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Massive Pile Up on I-10 in Texas, Many Injured.....

MMC

MMC

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BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — Two people died and dozens were hurt Thursday when at least 100 vehicles collided in Southeast Texas in a pileup that left trucks twisted on top of each other and authorities rushing to pull survivors from the miles of wreckage.

The collision occurred in extremely foggy conditions at about 8 a.m. Thanksgiving Day on Interstate 10 southwest of Beaumont, a Gulf Coast city about 80 miles east of Houston.

Officials at Acadian Ambulance service told KFDM-TV that at least 51 people have been taken to area hospitals and at least eight are critically hurt.

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.
"It is catastrophic," Carroll said. "I've got cars on top of cars."

I-10's eastbound lanes were expected to remain closed for most of Thursday.....snip~

http://news.yahoo.com/massive-pileup-shuts-10-texas-2-dead-195305344.html
Associated Press – 17 mins ago<<<<<More here!


Lets hope some of our people or those who we know were not involved in this. Lets be safe out there All my friends!
 
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An emergency worker walks past a pile of cars from the accident on Interstate in Southeast Texas Thursday Nov. 22, 2012. The Texas Department of Public Safety says at least 35 people have been injured in a more than 50-vehicle pileup.....snip~

More Pics.

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140 vehicles involved in crash.....
 
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I can believe this. Drivers in Southeast Texas cannot drive. If you are driving the speed limit, even in fog, you are going to have someone on your ass, just inches off your back bumper. Drivers around here are the worst in the entire nation. On the other hand, some of the best and most courteous drivers are in the Dallas area. Every time I have driven to Dallas, people have motioned with their hands to let me in. Here in Houston, I have frequently missed my exit because while trying to get in the lane, I turned on my turn signal, and whoever is in that lane speeds up and cuts me off on purpose. What you are witnessing in these pictures, fog or no fog, is the absolute stupidity and brainless aggressiveness of drivers in Southeast Texas. Still, I am sorry for their losses today.
 
Never understood why some people feel the need to ride your ass in traffic. Pisses me off.

Or if I have a stopping distance between me and the car ahead of me some dip pulls into that footage.

A buddy of mine rigged a toggle switch on his dashboard to flip on his back-up lights when people rode his ass. It worked great.
 
Awful. I hadn't seen that previously. Thanks for sharing.
 
Ugh - makes me sick.

We were there a few weeks ago and went to San An for the day - traffic was unbelievable for the 2 hour drive there. Bumper to bumper. It was crazy - I've only see that IN big cities - a few miles at most. This went on the entire way. . and it was on a Saturday Morning.

I thought 'oh - this is what people dealt with when leaving because of a hurricane? Nope - now I see why many people just didn't want to bother - they couldn't.
 
MMC said:
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BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — Two people died and dozens were hurt Thursday when at least 100 vehicles collided in Southeast Texas in a pileup that left trucks twisted on top of each other and authorities rushing to pull survivors from the miles of wreckage.

The collision occurred in extremely foggy conditions at about 8 a.m. Thanksgiving Day on Interstate 10 southwest of Beaumont, a Gulf Coast city about 80 miles east of Houston.

Officials at Acadian Ambulance service told KFDM-TV that at least 51 people have been taken to area hospitals and at least eight are critically hurt.

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.
"It is catastrophic," Carroll said. "I've got cars on top of cars."

I-10's eastbound lanes were expected to remain closed for most of Thursday.....snip~

Massive pileup shuts I-10 in Texas; 2 dead - Yahoo! News
Associated Press – 17 mins ago<<<<<More here!


Lets hope some of our people or those who we know were not involved in this. Lets be safe out there All my friends!
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Good Lord. I refuse to stay on the road when it's either extremely foggy . . . raining cats-and-dogs . . . or blizzarding. I take the first exit and sit it out. It is simply NOT SAFE to assume the road ahead is clear.
 
danarhea said:
I can believe this. Drivers in Southeast Texas cannot drive. If you are driving the speed limit, even in fog, you are going to have someone on your ass, just inches off your back bumper. Drivers around here are the worst in the entire nation. On the other hand, some of the best and most courteous drivers are in the Dallas area. Every time I have driven to Dallas, people have motioned with their hands to let me in. Here in Houston, I have frequently missed my exit because while trying to get in the lane, I turned on my turn signal, and whoever is in that lane speeds up and cuts me off on purpose. What you are witnessing in these pictures, fog or no fog, is the absolute stupidity and brainless aggressiveness of drivers in Southeast Texas. Still, I am sorry for their losses today.
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Brainless aggressiveness is right. I've driven this stretch many times on the way to visit a friend and have been white-knuckle/steering wheel-gripping petrified every single time. Asshats tailgate you at 80 mph and constantly flash their lights.

Once on a rainy Friday night an 18-wheeler did this to me, and I made my kid write down the license. On our Sunday afternoon return, there was a massive wreck like this, and yep, the same 18-wheeler was on its side. I wasn't even a little bit surprised.

Not this pileup either, fog or not.
 
danarhea said:
I can believe this. Drivers in Southeast Texas cannot drive. If you are driving the speed limit, even in fog, you are going to have someone on your ass, just inches off your back bumper. Drivers around here are the worst in the entire nation. On the other hand, some of the best and most courteous drivers are in the Dallas area. Every time I have driven to Dallas, people have motioned with their hands to let me in. Here in Houston, I have frequently missed my exit because while trying to get in the lane, I turned on my turn signal, and whoever is in that lane speeds up and cuts me off on purpose. What you are witnessing in these pictures, fog or no fog, is the absolute stupidity and brainless aggressiveness of drivers in Southeast Texas. Still, I am sorry for their losses today.
Click to expand...

You forgot to mention how everybody suddenly forgets how to drive the instant it starts raining.
 
MaggieD said:
Good Lord. I refuse to stay on the road when it's either extremely foggy . . . raining cats-and-dogs . . . or blizzarding. I take the first exit and sit it out. It is simply NOT SAFE to assume the road ahead is clear.
Click to expand...

I wish more people and companies thought like this, as a professional driver lots of times I have to hide behind my safety manager, because without calling him and explaining that I think it is unsafe dispatchers will always say the same thing "other people are doing it, so it can't be that unsafe". I think the magnitude of this crash shows clearly that just because other people are doing it, doesnt make it safe.
 
hikari said:
I wish more people and companies thought like this, as a professional driver lots of times I have to hide behind my safety manager, because without calling him and explaining that I think it is unsafe dispatchers will always say the same thing "other people are doing it, so it can't be that unsafe". I think the magnitude of this crash shows clearly that just because other people are doing it, doesnt make it safe.
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If you're a trucker, you're my favorite guy on rainy/foggy/snowy low-visibility nights. Until I get to an exit, I'm searching for a semi to stay behind 'til I get there. I keep what I think is a safe distance between me and the truck and stay there. I figure I just may have time to stop and the semi? He'll be pushin' most things out of his way to give me a few extra feet. I don't know if that's true, but on those times I find myself in "soup," that's my strategy.

Road Warriors they are. ;)
 
Dear Morons:

In dense fog, do not continue driving at 80 miles an hour.
 
danarhea said:
I can believe this. Drivers in Southeast Texas cannot drive. If you are driving the speed limit, even in fog, you are going to have someone on your ass, just inches off your back bumper. Drivers around here are the worst in the entire nation. On the other hand, some of the best and most courteous drivers are in the Dallas area. Every time I have driven to Dallas, people have motioned with their hands to let me in. Here in Houston, I have frequently missed my exit because while trying to get in the lane, I turned on my turn signal, and whoever is in that lane speeds up and cuts me off on purpose. What you are witnessing in these pictures, fog or no fog, is the absolute stupidity and brainless aggressiveness of drivers in Southeast Texas. Still, I am sorry for their losses today.
Click to expand...

Sounds like Minnesota drivers. My in-laws live about an hour up I-94 from us. Problem is that there's two lanes: The old-lady lane, and the NASCAR lane. The speed limit is 70, but your choices are 50 or 90.
 
I've been in a fog bank so thick that I could barely see the front of my hood where the last thing I spotted as we were twisting up this mountain switchback was a freaking gas delivery truck in front of me. When we finally broke out of that thing, I found the first pullover and just twitched for ten minutes.
 
MaggieD said:
If you're a trucker, you're my favorite guy on rainy/foggy/snowy low-visibility nights. Until I get to an exit, I'm searching for a semi to stay behind 'til I get there. I keep what I think is a safe distance between me and the truck and stay there. I figure I just may have time to stop and the semi? He'll be pushin' most things out of his way to give me a few extra feet. I don't know if that's true, but on those times I find myself in "soup," that's my strategy.

Road Warriors they are. ;)
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You are so right.

Many years ago I, with my family, was returning from Las Vegas to Colorado Springs. We were ascending Raton Pass late at night when we found ourselves in one of their June blizzards. Before we knew it we were driving in six inches of snow...couldn't even see where the road was. While I was creeping along, we got passed by a trucker. He saved us. I stayed in that truck's tracks until we got through the pass and out of the snow.

Hat tip to truckers.
 
Mycroft said:
You are so right.

Many years ago I, with my family, was returning from Las Vegas to Colorado Springs. We were ascending Raton Pass late at night when we found ourselves in one of their June blizzards. Before we knew it we were driving in six inches of snow...couldn't even see where the road was. While I was creeping along, we got passed by a trucker. He saved us. I stayed in that truck's tracks until we got through the pass and out of the snow.

Hat tip to truckers.
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I have often used a trucker's tail lights to guide me where the road is.

Crossing Washington state in the winter time one often finds the road completely covered in snow without any indication where the shoulder is. Yes, I appreciate having a semi in front of me.
 
Deuce said:
Dear Morons:

In dense fog, do not continue driving at 80 miles an hour.
Click to expand...

Driving up to my cousin's place in Wisconsin with her and my mom in the car, it started to rain cats/dogs/elephants. And we were driving into it, so that made it worse. I could just barely make out tail lights; and when there were none? I was flying blind. (People were speeding past me like I was standing still, and I was probably doing about 45...so they quickly left me in the "dust." I decided to pull off the highway into a rest stop -- I absolutely hated doing that because it was dark and there were just a few cars in the lot, but I just couldn't see. I had the feeling my cousin would have kept driving, but she was okay with it.

After the rain subsided, I started on my way again. Up the road about a mile or so, there was a three-car pile-up with one car upside-down in the ditch.

Trust your instincts. Don't fly blind. And YES!!! Don't continue driving 80 mph when you can't freakin' see.
 
One of the good things about driving a truck is that lots of times when things are really bad we stick together and communicate via cb, though I admit I rarely use the thing, being able to tall to other people who may be aware of hazards you are not is not only good for safety but it really can calm the nerves when other people can tell you where a good safe place to park is coming up in bad weather.

The cb is for emergency use only for me, otherwise it is equal parts "Obama sucks", "elogs sucks", and "omg a girl, why don't you come hang out in my truck tonight". But at least when things get bad on the roads trucker culture isn't that bad.

Texas is a dangerous place though, with 75mph speed limits in lots of places and insurance making many trucks governed to 62mph and most Texas interstates are major freight lanes leading to people who are used to swerving around traffic and getting very close to the cars in front of them. I am very glad I stay on the east coast now, not that the drivers are that much better, but at least it is home.
 
Were I grew up was on I-75 and pile ups happened every now and again. I lived near swamps and fog was often really really thick but what's worse is in the swamps occassionally there'd be peat fires whose smoke would add worse visibility. And back in the 70's and such, drug use by truckers was worse so that didn't help much either.
 
It goes without saying, but it looks like a lot of holiday packages traveling through Fed-Ex are not going to make it to their destination.
 
Green Balls said:
It goes without saying, but it looks like a lot of holiday packages traveling through Fed-Ex are not going to make it to their destination.
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They will make it. If Tom Hanks can bring that Fed Ex package back from an island he was stranded on for a decade... these packages will make it!
 
I have to drive every night. Although mine is not a trucking job. So I see all kinds of different conditions over a couple of states. Even When conditions are good people are flying down the road, riding peoples azzes, and of course around here dealing with Road Rage. We have 2 seasons. Winter and construction, you would think people who live around this all their life would know how to drive. But sadly such is not the case.

Knowing as many as I do from Texas and that are people I know here and a couple of other places.....I am just glad to know that none were involved and didn't have to deal with any of this. Which was my concern from the get go.
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Surtr said:
You forgot to mention how everybody suddenly forgets how to drive the instant it starts raining.
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Yup, but I ain't one of them. I learned how to drive on Michigan glare ice. Still, when it starts to rain in Houston, I become extra careful because all of the knuckleheads here. :)
 
danarhea said:
Yup, but I ain't one of them. I learned how to drive on Michigan glare ice. Still, when it starts to rain in Houston, I become extra careful because all of the knuckleheads here. :)
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The worst is it seems every two miles there's a car pulled over to the side, and they have no lights on, so you won't see their dumb ass until it's too late.
 
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