Clifford Lockyer, 2007
The Daily Times (Maryville, Blount County, Tennessee, USA) Friday, September 7, 2007:
Man Dies After Head-On Collision
By Mark Boxley
of The Daily Times Staff
“A man from England died in Blount County Thursday after crashing his rented Harley-Davidson motorcycle into an oncoming truck on Wears Valley Road near
Townsend.
Clifford Lockyer, 72, from the village of Bovingdon in Hertfordshire, England, was riding east with six other English riders on vacation when he apparently overshot a curve and traveled into the oncoming lane.
A Nissan Frontier driven by Jake Garland, Carrs Creek Road, Townsend, was traveling west on the road, and the two collided head-on. According to witnesses at the scene, Lockyer flipped over the Nissan on impact and landed on his back in the bed of the pickup truck.
Paul Etgart, of London, was part of the group and was riding in front of Lockyer when the accident happened.
“From what I saw in my mirror, (Lockyer) didn’t take the bend properly,” he said.
This is the 17th year that the group has traveled to the United States to ride motorcycles, and they started their trip in Charlotte, N.C., Etgart said. He has known Lockyer for 35 years and has been riding with him for 17.
“And (Lockyer) was probably the best steady rider out of all of us,” Etgart said. “He just misjudged the bend. That’s the best way to put it.”
Etgart said the truck driver was not at fault in the accident, and if his vehicle hadn’t been there Lockyer would have hit the guardrail and probably been thrown over it into the woods.
Speaking before receiving the news that Lockyer had died from his injuries, Etgart said that after stopping to attend to his friend, it was obvious the accident was gravely serious.
“Please God that he doesn’t die, but he was almost dead,” Etgart said.
Another rider from the group, Mike Clegg, Sussex, England, was riding behind Lockyer when the wreck took place. He said the man was driving at, or below, the speed limit and was wearing his helmet.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Ernest Marion said emergency workers were performing CPR on Lockyer as he was taken by Rural/Metro Ambulance Service to the intersection of Wears Valley Road and East Lamar Alexander Parkway in Townsend to meet a Lifestar helicopter that was prepared to take him to University of Tennessee Medical Center.
According to information from Rural/Metro, Lockyer died at the scene, and resuscitation efforts were stopped. The man was not taken by Lifestar.
Lockyer’s wife in England was notified of the accident and her husband’s death at about 6 p.m. local time, Marion said.
Along with THP, the Townsend Police Department, Blount County Sheriff’s Office and Blount County Volunteer Rescue Squad responded to the accident.
This is the second Blount County traffic fatality in two days and the 21st for 2007, compared to 12 at this time last year.”