(Lead Photo – TailofTheDragon.com) -(By Scott Parker) –  It is one of America’s most famous roads and one of the automotive attractions (along with Bonneville) that has gotten exponentially more popular with the growth of the internet. We’re of course talking about the “Tail Of The Dragon” known in more formal terms as US Route 129 in Tennessee. The road has 318 curves packed into an 11 mile stretch as it winds through the woods and the mountains of the area. It has been attracting car and motorcycle enthusiasts for years but they have had couple of natural enemies in the form of (a) highway patrol and (b) big trucks. The Highway Patrol deal is more an enemy of stupidity on a public road but the big truck situation has been a legitimately dangerous one and lawmakers have moved to fix that with a ban on all trucks over 30-feet in length on the road. If you are wondering why a guy in a big rig would want to attack “The Dragon” it is less for thrills than it is for time because the other route adds about 100 miles to their trip. That being said, smart truck drivers have been avoiding the road for as long as dumb ones have been trying it. We have videos below that show why it is a really bad idea for a rig to be on that road.

Due to the nature of the road, when there is an issue with a truck or even a mild wreck it can be blocked for a long period of time and because the place is a massive tourist draw all year ’round, the road needs to be open and working for people to come and keep coming to spend their money. It may be a classic case of knowing “which side your bread is buttered on” but we’re not sure that is such a bad thing. The message is interesting though, isn’t it?

While Tennessee would never want anyone to be speeding on their roads or doing anything outside the posted speed limit, they are clearly making the road most open to guys (admittedly) like us who would be out there grabbing gears, clipping apexes, and not really paying much attention to the posted limited (but driving within those of our car and talent). Obviously it was a bad idea for trucks to be trying to make that drive. We’re not saying that they are screwing the truckers over because they’re not. In many ways they are protecting them from themselves. We’re just sitting here smirking because the reason they get the tax dollars from people flocking to that road isn’t because they are idling down the Tail of the Dragon at 25 mph. They get it because people drive it both ways…over and over at speeds that get their heart pumping and their adrenaline flowing.

Well done Tennessee. Lots of other hand wringing states wouldn’t have the guts to make this call.

NEWS LINK: LARGE TRUCKS TO BE BANNED FROM THE TAIL OF THE DRAGON

Press play below to see why this ban is a good idea. Big trucks having issues on the Tail Of The Dragon –