Michigan man in serious condition after motorcycle accident
By J.J. Kindred | (jj.kindred@thedailytimes.com)
A Michigan man was seriously injured Thursday morning when he was involved in a motorcycle accident in the Top of the World community off Foothills Parkway.
The accident occurred at about 9:23 a.m., according to firefighter Mike McClurg of the Blount County Fire Department and a Blount County Sheriff’s Office report. Robert E. Lockwood, 59, of Lansing, Mich., was traveling south with two other motorcyclists on Flats Road off Foothills Parkway toward Butterfly Gap in the Top of the World community, when he apparently lost control of his 2006 Triumph motorcycle while negotiating a curve.
The front tire of the motorcycle apparently ran over a plastic bag in the road and lost traction, causing the motorcycle to strike a utility pole and ejecting Lockwood. The motorcycle then fell about 20 feet into a ditch, according to the report.
Lockwood was taken via Lifestar to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where was in serious condition, according to the nursing supervisor’s office. The other motorcyclists were not injured.
The Blount County Sheriff’s Office was also on the scene along with a Blount County Fire Department crew, who took an engine from Station 8 to set up a landing zone at the dam on Flats Road.
Lockwood complained of hip pain and rib pain and may have a punctured lung, McClurg said.
