40 Vehicle Pileup

"Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif" (lumpy44)
11/28/2013 at 12:48 • Filed to: Car Crashes

Last night outside of Edmonton, Alberta Canada there was a 40 vehicle pile up caused by extreme fog. Only minor injuries reported, the most serious being a broken leg. The fog was apparently so thick people could not see tail lights until the split second before their hood crumpled.

Full Story Here

Anyone ever been in or seen something like this?

DISCUSSION (22)

E30Joe drives a Subaru > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/28/2013 at 12:52

Generally when the fog gets like that around here I stay off the interstate. Because this always happens.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > E30Joe drives a Subaru
11/28/2013 at 12:53

Fully agree, this is a stretch of highway known for its less than stellar drivers to begin with.

UltrasonicBlueMica > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/28/2013 at 12:55

There was a video a while back of an evo (8 or 9) avoiding a collision in the snow on an interstate. That's what I always think of

Found it:

Desu-San-Desu > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/28/2013 at 12:57

Yep. In Pennsylvania.

At the point where the fog was too thick to see more than a couple dozen feet ahead of me, I promptly pulled over off the side of the road. I slowly drove through a shallow ditch until I got to a gap in the treeline where I parked between a couple thicker trees, turned off my lights, and just sat there and listened. There were lots of sounds of car driving slowly and lots of honking. It didn't take long until I heard tires screech briefly before the first collision.

Once the fog cleared up, I was able to see that it wasn't as bad as it sounded. There had only been about a dozen accidents, none of them overly severe as most people had slowed down quite a bit due to the fog. There was one SUV on its side, but none of the occupants were anything more than just stunned. I think the worst injury was a broken wrist, a gash on someone's forehead, and lots of airbag burns.

It was on the nightly news that night, and in the local paper the next morning, but then the first snow of the year happened a couple days later and that mayhem quickly took the spotlight, haha.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > UltrasonicBlueMica
11/28/2013 at 12:57

Still nuts for going that fast in the first place.

UltrasonicBlueMica > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/28/2013 at 13:00

I totally agree. Although I know I have been guilty of occasionally driving the same speed in the pouring (low visibility) rain that I do in the dry. If something like that happened in front of me, it would be hard to stop in time.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Desu-San-Desu
11/28/2013 at 13:00

Ya from the story this sounded the same, though the people who pulled over ended up getting rear ended in this situation. Snow always seems to surprise people and the first snow always causes about 20 accidents where I'm from. Got to take a 45 minute detour around the main bridge where I'm from on the first skiff of snow.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > UltrasonicBlueMica
11/28/2013 at 13:02

Very true, I'm from Canada and we don't even think about slowing down in the rain like most people do. Then again most people don't slow down in the snow/ice and that causes a mess every damn time.

UltrasonicBlueMica > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/28/2013 at 13:05

Ha. You should see it when we get any kind of snow down here in Georgia. I think we have one snow plow for a metropolitan area of 5.4 million people. Everything shuts down, and people buy supplies like it's the apocalypse. It's nuts.

getchapopcorn > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/28/2013 at 13:05

So why the hell were they going so damn fast?

UltrasonicBlueMica > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/28/2013 at 13:06

Kinja'd!!!

The center console is in the driver seat. Yikes

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > UltrasonicBlueMica
11/28/2013 at 13:09

I believe that is the Christopher Reeves model.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > getchapopcorn
11/28/2013 at 13:11

The highway between Calgary and Edmonton is a major highway where people usually hit 140km easy cruising speed. Everyone goes like hell on this stretch, all the time, and under any conditions.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > UltrasonicBlueMica
11/28/2013 at 13:13

When it snows here its called any month but July.

getchapopcorn > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/28/2013 at 13:27

That's a statement, not an answer to my question. The answer would be "they're idiots."Thankfully, this time, unharmed idiots.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > getchapopcorn
11/28/2013 at 13:30

The law man strikes again; judge, jury and executioner.

desertdog5051 > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/28/2013 at 13:49

Does a dust storm in the desert count?

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > desertdog5051
11/28/2013 at 13:51

Well I just can't see a reason why not!

desertdog5051 > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/28/2013 at 14:09

I missed one on I-40 by about 10 minutes behind me. Not 40 cars but a bunch.

gmctavish needs more space > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/28/2013 at 15:37

From my experience 140 is conservative, I was doing about that speed and I was in the slow lane….being passed by semis…..

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > gmctavish needs more space
11/28/2013 at 15:54

Well this is also quite true. Depends if its shift change in Fort McMurray or not.

Icemanmaybeirunoutofthetalents > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
11/28/2013 at 19:04

Same result? No. Same level of utter idiocy? Yes. Where? I-35 between Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth. Utter idiocy in pouring rain. The rain was so heavy that I couldn't see 50 ft ahead. To compound the misery everyone was flying past at 60mph. This is Texas where if you go below 75mph on that freeway you're an enemy of freedom, murica, guns and the bald fucking eagle. Being texas, there isn't a clump of trees on the side of the road where you can safely pull over and wait it out. Nopes, its just wide open grasslands and if someone loses control at 60mph, you're just pins for a bowling ball. So keep going on the rightmost lane with your foot blipping the brake light so that the numbskull behind you has a chance at avoiding you. Thankfully the rain abated and we were safely on our way.