Anyone seen this pileup video? 2/15/19 in central Missouri

[HighbrowHillbill]

Scary stuff. I was driving on I-5 in Oregon and ran across a freak whiteout snowstorm. Worst one I've ever tried to drive through. I was only able to see the road by following a big rigs lights. I had my eyes peeled HARD, split between watching his taillights and my back trail. Still creeps me out thinking that another trucker might be traveling way too fast and could come plow into my rear and send me right into the semi ahead of me. People were flying by us in the fast lane and I could do nothing but shake my head. I don't recall the speed, but IIRC we were going about 10-15mph on a 65 mph highway.

I've been through my fair share of snowstorms, but the dang near zero visibility was a first for me. If I hadn't seen that truckers lights I was seriously contemplating leaving the road way and taking my pickup completely off the shoulder and all the way up to the fencing of the farmland on the side of the highway. To wait it out for a bit. I was envisioning a scenario not unlike what was seen in the video.

 

[bbhero]

Yeah those world champions we're all driving way way too fast... That person in that blue car smashed into the trailer of that 18 wheeler... Was most likely the one who died. And that person died because of 3-4 other drivers stupidity.... Those other 3-4 drivers should be real proud of themselves.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by HighbrowHillbill
I've been through my fair share of snowstorms, but the dang near zero visibility was a first for me. If I hadn't seen that truckers lights I was seriously contemplating leaving the road way and taking my pickup completely off the shoulder and all the way up to the fencing of the farmland on the side of the highway. To wait it out for a bit. I was envisioning a scenario not unlike what was seen in the video.

I've been through a few snowstorms with near whiteout conditions. However, I've been in fog so thick that it was scary even though the road was relatively dry. I remember literally 20 ft visibility once driving on city streets. Or maybe 50-70 ft visibility through Tule fog on Altamont Pass on the way to Oakland. And I was being tailgated. I was thinking of just parking on the shoulder and waiting it out.

One of the worst places when it gets icy is the Grapevine over in Southern California. They always close it when there's even mild snow or ice because few would think to carry chains or have much experience.

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist6/opsnowflake/guide.pdf

 

[double vanos]

Kinda reminds me of the Russian winter crash videos. At the start of every sequence I'm thinking " man this person is driving way too fast" and of course then there's the crash.Doesn't take too many them and you realize that snow + ice + diminished visibility = driving very slowly....Russia's nothing if not all about winter but still they drive too fast. You'd think drivers ed there would cover that extensively. Looks like we need it here too....

 

[Gasbuggy]

The driver of the blue car survived. It was his wife in the passenger seat who died.

I see so many morons speeding in snow.

 

[DejaVue]

Those vehicles were moving so fast before crashing that I had to check my video player to see if it was set on fast-forward.

 

[bullwinkle]

Winter tires help, but on the interstate it just means you'll get rear ended by the speeding morons that don't have them. Honestly, I usually stick to the back roads when it gets bad, or don't go at all-the interstate gets too dangerous (& usually there's a huge wreck that turns it into a parking lot anyway).

 

[Sayjac]

Considering the human factor of the results, difficult to watch. Been in a "white out" once and it was scary as [censored]. While going slowly, you hope those in front don't suddenly decide to stop and those behind aren't driving stupidly too fast. My guess is some of those coming up from behind came on the white out, by the time they recognized it accident in front already there. You would hope the 18 wheelers roaring down the right lane/shoulder in video an indication of that.

 

[ka9mnx]

I've driven through enough white-outs and fog. I'll take fog any day. I remember one time in a white-out I couldn't see the end of my hood. Extremely scary stuff! I've seen this time-and-time again. People just don't slow down.

 

[Andrew1972]

I was in a very minor traffic incident on slippery roads(quick rain likely on cold day). I did not even stop/look after we bumped and kept going pulling off to next safe spot a few miles away near where plows were parked. I was not going to be an obstruction or sitting duck on slippery highway.

The other driver followed me a bit aggressively and jumped out angry. I explained it but that was not good enough. The plow driver settled the hot head down.

On slippery roads you drive away best as possible or jump behind a guard rail.

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by 99Eclipse
I live in Columbia Mo and it was pretty bad. Well, at least for the rear wheel drive SUV friend I helped get home. I had chains on my 99 eclipse lol. Thankfully I-70 was at A standstill so no deaths in the city. Not surprised at the video the way people drive around here. The $130 chains were well worth it when I got them a few years ago. One accident avoided and you've already made your money back. Although, only used them twice in 5 years.

I looked it up and apparently Missouri has no specific rules/laws on using chains. I occasionally drive in winter to parts of California/Nevada that get snow. I've driven in whiteout conditions and saw vehicles that were being pulled out. But we have specific chain conditions where chains and/or adequate all-season/winter tires may be required. AWD/4WD is factored into the chain rules, probably based on not getting stuck rather than being able to stop or steer. I'm not sure what the rules are on using chains outside of designated chain controls.

I still have chains in the trunk of my WRX for my last trip to Tahoe. I don't know if they'll ever come in handy at lower elevations. Even the freak icy conditions we get in the Bay Area never last more than a half day.

Years ago there was a pretty good pile up on the 280 Bridge over the Crystal Spring dam in San mateo . the bridge was iced up.

 

[wander2039]

Made the mistake of driving yesterday instead of riding the bike. I would of got home about the same time and less stressful. It was interesting to see the cars setting spinning but yet the same model went right around and kept going.. lol wrong tire choice! People was trying to climb the 12th street bridge.. that was popcorn worthy.

 

[y_p_w]

I know this is more a tire/wheels question, but just wondering who has used a vehicle with one of those automatic chain systems that drop and whip chains under the tires.



I've seen some trucks with these. It looks like they can really only work if there's fairly high clearance. I think I may have also seen some trucks that had traditional chains stored under the trailer. I thought there might be a requirement for large commercial vehicles to carry chains at all times in some states just in case there are freak snow conditions.

 

[cjcride]

Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Winter tires help, but on the interstate it just means you'll get rear ended by the speeding morons that don't have them. Honestly, I usually stick to the back roads when it gets bad, or don't go at all-the interstate gets too dangerous (& usually there's a huge wreck that turns it into a parking lot anyway).

Good advice

 

[kkreit01]

That was terrible, and fairly local to me (outside KC metro). There were actually 40 cars involved.

 

[IveBeenRued]

Can anyone make out what make and model the blue car was?

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Winter tires help, but on the interstate it just means you'll get rear ended by the speeding morons that don't have them. Honestly, I usually stick to the back roads when it gets bad, or don't go at all-the interstate gets too dangerous (& usually there's a huge wreck that turns it into a parking lot anyway).

My only experience driving in those conditions are up in the mountains during winter tourist season. However, the way it's handled here is that there are designated chain conditions declared by the California Dept of Transportation and/of California Highway Patrol. I think Nevada is similar. What you'll typically see is chain checkpoints set up where a Caltrans or CHP officer will check each vehicle. At Yosemite I was checked by a law enforcement park ranger. I have a Subaru and usually I've only been checked for the tread depth of the left front tire. Legally even an AWD vehicle with adequate tread needs to carry chains although I've never been asked to show them. After a while there's typically a sign indicating where chain controls have ended, which is always an area where there are adequate shoulders to remove chains. Speed limit is 25 MPH when chain conditions are in place although I've seen commercial trucks going 35-40 MPH in blizzard conditions.

Very few drivers around here will be using real winter tires for weekend trips. I've seen it a few times including someone who had Winterforce tires on an AWD BMW 3 Series when I was taking my kid to a snow play area in Nevada. I've even seen a car with performance winters around the San Francisco Bay Area. I guess the owner didn't feel like taking them on and off just to go to Tahoe.

Since the winter tourism economy is so dependent on people going on ski trips (or perhaps even gambling even though it's in Nevada) they have a large fleet of plows that will plow the big roads around there such as I-80 from as low as Colfax to the Nevada border, and US-50 from South Lake Tahoe for about 50 miles west. Then the cities and counties plow the local roads. But then there are area that aren't really well suited for chain. I mentioned the Grapevine (I-5 around Tejon Pass) and they typically close it 3-5 days per year. It's steep and there's not enough snow days to justify setting up chain areas.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by IveBeenRued
Can anyone make out what make and model the blue car was?

Unfortunately it was so messed up it's hard to tell.

 

[DejaVue]

Originally Posted by ka9mnx
I remember one time in a white-out I couldn't see the end of my hood. Extremely scary stuff! I've seen this time-and-time again. People just don't slow down.

Sometimes in white-outs and fog I wonder if some people think going slower is more dangerous since if they go slow maybe someone going faster behind them will rear-end them. Ideally, everyone would slow down a lot under such conditions. But it can be like on an interstate that has a 70mph limit... they also often have 45mph minimums. Even under clear skies, speed differentials can increase accidents.

Lots of vehicles have fog lights on the front. I'm surprised so few manufacturers put fog lights on the rear of their vehicles for the USA market. (I think it's required in Europe.) When going slow, probably slower than most other people on the road (like mentioned in the first paragraph), there is more concern about being rear-ended.

It's against the law to drive with your hazard lights on. But on some vehicles you can turn on the rear fog light(s), and drivers behind you can probably see you from twice as far away.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by DejaVue
Originally Posted by ka9mnx
I remember one time in a white-out I couldn't see the end of my hood. Extremely scary stuff! I've seen this time-and-time again. People just don't slow down.

Sometimes in white-outs and fog I wonder if some people think going slower is more dangerous since if they go slow maybe someone going faster behind them will rear-end them. Ideally, everyone would slow down a lot under such conditions. But it can be like on an interstate that has a 70mph limit... they also often have 45mph minimums. Even under clear skies, speed differentials can increase accidents.

Where I've driven under chain controls there's universally a 25 MPH speed limit. They'll either put up temporary signs or there are these flip down signs. It's a 65 MPH limit on much of I-80 near Donner Pass, but they'll cover them and place the 25 MPH/chain control signs. This is one of those signs at Kings Canyon National Park, but I'm thinking that having chains isn't going to help with the fallen tree. I wonder if a plow could move it or if they would need heavy equipment.

One time I was at a Walmart looking to perhaps buy chains for my wife's Civic just in case. All they had were ladder-type cables and signs saying that chains were non-returnable. While I was looking at it some commercial driver was telling me that there was no need for them as he'd already been up to our destination for a delivery, and the roads were clear. He was right, but I wasn't sure of how we would have handled it had it started to snow. Up in the mountains I'd found an Autozone that had Z-type cables and I asked if they could be returned if I didn't use them. The clerk said as long as they were never installed I could return them at any AutoZone. Never needed them and I returned them after a few weeks at one near home.