Yikes

"vondon302" (vondon302) 02/16/2018 at 18:56 • Filed to: Pile up

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Just stumbled across this. Scary stuff.

Stay safe out there.

ttyymmnn > vondon302 02/16/2018 at 19:02

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Jesus Christ, how fast were those idiots going in those conditions??

SVTyler > vondon302 02/16/2018 at 19:03

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50-car pileup and about 38 of them were driving too fast.

lone_liberal > ttyymmnn 02/16/2018 at 19:03

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Way too fast.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > vondon302 02/16/2018 at 19:04

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Textbook example of too much speed for the visibility and conditions.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > vondon302 02/16/2018 at 19:05

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That is terrifying.

Also, to that one guy: Get back IN YOUR FUCKING CAR! What the hell was he doing?!

vondon302 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 02/16/2018 at 19:20

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My thoughts exactly.

vondon302 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 02/16/2018 at 19:22

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But I got snow tires.

You are correct though.

RacinBob > vondon302 02/16/2018 at 19:28

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As someone that lives in snow country, the key thing that I comment is if you are in a situation where the road is blocked, you need to aggressively drive for the shoulder. It may bang up your car but being on the the shoulder and further if need be will give you more traction, more control, and most importantly prevents you from being part of the rolling trash compactor that is following you.

vondon302 > RacinBob 02/16/2018 at 19:35

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From Michigan and your totally right

RacinBob > vondon302 02/16/2018 at 19:49

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This is something that you need to decide in advance. You need to to have your mind prepared in such cases to drive into the shoulder or median and take your lumps if you decide that you cannot stop and especially if you can stop but it leaves you as a sitting duck parked on a frozen interstate.

In these situations you gotta accept that you are screwed and make the best of it.....

Scary__goongala! > vondon302 02/16/2018 at 19:49

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scary indeed

EditorInGrief > vondon302 02/16/2018 at 20:07

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I found it odd that so many cars and trucks were able to stop more or less safely and then all Hell started to break loose. After taking a Google Maps look at the scene, I think there were three contributing factors (aside from conditions, speed, and lack of skill.)

1. There was a long break in traffic before the disaster group arrived. This allowed the lead cars in that group to have a great deal of speed and nowhere near the level of caution that you’d have if you could see the next car ahead.

2. From Street View, it looks like the initial pileup happened on a slight uphill, just past a low point. By the time the stopped cars extended to the low point, the disaster group was about to arrive on a downhill slope.

3. The further you go back up the road from the initial incident, the greater the total view of the road is blocked by an overpass and an ITS sign. People should still have had enough time to react, but it was no doubt less than what the middle group of arrivals had to work with.

vondon302 > EditorInGrief 02/16/2018 at 20:15

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Damn. Good sleuthing.

Well done.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > vondon302 02/16/2018 at 21:00

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<20% northern US drivers use snow tires, so probably not.

vondon302 > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 02/16/2018 at 21:01

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True

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > RacinBob 02/23/2018 at 09:52

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In this case you may be advantaged by having a higher ride height, as you can safely ignore most obstacles on the shoulder and off the side of the road (so long as there’s no guard rail...)