Tennessee Highway Patrol - Just Go Away

Bikers everywhere are rearranging their vacation and travel plans to avoid the extreme harrassment and unwarranted tickets while traveling through The Tail of the Dragon (in Tennessee). Once again, and yet another state (along with CA & MA), is showing it's law enforcement colors.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday August 3-6, there were some 14 Tennessee Highway Patrol vehicles and a couple of Blount County Sheriffs cars blatantly harassing both motorcycles and cars on the 11 miles of the Dragon. They promise to be here for the next month. Talk about showing your ignorance...
Tail of the Dragon

Snippet from a letter to the THP:

"Over this past weekend there were two traffic fatalities within 65 miles of the Dragon. If you had not saturated this 11 miles of US129 with Troopers perhaps these other accidents could have been avoided.

Your program will continue to be presented on our TailoftheDragon.com website for what it is. Perhaps someone in power will see the ridiculous extremes presented by your governmental bureaucracy and take action."
Big Bend Bikers For Freedom

Please add your voice to this issue, whether you ride or not. At the very least, send a letter or email to the authorities listed on this website, and to your own state. Judging by the trend lately, this could be YOUR state.

[I found the photo above on another site containing useful information about motorcycle laws in California (Ducati Girl). You'll notice, if you haven't already, that the cop in the photo is a cardboard cutout. I don't recommend that you do this to a real cop, unless you have the need to spend the night in jail. However, the image struck me as appropriate, and made me laugh in light of the above horific actions of Tennessee's Highway Patrol. You go, Ducati Girl!]