Posted on 11/22/2012 7:25:16 PM PST by Morgana
FULL TITLE: Thanksgiving tragedy: Two dead and more than 120 injured in massive pileup involving over 100 vehicles on foggy Texas interstate
wo people are dead and more than 120 injured, some critically, after a massive pile-up today involving at least 100 vehicles that left trucks twisted on top of each other and authorities rushing to pull survivors from the miles of wreckage.
The Thanksgiving Day collision happened around 8am on Interstate 10 southwest of Beaumont, a Gulf Coast city about 80 miles east of Houston.
Extremely dense fog blanketing a section of the Texas interstate made conditions treacherous for drivers heading to Thanksgiving holiday feasts.
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A man and a woman were killed in a Chevy Suburban SUV crushed by a tractor trailer, the Texas Department of Public Safety told KFDM-TV.
Officials at Acadian Ambulance service said more than 50 people have been taken to area hospitals in Beaumont, Port Arthur and Winnie. At least eight are critically hurt. The most seriously injured were being transported to Houston, about 75 miles away.
Multiple ambulance crews responded and transported patients to area hospitals.
Baptist Beaumont Hospital spokeswoman Mary Poole told KFDM News they've received at least 21 patients. One was in critical condition. They've transported two children and one adult with head injuries to a Houston hospital.
It wasn't immediately clear how the pileup began, but Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Deputy Rod Carroll said the fog was so thick that deputies didn't immediately realize they were dealing with multiple accidents.
The westbound lane of the interstate has been reopened, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Fog plus new 85 mph speed limit = tragedy
I got into that crap once going around the Richmond beltway.
You cannot see, and you want to slow down, but you are frightened that somebody will run in the back of you, so you go a little slower and pray. Afraid to stop because you know you will get it from behind,even at the curb.
I know the area well. About thirty years ago I experienced the worst fog I’ve ever encountered right in that very vicinity (highway 73 between Winnie and Port Arthur, tx). Even my car’s hood-ornament was virtually impossible to see. Made for a hair-raising drive, inching along about ten miles per hour. And no place to turn off, as it was all wet marshland.
I think the 85 mph speed limit is only on that new toll road between Austin & San Antonio... It’s not statewide.
So sad so many involved. Prayers for all!
I don’t think the limit is 85 on Interstate 10.
The 85 mph speed limit is on a toll road south of Austin to Seguin, not anywhere close to the Golden Triangle area along the Texas coast.
I can remember slowly driving near Freeport TX with the Jeep pulling an airboat, door open, looking down at the center line because I could not see the road over the hood. Fortunantly there was no traffic on the road at 0400 or whatever time it was.
Dense fog.... We call that Winter.
“Fog plus new 85 mph speed limit = tragedy”
Yeah, everyone should drive 45mph on the freeways so the old farts with cataracts that shouldn’t be driving in the first place feel comfortable.
People overestimate their driving skills the traction and braking ability of their vehicles. I’ve been on I-10 in Houston in the driving rain and saw people doing well past the limit with low visibility going around other c ars like it was a slalom.
/////Fog plus new 85 mph speed limit = tragedy//////
you need to get your facts straight, because you have no idea what your talking about........
RIP.
Doesn't matter what the speed limit is - what matters is that too many idiots will ignore conditions of almost zero visibility and risk everything for the "convenience" of a quicker trip. I've seen videos of pile ups and one shows a bunch of cars piled up, a new car hits a semi in the rear and as folks rush out to check the car, another semi runs into the car at about 45 MPH and totally crushes it between the trucks. It was a perfect example of why stupid should be a prosecutable offense.
A dumb question—but I cannot help asking. Sometimes (up north here) stretches of interstate are closed for a period of time due to road conditions—ice storm; heavy snow—long enough to get salt trucks and plows out. an inconvenience yes—but a needed one. Do they ever do that due to the heavy fog?
People who think that way=tragedy.
I can go with fog + stupid people = tragedy. Unless the idiots slow down to a safe speed, there is no cure. I've seen footage of pile ups and it's obvious that folks are putting blind (in a real sense) trust and faith that everyone ahead of them is also going the speed limit and all they need to do is stay between the lines. One case showed a car smash into the back of a semi that was involved in the pile up - no indication of the brakes ever being hit due to the "sudden" appearance of the obstruction. Folks were running out to check the car when another semi (at least 40 mph and no sign of brakes) crushed the car between it and the front semi.
It all goes to prove the point - you can make things fool-proof, but you can't make them damn-fool-proof. It's the sheer number of damn fools in the world that cause these tragic pile ups - it has nothing to do with speed limits - I thought that everyone who was old enough to drive knew that speed limits are designed for optimum conditions and that you were supposed to slow down as conditions declined. I guess that information I learned in the 60s is just as useless now as it was then. You can lead a mind to the classroom, you just can't make it learn.
Cataracts had nothing to do with it. If you run into dense fog and can't see the road in front of you, then yes, you need to slow down. We get white outs up north and the only thing you can see out of your windshield is a wall of white. The visibility is a couple of feet at best. Anybody who tries to maintain the posted speed limit in those circumstances is a leading contestant for the Darwin Awards.
I can attest to that.
Anybody who tries to maintain the posted speed limit in those circumstances is a leading contestant for the Darwin Awards.
Pass me now, see you later, (hopefully unbent and right side up).
There are times when the best speed is 0. I have been unable to discern road features well enough to stay out of (snow filled) ditches at 5 mph, barely twitching the needle. And BTW, the ridge of snow left by the end of the plow on two-lane (no shoulder) and other secondary roads here (many of which are gravel) is commonly 3-4 feet out past the end of the road surface, to cut down on how fast the road drifts over.
Don't go by that edge as if it was the edge of the road, or you will end up like I did. I thought I was 3 feet over on the road when I hit the ditch. If I had been going any faster, my engine would have been packed off with snow and shut down. At least I had heat, even if I had to overfill the crankcase a little to keep the oil pickup from sucking air. (Blizzard two years ago).
Better yet, if you don't have to go, stay where you are.
Not really San Antonio more like Georgetown to Seguin but yeah its on the toll road only
Not really San Antonio more like Georgetown to Seguin but yeah its on the toll road only
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