[dasher]

Speed and fog don't mix. My heart goes out to the families of the lost and to those who are injured.

[Bryan24]

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (CNN) -- At least 10 people were killed when dozens of vehicles collided on fog-enshrouded Interstate 75 near the Georgia-Tennessee line early Thursday, jamming traffic for 30 miles in both directions south of Chattanooga.

The Georgia Department of Transportation confirmed the deaths. The chain-reaction accident also caused numerous injuries.

Between 100 and 125 vehicles -- 20 of them tractor-trailers -- were involved in the accident in Catoosa County near Ringgold, Georgia, said Georgia State Patrol Chief Mary Jones.

A Georgia Highway Patrol spokeswoman said visibility in the area was 10 to 15 feet at the time of the accident, which happened between 7:30 a.m. and 7:45 a.m., and that the fog lifted about an hour later, giving emergency crews their first look at the extent of the damage.

The highway patrol spokeswoman said that state authorities were on a skeleton crew because many officers are at a state training center in the middle of the state. She said off-duty officers are coming to the scene, as well as officers assigned to the crematory case in Noble, Georgia.

The injured were taken to a number of area hospitals. Seven adults and a child were taken to Erlanger Hospital, a Level-1 trauma center in Chattanooga, 15 miles from the accident site.

Three of the injured adults were being treated for major injuries, four of them for minor injuries, said hospital spokeswoman Sharon Cahill. The child's condition had not been determined.

The Georgia Department of Transportation said that both north- and southbound lanes on the interstate were shut down between exits 348 and 350. Northbound traffic was being routed to State Route 151 at exit 348 and then onto State Route 3 or US 41. Northbound traffic rejoined I-75 in East Ridge, Tennessee.

Southbound traffic was routed onto State Route 2 and exit 350, then onto State Route 3 and U.S. 41 before rejoining the interstate at exit 348.

[Mixer]

There was a 100 car pile-up in PA not too long ago. These things are a real mess. Today I was on 80 East and there was a 4 car pil-up that stopped traffic for miles. I can't even imagine what this must be like.

[areafiftyone]

I've seen people driving in fog at 70-80 miles and hour. These people are crazy. Whenever I see fog that heavy I put my emergency blinkers on and slow down. One time in dense fog I saw one car drive past me at that crazy speed and about a mile up the road I saw the same car imbedded under Mac truck!

[DJ88]

I have traveled that area many, many times...it has got to be THE WORST traffic area in any state..there is NEVER a time they are not doing construction, and it's ALWAYS dangerous.

Do you remember that big huge pile up in TN about 10 years ago or so? It was HORRIBLE.

BTW..just some trivia for you..."Ringgold", GA is famous for it's little "Marriage Chapel"...(gold ring, "Ringgold"). That's where Dolly Parton (I believe it was her) got married. ;-)

[FreedomPoster]

FYI, just heard on WSB 750AM (Boortz's flagship station) that the state patrol (or was it GADOT? one of the two) has announced that it will probably be *tomorrow* before they reopen I-75. They've got traffic rerouted (probably on US41), but you know it'll be ugly. Avoid NW GA like the plague, for now.

[BluH2o]

There was a similar accident about 10-12 years ago on I-75 about 30 miles northeast of
Chattanooga, TN.

[robjna]

we got stuck inthe smokey mountains once during the fog and it is severe. one of us had to look at side markers just to navigate . got off first exit and waited it out. better to lose time than life. lot of kids going down for spring break right now. at 18-21 you think you are invincible. that area is a major stretch just after you clear of the mountains and are anxious to make up speed.

[crystalk]

And so convenient to a certain crematory whose business was starting to fall off after a recent public relations problem...

[glc1173@aol.com]

It was extremely foggy around midnight here in Burlington, North Carolina.

Cleared up - somewhat - by 4:00 A.M.

[js1138]

I've driven that stretch a zillion times. There's a spot on I75 about 50 miles north, in Tennessee, where the worst pileup in history occurred. I've seen it so bad you couldn't see the outside of your own windshield.

<];^)

[Bella_Bru]

Some reports say that in heavy fog situations, the brain gets a little confused and you begin to perceive that you are moving slower than you actually are. Up in Sacramento, CHP has started running "pacers" on the freeways during heavy fog.