Has anyone here wrecked or almost wrecked from slipping on tar snakes?

The idiots around here love to pour tar over the cracks in the road. It got warm enough to make them super slippery. I was making a slow turn into my neighborhood and I hit one which made my front end slide out. I ran a little wide but avoided the curb. Last year, after they just put the tar down, a newbie rider slid out and wrecked his friends brand new Repsol Honda. It had less than 150 miles on it and it was totaled. The dude didn't get hurt though.

I've never almost wrecked on them, but I don't like them anyway. The closest I came to wrecking on them was when I was riding out in Wyoming through Bighorn Canyon. That road had tar snakes like a spiderweb all over it and it was a bit nerve wracking trying to ride a good pace through that road, what with the sheer drop-offs around nearly every corner and the tar snakes everywhere.

That said, I don't know that they're all that dangerous, to be honest. They're generally pretty sticky compared to pavement, I can't really imagine actually slipping on one, but they certainly can make you nervous riding on them and could maybe cause a loss of traction by unsettling your suspension. I think most crashes attributed to tar snakes are caused by the former, though - with newer, less experienced riders tensing up and causing a crash through rider error rather than loss of traction because of the snake itself.

Though I will grant that they can sometimes get a bit greasy when it's really, really hot out.

Never gone down from them, but I have had them peel off the road and stick to my tire for a few revolutions. That's not pleasant.

I ride with a margin to allow for tar snakes, gravel, etc in curves. Tar snakes in particular get a wider margin when it gets very hot.

At the bottom of an exit ramp in town there is a section where they just smeared tar across the whole road. It's pretty hairy when it gets wet, especially since it's a downhill. I intentionally ran the stop sign at the bottom one day, since I was having such a hard time stopping, and didn't trust the car behind me.

I started a thread about five years ago on the same topic. The consensus is that if it's hot enough, they can be slippery ranging from annoying to fatal. I hate 'em. When I started the thread, I was living in Utah where they are very common. Here in WA state, not so much, it's the rubber arrows and signage on the roads we have to worry about on the rare occasion when it rains.

bike have wiggled a bit under my ass but no crashed. we have ped crossing strips that are more slippery. snakes do worry me on hot days though

No crashes....but sure straightened me up a few times....non slip,but wriggly... RCMP's latest attempt at speed control...always seems to be my fave roads get done....

Lots of them in California too... nothing but a bit unnerving for me. I slow down a bit when I find them in the mountains.

I just rode around Moab ,Utah and with the temps.near 100 the Tar Snakes were wicked. We have them here in Texas where it gets REAL HOT and you gotta be careful. Slippery when HOT...

Riding rt8 through Mass. can be worse when the snakes are out then it is in the winter. IDK why but my front seems to slip out on them in even the slightest of curves. I hate them!!

Something that I've found is that certain brands of tires are more susceptible to tar snake slippage. Michelins seem to be very finicky on them.

Tar snakes are slicker than the rest of the tarmac. Especially when wet.

I have never fell, but have come close a time or two when the front slipped on them when really hauling. That small slip when half leaned becomes a huge slide when you are keeled over full tilt. You just have a slow down a bit in the dry, alot in the wet if tar snakes are present. Like I said, you really have to be hauling it to have it cause any real issues.

No but I thought a few times that it was going to put me down, even worse with my new bike with a topcase and fairing the bike is top heavy.

Almost. But I saved it. I was also riding like an asshole at the time.
Something I have consciously decided to no longer do.

Went for a ride on Thursday and had a couple breathtaking wake up calls when I hit tar snakes. I hate the things and it wasn't that hot out.

Seems like there are a lot of them in NE WY around Devil's Tower. No large problems, but a concern now and then. Some times I can't avoid the snakes.

Something tells me you haven't been in WA for long.

After all these years, tar snakes don't bother me very much. Your front end will wiggle around a little bit but unless the road is better than 50% tar, your tire will be touching road more than tar, leaving you with control if you just relax and enjoy the ride. Stay as straight up as you can and take real easy if wet though.

Play with snakes you are going to get bit.

They are slick. Mostly they can be ignored, but high coverage is an issue, especially in the rain.

Not gone down, do not play with them either

Rod

The road repair folks love them in Oregon. Last summer, my GF called the supervisor for the local DOT repair crew. She told him how slippery the tar snakes were. He had no clue that this was an issue for bikes, but had no alternative. He is given the mission to fill the cracks in the pave with tar. I've felt my bike slip many times when hitting them. Like other things I encounter, I adjust my speed and line with changing conditions.