This story is one of many told to the SDBC. The stories illustrate why South Dakota needs increased awareness of how to properly share the road.
I was grinding up highway 1806 near the west end of Oahe Dam one morning, riding with a friend who was ahead quite a ways. I was right of the fog line on a gravelly shoulder, making 10 or 11 mph, and probably wondering to myself what kind of friend passes his gravity-enhanced riding buddy with a cheery “see ya.”
Nearing the top, I saw the cab of a semi passing, probably doing 50 mph up the grade. It seemed like he was giving me plenty of room until a monstrous tractor tire whizzed by less than a foot from my left shoulder, followed quickly by another.
Had I moved a few inches toward the traffic lane to avoid one of the many breaks in the shoulder pavement, I would have been tagged from behind by a jagged lug of a tire extending an easy 5 feet beyond the transport trailer.