Two killed in 100-vehicle pile-up in US

[Locutus]

Two people have died and dozens were injured after a pile-up involving some 100 vehicles on a foggy motorway in the US state of Texas.

More than 50 people were taken to hospital and at least eight were critically hurt, local media report.
It happened at Interstate 10 near Beaumont, about 80 miles (130km) east of Houston, on Thanksgiving morning.

Rescuers scrambled to pull survivors from miles of wreckage, which left mangled lorries on top of each other.

'Catastrophic' A man and woman died after their sports utility vehicle was crushed by a tractor trailer, reports KFDM-TV.

Emergency services did not initially realise the scale of the carnage because of the dense fog.
Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Deputy Rod Carroll said: "It is catastrophic. I've got cars on top of cars."

The motorway's eastbound lanes were expected to remain closed for most of Thursday.


BBC News - Two killed in 100-vehicle pile-up in US

 

[damngrumpy]

There has to be some method of controlling these motorways. unfortunately the prime one
is motorists driving with care and attention. Unfortunately there has to be a means of shutting
down sections of highway over come by fog

 

[shadowshiv]

To be honest, it's a miracle that only 2 people died in a 100-vehicle pile-up.8O

 

[JamesBondo]

The worst part of a pile up are the people that get out of their vehicles. Not a good idea. You should wait until emergency vehicles arrive and set up proper flashers and signage.

 

[Ron in Regina]

The worst part of a pile up are the people that get out of their vehicles. Not a good idea. You should wait until emergency vehicles arrive and set up proper flashers and signage.

Sometimes there's no choice. We dealt with something like this 4yrs back (on a much
smaller scale) in northern Alberta when I worked for a trucking company.

You want to stay in your car when you're at the back of a line of vehicles all smunched
together in the fog, when you know more will come at random intervals out of the fog at
40km/h to 100km/h (the idiots) and will run into your vehicle...or are you going to head for
the tree line through the ditch before that happens? Tough call sometimes figuring out
where you will be safest.

Our guys in the situation above where dealing with glassy ice roads and drove into fog
like a vertical wall from blue Sky's.

 

[shadowshiv]

The worst part of a pile up are the people that get out of their vehicles. Not a good idea. You should wait until emergency vehicles arrive and set up proper flashers and signage.

After what happened on Highway 401 a few years back(between Windsor and Chatham), I am NOT staying in my vehicle if I can help it. I will make a run for the fields, and try to get to a safe distance. Some of the people who died in the crash were NOT killed because of the impact, but because they were trapped in a burning car. I would rather potentially get hit by a car than burn alive. People will still speed regardless of the thickness of fog, and it won't matter if you have proper flashers and signage. They aren't going to see it in time. Why do you think some of the crashes end up being so large?

 

[SLM]

After what happened on Highway 401 a few years back(between Windsor and Chatham), I am NOT staying in my vehicle if I can help it. I will make a run for the fields, and try to get to a safe distance. Some of the people who died in the crash were NOT killed because of the impact, but because they were trapped in a burning car. I would rather potentially get hit by a car than burn alive. People will still speed regardless of the thickness of fog, and it won't matter if you have proper flashers and signage. They aren't going to see it in time. Why do you think some of the crashes end up being so large?

I remember that, that was horrific.

 

[Ron in Regina]

After what happened on Highway 401 a few years back(between Windsor and Chatham), I am NOT staying in my vehicle if I can help it. I will make a run for the fields, and try to get to a safe distance. Some of the people who died in the crash were NOT killed because of the impact, but because they were trapped in a burning car. I would rather potentially get hit by a car than burn alive. People will still speed regardless of the thickness of fog, and it won't matter if you have proper flashers and signage. They aren't going to see it in time. Why do you think some of the crashes end up being so large?

Our guys where delivering RV's into La Crête, AB and where on the way out with an
empty lowbed and moving really slow when they ended up in the pile up. They stayed
in the truck at first, but headed into the ditch and stayed near the cab after they where
hit twice more. I think they where the fifth vehicle in a nine or twelve vehicle pile. They
could hear vehicles coming in the fog, and then another crunch, etc...as they couldn't
even see the end of their trailer.

Where do you pull over to get out'a the line of fire when there's no place to go? Tough
situation all around. Anyone that stopped before the pile up would just get rear ended
into the pile eventually anyway.

Weirdly, one of our guys dialed 911 for ambulances to come (that's not the weird part),
and ended up with collection agencies harassing him for the next year as the bill for the
ambulance service falls upon the one who calls them it seems if the tab isn't paid by the
ones using the ambulence. That's a story that could be a Thread unto itself though.

 

[taxslave]

Getting out of your vehicle or not can be a tough choice. If there is fire then yes because it is life over limb but there is the potential to make injuries worse by moving. Also for some unexplainable reason when people get out of their cars they tend to stand in the middle of the road instead of getting off to the side.

 

[eh1eh]

Our guys where delivering RV's into La Crête, AB and where on the way out with an
empty lowbed and moving really slow when they ended up in the pile up. They stayed
in the truck at first, but headed into the ditch and stayed near the cab after they where
hit twice more. I think they where the fifth vehicle in a nine or twelve vehicle pile. They
could hear vehicles coming in the fog, and then another crunch, etc...as they couldn't
even see the end of their trailer.

Where do you pull over to get out'a the line of fire when there's no place to go? Tough
situation all around. Anyone that stopped before the pile up would just get rear ended
into the pile eventually anyway.

Weirdly, one of our guys dialed 911 for ambulances to come (that's not the weird part),
and ended up with collection agencies harassing him for the next year as the bill for the
ambulance service falls upon the one who calls them it seems if the tab isn't paid by the
ones using the ambulance. That's a story that could be a Thread unto itself though.

I'm not sure it works that way here in Ontario but just to hedge my bet I'll just call police in event of emergency and let them call the ambulance.

 

[SLM]

Weirdly, one of our guys dialed 911 for ambulances to come (that's not the weird part),
and ended up with collection agencies harassing him for the next year as the bill for the
ambulance service falls upon the one who calls them it seems if the tab isn't paid by the
ones using the ambulence. That's a story that could be a Thread unto itself though.

I think that's true everywhere actually.

Here's what I think is weird. My mother has MS and has occasions where she ends up on the floor because she can't complete a transfer from her bed to wheelchair or wheelchair to living room chair. On those occasions, she lowers herself to the floor, a 'controlled fall' so that she doesn't actually fall and hurt herself. She can't get up on her own and her right leg is almost paralyzed so it's dead weight, so I can't get her up either. We need to call the paramedics for help. 911 gets called and an ambulance is dispatched. She does not go to the hospital and there is no charge. However if you are actually injured and require emergency medical attention, they charge you for the ambulance. How fracked is that?

 

[JamesBondo]

That is a problem with fog. You end up driving faster than your headlights, and if you slow down you risk some idiot ramming you from behind. When it gets that bad, it is time to get the hell off the highway BEFORE you get caught in an accident.
I've pulled over at truck stops before, then headed back out with first light to find vehicles in the ditch everywhere. Sometimes, stuck in the middle of the road(blizzard instead of fog). It is not a pretty sight.