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Hwy 697: Sherman to Whiteright
 

Route Summary

This route is a quick 14 miles but is jam-packed with about 20 different turns and corners for riders to navigate. Corner types vary between sweepers and tighter curves that riders navigate through alongside creeks, lots of trees, and other scenery. At the end of the route, you can stop for lunch or a snack in Whiteright before heading back to Sherman.

This route had fatal and incapacitating crashes between 2010 – 2023. In Texas, drivers are not assigned “at fault” in a crash, but law enforcement can assign ‘factors or conditions’ that contributed or may have contributed to a crash. Multiple ‘crash factors and conditions’ can be assigned to one, some, or all vehicles involved in a crash.

The following tables represent data extracted from the Texas Department of Transportation’s Crash Records Information System (TxDOT’s CRIS).

Safety (2010-2023)
Crashes
Fatalities
Serious Injuries
Top Weather Crash Condition
Top Lighting Crash Condition
Top Road Crash Condition

Crash Narrative Summary

The following list is a summary of the crash events and conditions that have been described by officers investigating crashes along this route. The investigating officer provides his/her opinion of how the crash happened and will emphasize or explain, as necessary, any pertinent facts that are not fully explained elsewhere on the crash report. This section is meant to supplement the above data tables by providing further insight and “clues” into what factors and conditions contributed or may have contributed to crashes along this route.

  • 75% of crashes had unsafe speed listed as contributing crash factor. Remember to control your speed in a curve. Get to the speed you want to maintain before entering the curve.
  • Look where you want to go, not where you don't want to end up! Target fixation can cause you to drift out of your lane.
  • 25% did not have a motorcycle license. Though the majority of riders had their Class M endorsement, there are intermediate and advanced-level courses that riders can enroll in to sharpen and improve their skills.
  • 88% of crashes were single vehicle crashes. Contrary to popular belief, most severe motorcycle crashes do not occur in a collision with another vehicle at an intersection. A rider is more likely to be involved in a single motorcycle road-way departure crash than in an intersection related crash.
  • 63% of crashes occurred on curves. Remember to look where you want to go, not where you don't want to end up! Target fixation can cause you to drift out of your lane.
  • Crashes along this route involved motorcyclists traveling at an unsafe speed, failing to negotiate a curve, and traveling off the roadway. Often times, riders were ejected from the motorcycle and struck trees, other vehicles, or road signs.

 

 

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