Posted on 03/31/2013 7:21:38 PM PDT by goldstategop
They said there were 17 separate crashes within a distance of one mile (1.6km) on Interstate 77 near the base of Fancy Gap Mountain.
The accidents began shortly after 13:00 local time (17:00 GMT) on Sunday, when there was heavy fog in the area.
It was reportedly the most deadly of several similar pile-ups since 1997.
Queues of traffic in southbound lanes near the scene of the crashes stretched for eight miles, police said.
"This mountain is notorious for fog banks," said Glen Sage of the American Red Cross office in the town of Galax.
"They have advance signs warning people. But the problem is, people are seeing well and suddenly they're in a fog bank."
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
That is a beautiful, but intense, stretch of road. No fun in bad conditions.
Where is it exactly, I’m in Nevada heading in that direction, which highways to avoid in the next few hours?
I-77 south of Wytheville,VA and I-81.
Fog is one problem. Wind is another. You should try it under a wind advisory. The majority of the incline was blasted out of granite on a steep mountain on the front edge of the escarpment, going from essentially high plateau to mountain pass, rapid descent and then Piedmont below in NC. The weather changes, so fog or wind are frequent. Not unusual at all to see semis blown over onto their sides. Really pretty view to the southwest along the front of the Blue Ridge down into NC coming out of the gap, though. I like driving it in good weather. I avoid it in bad.
Studies show that most people SPEED UP when they enter fog.
This wreck took place on I-77.
I-77 runs north/south from Charlotte, NC to Bluefield, WV.
If you are travelling east, you would most likely either be on 40, which by the way is a lousy road between Asheville, NC and the TN line, or you would run 40 to Knoxville and I-81 into southern VA. I-81 is much better than I-40 if it goes where you want to go.
Either one will cross I-77 but well north or south of the big wreck.
I know well.
Heck, I used to drive it when it was 52. Talk about wrecks.
Really crooked, narrow, steep steep steep.
Trucks would burn out their brakes and off the mountain they would go. I would see one off the mountain almost every time I drove it.
On the NC-VA state line on the eastern edge of the Blue Ridge mountains running north-south. Closest towns of any size would be Mt. Airy, NC and Wytheville, VA. It’s actually in Carroll County, VA.
I know that area - beautiful! I also know that fog can set in at certain elevation ranges, and there’s a lot of up/down driving on that part of I-77.
Surprised that the news comes from Britain!
US 52 was spooky. Those runaway truck ramps rarely went unused long enough to grow weeds. Had trucks sail past me with brakes on fire before, back in the day. I-77, bad as it can sound at times, was a big improvement.
2:22 minute video - http://www.wsls.com/story/21839061/50-vehicle-backup-on-interstate-77
Article & several pics here - http://www.roanoke.com/news/1820195-12/3-dead-dozens-hospitalized-sunday-in-i-77-pileup.html
I have been on I 25 around Albuquerque In real bad winds. There is a real bad stretch about 40 miles south of Albuquerque where the highway goes through several canyons. The NM highway department even has wind socks installed there. I was traveling through there on a real windy day. A mini van passed me going very fast. I came across the van upside down on fire in the median about 10 miles down the road. You have to drive for the conditions. Traffic was going about 45 MPH and that was dicey.
Is that the stretch with the incredible view to the left as you are heading south? I’ve driven that road 40 times easy and that view is awesome...(when it’s clear and sunny).
There’s some sort of wind detection system on that stretch of interstate too, they’ll shut it down to tractor-trailer traffic occasionally and issue advisories at other times, not sure how it’s set up though.
Big issue is a wind tunnel effect up and down the “cut” into the mountainside, worst at the top by the gap and at the bottom near the NC line. 75 mph gusts will cause it to be closed to semis. Not a walk in the park in a small car or on a motorcycle either, but it’s the big trucks that get overturned, the wind tunnel effect catches them broadside in exposed curves.
That’s it, coming out of fairly high mountains by east coast standards down to low rolling countryside below. Pretty on a clear winter night too, the natural photochemical haze that makes the Blue Ridge blue is gone, you can see all the lights twinkling from the towns below for many miles, even the skyline of Winston-Salem close to fifty miles to the southeast.
“Ban cars, they are dangerous.”
Just require Dem Pols to make their speeches there...the hot air will obliterate the fog...but make sure the Bummer has his prompter...we would not want him to run out of words (hot air).
And of course you all know how to tell when any of them are lying...their lips are moving.
I was in Fancy Gap Pass when a sudden burst of wind briefly lifted my rental car completely off the road. Trucks were careening left and right in front of me as they hurtled down the pass. Glad I’m alive today...
Its nothing compared to the notorious switchback in Colorado after you leave the Independence Pass summit. When you go west to Aspen, for a few miles its a one lane switchback with no guardrails. Stick to the cliff when you go down and if you come from Aspen go left and follow the cliffs. If you are careless, you could find yourself doing a Thelma & Louise off the mountain!
Never trust that the person in front of you won't just suddenly cram on their brakes to avoid a squirrel. Their tires might violently fail, you never know. If you run into something in front of you that didn't run onto the road laterally, then that means you are following too closely.
If something nails you, that is another story.
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