70 to 100 Car Accident!!! WARNING!!!!!

Pinky said:
You can't brake on black ice - all you can do is steer!
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Technology has made life so much easier for many, ABS is an example, before ABS drivers had to brake using a system called cadence braking. Cadence braking or stutter braking is a driving technique that involves pumping the brake pedal and is used to allow a car to both steer and brake on a slippery surface. It is used to effect an emergency stop where traction is limited to reduce the effect of skidding from road wheels locking up under braking. What are the odds that not many have even heard of cadence braking, let alone know how to do it?

Most cars on the North American continent have an automatic gearbox, like ABS that too has made driving so much easier and that too has been the cause of the loss of a very efficient way of slowing down without the use of brakes. It's called double declutching. The purpose of the double declutch technique is to aid in matching the rotational speed of the input shaft being driven by the engine to the rotational speed of the gear the driver wishes to select.

A vehicle can only travel so fast in a lower gear before changing up to a higher one, if you can bring the gear ratio down the car will slow to that gear's potential, you then repeat that with the next gear down, as you do the vehicle will go slower and slower. Along with cadence braking, double declutching was the way drivers slowed down in years gone by.
 

You can't blame trucks alone. Truck drivers are professional and
should know how to drive in all road and weather conditions!

I drove trucks all over Europe in the 1970s & '80s, yes the roads
were a bit quieter, but the road conditions were the same, in the
snow conditions of winter I drove large trucks over the Alps and
through the Mont Blanc Tunnel, where you can look down and
see clouds below you.

Winter driving is different, where we all can get caught in black ice
when your licence, no matter how professional it allows you to be
will be inadequate if you have the misfortune to get caught out.

R.I.P. those who were killed, I hope that the numbers stay low.

Mike.
 
Imagine what wrecks like this sound as you sit there in your car hoping you won't be killed as the bangs, one after another, after another and busting glass and screams seem to never stop. Now you are trapped in your car waiting hours to be rescued.
 

Murrmurr said:
It wasn't my idea. I was responding to someone who suggested we keep amateur drivers off highways.
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That might sound ideal but it’s totally unrealistic. Who is going to pay for separate transport truck highways and maintain them, plus weather conditions will still affect those roads also.

But that was your idea.... since you HATE MASSIVE TRUCKS ON THE FREEWAY...
My comment about drivers is across the board... cars trucks ect.... having responded to accidents for nearly 40 years I have seen more than my share of stupidity, and lack of simple judgment.
This incident is very tragic, but unfortunately it will happen again....
 
fmdog44 said:
Imagine what wrecks like this sound as you sit there in your car hoping you won't be killed as the bangs, one after another, after another and busting glass and screams seem to never stop. Now you are trapped in your car waiting hours to be rescued.
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Dont have to.... 3 AM responded to a black ice on a bridge wreck on the interstate.
Just one car off the road just past the bridge. Once on scene Folks braking and other movements we ended up with over a dozen
cars wrecking around us before the road got closed. Thankfully no major injuries
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Some people absolutely think they can drive like the roads are clear but sometimes driving skill and caution won't prevent an accident. My son who's driven bus and is now a trucker was involved in a multi car accident years ago. Thank God it was nowhere near as serious as the accident in the OP. But he was coming off the exit near home and he saw the cars but it was so icy that he just kept sliding until he hit the back of a car. He has received several safe driving awards from J.B. Hunt Trucking Co and he often posts safe driving tips and warnings on FB for rainy, snowy and icy weather.

Re: the OP. That is so tragic and horrible. It's a shame people feel they need to get out there, no matter the weather. I wonder how many felt they had to go to work so they wouldn't be fired? I had seen a blip about the accident but it was early on, only showed the area where the truck with the lime green cab is and didn't mention how many had died. Terrible scene!! :cry:
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The bottom line related to this accident, speed kills, as does failing to drive accordingly for the conditions.
 
old medic said:
Who is going to pay for separate transport truck highways and maintain them, plus weather conditions will still affect those roads also.
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Taxes, of course. An alternative would be a huge crackdown on truck safety and truck driver training. And lot of truck drivers with a record of non-fatal accidents are given second and third chances instead of having their licenses revoked. Truck drivers who show a propensity for recklessness shouldn't drive. Period. Automobiles don't stand a chance against them regardless of road conditions, but especially when road conditions are bad.

Semi/large truck -vs- auto fatalities have increased 54% since 2009. 18-wheeler crashes have increased in just the past couple years while automobile crashes have greatly declined. The #1 cause semi/large truck accidents is a mechanical defect, including bad tires. The #2 cause is aggressive driving.

https://policyadvice.net/insurance/insights/truck-accident-statistics/
 
Catastrophic accident to say the least.

Sadly not surprised per say. Too many drivers don't even know what tailgating is nor do they allow/account for stopping distance regardless of conditions. This was really messed up. 70-100 cars yikes.

RIP those who didn't survive.
 
Murrmurr said:
What the heck is an amateur driver? Drivers under age 20? 25? Drivers with less than 100 hours of driving experience?
How many of the drivers involved in that accident do you suppose fit the criteria for "amateur"?
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Mostly Swift "drivers". Company gives them about 4 weeks of training and sends them on the road with 80,000 pounds of rolling danger. Head to you tube and goggle swift drivers. :eek:
Taken directly from the Swift trucking company website.......
"At Swift, training for your CDL takes as little as four weeks – from beginning your training to receiving your license."
 
Icy conditions on the roadway, brought in by overnight sleet and freezing rain from Winter Storm Shirley, sent 65 people to the hospital and killed six, some of whom were identified Friday. 😔
 
The Two Class 1 railroads BNSF & UP have been contracted by a number of overland trucking companies to transport their trailers from coast to coast thus saving them millions of dollars in fuel, maintenance, wages, road taxes and accident liability. An average BNSF & UP 100 trailer train with a 2 man crew (Engineer and conductor) takes 100 trucks and 100 drivers off the highways, a BNSF 7 UP 100 car single stack train takes 100 overland trucks and drivers off the highways. An average BNSF & UP 100 car double stack train takes 200 trucks and drivers off the highways. BNSF & UP are now running 1 to 3 mile long double stack trains using DPU engines with a 2 man crew per 1 to 3 mile stack train as opposed to 1 truck driver per over the road load. Intermodal facilities eliminate the need for tractors as the trailers are on and off loaded right onto ships. However tractors will always be needed to shuttle trailers from the intermodal facilities to local distribution points.

https://resources.coyote.com/source/intermodal-freight-beginners-guide

 
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Here in Sweden we are required by law to fit special winter tires on our cars either with or without studs during the cold months. The rubber compound in summer tires is not suitable for driving in cold weather on icy and snowy roads as the tires become hard and have poor grip. That doesn't of course mean that you can drive as if it was still summer you always have to adapt your driving to weather conditions
 
Glowworm said:
Here in Sweden we are required by law to fit special winter tires on our cars either with or without studs during the cold months. The rubber compound in summer tires is not suitable for driving in cold weather on icy and snowy roads as the tires become hard and have poor grip. That doesn't of course mean that you can drive as if it was still summer you always have to adapt your driving to weather conditions
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Canada should be like Sweden, and have a law that covers all of Canada under a winter tire law, however, out of all of the provinces in Canada, the only two provinces where winter tires are mandatory (by law) are British Columbia and Quebec, which makes absolutely no sense to me.
 
squatting dog said:
Mostly Swift "drivers". Company gives them about 4 weeks of training and sends them on the road with 80,000 pounds of rolling danger. Head to you tube and goggle swift drivers. :eek:
Taken directly from the Swift trucking company website.......
"At Swift, training for your CDL takes as little as four weeks – from beginning your training to receiving your license."
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More is at fault at state levels then companies .....
In my state you can have someone READ and explain the questions on the written commercial drivers test.....
who is reading signs on the road to these folks..

I personally know a person who used this............ he had a third grade reading level........ if a warning sign came up he would not be able to read it and drive at highway speed....
the concern applies to English as a second language drivers as well ...tests given in multiple languages but the signs are not ....
some seem to think the shape and color of road signs make up the difference but .........most warnings on reader boards alerting of accidents or problems all english........how are those being read.
that does NOT seem OK to me....

My husband and I just traveled over an icy snowy mountain pass.............. it was alarming the amount of people who simply have no winter driving experience on the road were out there......
Not following any driving laws ( example pulling trailer in left lane and impeding traffic ) and yet even with LE out there.......... they were just waiting for accidents not proactively ticketing or suggesting drivers get off the road ......
 
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Same problem here in Canada. A couple of years ago, a driver that immigrated from Indian ran a red light with his 18-wheeler & killed a bus load of hockey players. A couple of days ago I saw a huge truck run a red light on the perimeter of our city. I believe the quality of the new truck drivers is nothing like the old breed that were professional. Now, it seems to be about how to make more money but driving faster and making more deliveries. Sad how our country is going down the drain!
 
The alternative roadways for transport trucks would be railways. Those aren’t inexpensive either.

The only way to avoid all the trucks on the freeways is to stay off them and that’s not an option for most. In Ontario, the 401 going north from Detroit is not a relaxing drive. We’re only on it during vacations so gladly take the option of going on the side roads.

Unfortunately, Canadians aren’t better drivers. There’re lots of idiots out there and it only takes one to set off that chain reaction. Every year there’re pileups and deaths when drivers are caught unaware or being aggressive on the highways in situations like in Texas.
 

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