I don't doubt that grass clippings could have been cause.
Autumn, fallen leaves are a similar hazard.
Experience and skill level could have been contributing factors.
I would not say grass clippings were the cause, a contributing factor maybe.
Seems more to me like experience in dealing with hazards in the road. In the twisty mountain roads where I live, gravel wash out into the paved road is common, and worse than grass clippings. In the fall, wet leaves in the road are worse than grass clippings.
Other common road hazards are tree branches in the road, dead animals in the road, live animals running into the road. and of course in East TN, most all cut their lawn so the grass is in the road.
Biggest thing is do not panic when you run up on the grass in the road in a curve.
It's one thing to have some grass clippings out on the road. It's another when they're so thick you can't see the road surface and your tires are only contacting grass. Not a big deal maybe on straight road. Potential to go down if you encounter them in a curve, or need to brake quickly for some unforeseen reason. I'm not real big on attacking people, but it takes a very special kind of careless stupidity to deliberately load a road surface with fresh grass clippings...simply because it's wide open and convenient. The same kind of thinking produces dirty diapers, fast food bags and other trash. We've got so many Amish around here that I typically avoid county roads which are often badly smeared up with horse manure.
I was looking for a newer thread about grass clippings, where the OP got flamed , but I couldn’t find it. I saw this picture on Facebook. I think people should avoid throwing clippings like this on the road
The biker may have contributed to the cause of the accident, but it is an unnecessary hazard.
I believe that Ohio just passed a law/fine regarding grass clippings on the road.
YB
It's also illegal in Georgia and for good reason. It's not just unsightly; it's a road hazard.
Originally Posted by 0maha
<snip>
But in the process, you're betting your life on the hope that there isn't a patch of wet grass, or leaves, or gravel, or a dead animal, or a ladder that fell off a truck, or a parked car, or whatever else sitting right beyond your sight line. Most of the time, you come out ok. But it only takes once to change (or end) your life.
And this is exactly WHY it's illegal. There are enough hazards out there without adding grass clippings. I agree, wet leaves are a hazard, as are live and dead animals, ignorant drivers and people turning left without signalling. Should we shrug about them all, or make an effort to reduce those that we can?
I've seen roads covered with fresh clippings so thick I couldn't see blacktop. That's not good in areas of curves and hills such as we have. Lesser amounts of clippings don't worry me. I have personally never wanted to blow my lawn debris off my property and into the public roadway, but that's just who I am. Where I live you'd likely never get a deputy to do anything but laugh about a complaint. The deputy blows his own grass clippings into the street.
This has been a tread resurrection.
My post from 6/19.
Where I live, I can ride through up to a dozen places a day where DA's throw their clippings out into the road.
I took a 120-130 mile ride today on a number of the out of the way country roads around here. I wish now I had kept track of how many places that I rode through were grass clippings were thrown or being thrown in the road.
What is bad is when the parish/county bush hogs/mows with tractors the sides of the roads and ditches. They are doing that now. They throw all kinds of gravel and debris all over the road. I stopped yesterday and picked up a warped up piece of aluminum plate one of their bush hogs had thrown out in the road.
It would not have been good for a bike rider to hit that. Much less some of the blue haired old women in their soccer vans around here.
Last edited by Down South; 06-11-2021 at 12:44 PM.
06-22-2019, 09:50 AM
