself i always hate to hear this news. You would not believe the amount of times I've had people pull right out in front of me, I have found that if you keep a few marbles in your pocket the bounce really well when the accidentally fall out of my pocket. People with cell phones are the worst. Prayers to that riders family. I still will continue to ride I firmly believe that when God calls your number it won't matter if your on 2 or 4 wheels. Look twice and save a life Motorcycles are everywhere.

 

[ALightInTheDark]

Hello, I know it has been a while since this thread has been active. But given the amount of time that has gone by I felt the need after reading a lot of these responses to this thread to post what it was like on this day. Being as I was the passenger in the Ford Focus, and my husband was the driver of the Ford Focus. We talked about it, and we felt like posting this here would be a major step forward to our emotional recovery. Also as well to shed a little light, on how everything can change in the blink of an eye.

To everyone on these forums..I've been thinking for a while how to word all of this, and at first I couldn't make the words come out, but i'm gonna try here. On 6/9/2013 my husband and I were coming down blood mountain. We got to about Turners Corner and our lives changed for ever. We were going southbound the motorcyclist who was on a Suzuki 750 was going northbound. She had hit a patch of grass coming around a curve, and went to correct herself. She over corrected, pulled the throttle which caused her to speed up and she went diagonally into the southbound lane where our vehicle was. She hit our car, her body went above the height of the vehicle the riderless motorcycle flipped end-over-end before spinning on its side about 100+ feet and landing in the creek where it stopped and stalled. She, then came crashing down on our car. It shattered half of her visor, before totally throwing her helmet off, and one of her boots, it threw her about 20 feet in front of our car. Our car was hit on the passenger side from my husband trying to swerve to miss her. The entire front-end passenger side of our car was crushed, the right-front wheel was broken-off the axel, coolant and motor oil were draining from the misplaced motor (off the motor mounts)...

I remember seeing her hit our car and the only thing I could think was, "Shes Dead"..My husband was almost at a full stop when she hit us..He got out of the car and ran to her stopping on-coming traffic to tell them to call 911. All I could do was scream. I screamed for a good 5 mins..I don't even know or remember when it ended. I got out of the car and automatically went to a sitting position on the ground. I kept looking over at the woman laying lifelessly on the pavement. I was shaking..someone came over and grabbed me by the shoulders started saying, "Its not your fault, its not your fault. We saw what happened she came into your lane there was no way for you guys to avoid that". I was pretty much blocking all of that out..and I remember cutting her off and asking her, "Is she..dead.."? I was told yes. I broke down crying, people started crowding around me telling me again it wasn't our fault..At that point I had no idea what to even think I couldn't make any coherent thoughts. I was in shock. My husband was in shock..everyone was talking, the people who didn't see it were asking questions and apologizing...No one even knew what to say to us...we didn't know what to say ourselves..it was horrifying. The people driving by staring..I will never forget the look on their faces and the look on the peoples faces she was riding with..it will forever be a moment that haunts my thoughts and dreams.

As your reading this..I want to say something..don't feel sorry for my husband and I. We are alive. We got to go home together..But please, please think about this story and think about this person. Don't feel sorry for them but please, please take this as a learning experience from someone you know. When your our there driving whether it being in the mountains or the city be respectful and courteous to each and every person in a vehicle. It doesn't matter what type of vehicle their in..or your in your lives can be forever changed...so can your families lives. As human-beings we are all guilty of rushing somewhere or of being inconsiderate of other people but in a vehicle there is no reason to be...Take things slow and careful, and remember that this could be how you save a life..even if its your own. I'm heartbroken at seeing what I saw, and would never wish it on anyone else. My husband as the driver is absolutely devastated.. This is a tragic moment for both parties involved..It has been almost 5 months since the accident happened and I still don't have the words for this whole situation..I don't think I ever will.

 

[JustUs4All]

Thank you for sharing that with us. We could all benefit from your advice.

 

[rjcruiser]

I have found that if you keep a few marbles in your pocket the bounce really well when the accidentally fall out of my pocket.

When your our there driving whether it being in the mountains or the city be respectful and courteous to each and every person in a vehicle. It doesn't matter what type of vehicle their in..or your in your lives can be forever changed...so can your families lives. As human-beings we are all guilty of rushing somewhere or of being inconsiderate of other people but in a vehicle there is no reason to be...Take things slow and careful, and remember that this could be how you save a life..even if its your own.

A great reminder. Thank you.

 

[Luke0927]

Thanks for sharing, I'm right there a good bit we have a place in Blarisville.

 

[beginnersluck]

Yes, as I stated before, it is sad for her family that she had to lose her life. Now, for you that live south of the gnat line and don't have a clue what Blood Mountain is in relationship to this incident and discussion. The crotch rocket riders think it is their own personal race track, hogging both lanes, crossing the double yellow and pretending that they are on the Audubon and there is no speed limit. Why must the individual attempt to single handedly prove Darwin right? Imagine if car owners treated this stretch of road in the same manner?

Here is just one example:

Unfortunately cars do treat that stretch of road the same way...so do trucks pulling trailers, semis, leaf lookers, semi's and even cruiser bikes . It's not always the crotch rocket...and yes I ride a crotch rocket. If you're going to lump people together and stereotype...lets just say stupid, irrational people who take great risks, not just the crotch rocketeers.

 

[LTZ25]

I understand why most of the locals hate motor cycles and bicycles.

 

[pnome]

Just awful. Saw a motorcycle wreck on that road a month ago. Guy was unhurt except for his pride. Fortunately.

 

[bany]

I never read this thread until today, so when I jumped to the end to see why it showed up again I was happy to see A LIGHT. Thanks for sharing your experience. It's a darn shame this EVER happens let alone this time. All of this chatter and then you lay it out. Many people treat roads like race tracks with all sorts of vehicles and many people for various other reasons[even slow vehicles] cause horrific accidents. I always hope for everyone to think and respect the other operators and realize there could be ANYTHING around the next turn. And it's not anyone's Right to "make" people drive slow or follow them or get off the road cause 45 in a 35 is too slow! Be careful folks!

 

[bany]

I understand why most of the locals hate motor cycles and bicycles.

I don't think most do, surely a lot don't care for them. They sure help the mountain economies and I don't see toooooo many locals chasing people off the roads.