150+ car pileup in Michigan leaves one dead, uncounted injured - Polidicks

[quote]GALESBURG, Mich. — Interstate 94 in both directions here was closed Friday because of a fiery pileup involving nearly 200 vehicles, authorities said. At least one person, Jean Larocque, 57, a truck driver from Saint-Chrysostome, Québec in Canada, died in the series of crashes a little after 9:30 a.m. ET, Michigan State Police said. At least 22 others were injured. "As you can imagine, it's not easy to count vehicles as they pile up," Michigan State Police Lt. Rick Pazder said. Officials are pegging the latest number at 193. Officials said they don't expect the four miles of I-94, a major east-west artery across the southern part of Michigan, to open until after midnight Friday. About 10 semi-trailer trucks and some cars were involved in the first accident at mile marker 90 in the eastbound lanes on the snow-covered interstate in southwest Michigan between Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, about 125 miles west of Detroit. As rescuers arrived, two firefighters were injured when a load of fireworks exploded on one of the wrecked trucks, which caught fire; a wrecker driver also was injured. About a dozen vehicles that had crashed in the eastbound lanes — including the truck with fireworks and one carrying 44,000 pounds of formic acid, used in processing textiles and leather — burned for hours, authorities said.[/quote] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDb_MENTSE0&feature=youtu.be[/media]

Beat that, NASCAR. [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Snipe / Shitpost (Second time in less than a week)" - Big Dumb American))[/highlight]

Oh my God. That video is surreal. I didn't realize somebody actually filmed the wrecks piling up. Why are they all going so fast? And why couldn't they see or hear the crashes up ahead? In the video, you can see for a pretty good distance. Amazing only one person was killed.

jesus christ, i can't imagine how those guys felt having to see all this go down and being unable to help initially

That was horrifying to watch.

It caught fire too, and one of the trucks was carrying fireworks. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKo8WMnHwBA[/media] Amazing only one person died.

You'd think that being through dozens of Michigan winters you'd learn to drive safe.

[QUOTE=>VLN<;46895980]Oh my God. That video is surreal. I didn't realize somebody actually filmed the wrecks piling up. Why are they all going so fast? And why couldn't they see or hear the crashes up ahead? In the video, you can see for a pretty good distance. Amazing only one person was killed.[/QUOTE] braking in a snowy road is pretty hard i reckon

I'm just a big softy, but I'd never even think about driving in that type of snow.

[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;46895991]braking in a snowy road is pretty hard i reckon[/QUOTE] Not at all if you drive accordingly with conditions. These accidents are always because of people driving too fast and following too closely.

[QUOTE=>VLN<;46895980]Oh my God. That video is surreal. I didn't realize somebody actually filmed the wrecks piling up. Why are they all going so fast? And why couldn't they see or hear the crashes up ahead? In the video, you can see for a pretty good distance. Amazing only one person was killed.[/QUOTE] I don't think you understand how slippery an iced road is.

[QUOTE=-Rusty-;46895983]jesus christ, i can't imagine how those guys felt having to see all this go down and being unable to help initially[/QUOTE] After the first fucking forty cars you'd think someone would go uproad and wave their arms or something to tell people to slow down.

[QUOTE=HawkeyeTy;46896032]Not at all if you drive accordingly with conditions. These accidents are always because of people driving too fast and following too closely.[/QUOTE] of course you can still drive safely, but saying it's "not hard at all" is a bit misguided

[QUOTE=HawkeyeTy;46896032]Not at all if you drive accordingly with conditions. These accidents are always because of people driving too fast and following too closely.[/QUOTE] The thing is, at least some of the vehicles were able to stop in time... only to be rear-ended and sandwiched. It amazes me how irresponsibly fast drivers can be in this sort of weather.

One of the trucks in the video stopped perfectly fine, shitty drivers basically.

Aren't you supposed to be driving at a speed where you can stop when needed?

[QUOTE=bisousbisous;46895989]You'd think that being through dozens of Michigan winters you'd learn to drive safe.[/QUOTE] You get so used to it that you don't even think about it and get overconfident.

Guys you can't stop going down a hill on ice.

[QUOTE=Tetsmega;46896055]Aren't you supposed to be driving at a speed where you can stop when needed?[/QUOTE] Very hard to judge when visibility is so low and the road is so bad. Definitely you are supposed to err on the side of caution, but there are other drivers who don't and they can just fuck you without warning. [editline]9th January 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Tone Float;46896044]After the first fucking forty cars you'd think someone would go uproad and wave their arms or something to tell people to slow down.[/QUOTE] easier said than done, and also horribly unsafe. After you get in an accident you must either stay in your vehicle or make your way off the road, which ever is least dangerous.

[QUOTE=Tone Float;46896044]After the first fucking forty cars you'd think someone would go uproad and wave their arms or something to tell people to slow down.[/QUOTE] People were driving into stopped cars. I doubt a person in the side lane would be very safe.

That's insane. Completely reminds me of this. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfDLkem6iEs[/media] Only... you know, with snow. Makes my palms sweaty just thinking about getting caught in that.

The most amazing part was just the sound of it. Often due to so many movies with their sound design, hearing a real crash is just stranger and more impactful than something made by an artist. Hearing the semi slide into another was incredible.

That video hurt to watch knowing those vehicles were going to slam into each other, one after another.

I just can't believe how fast some of those cars/trucks were going in this weather condition! It rarely ever snows here and when it does everyone drives at like 15km/h

Holy fucking shit, I live just a little ways from there. I knew the roads were bad, but I didn't know they were THAT bad. The weather here's been really, really shitty over the past few days. It's been slow going and hard work for me, being a delivery driver out here. Even when you're going at a safe speed, the roads can still be impossible to stop on, and the other drivers around you being irresponsible only compound the danger (and in my experience, that means [I]most[/I] of the other drivers). Thank God I didn't have to go anywhere yesterday.

[QUOTE=>VLN<;46895980] Why are they all going so fast?[/quote] [i]Hurrduur it's a freeway I gotta go fast[/i]. It's a large part of why I don't go near the interstate in icy conditions. Too many people have the mindset of 'freeway = fast' and never break from that. I can handle a snowy freeway fine, but far too many people around me have no idea and will run into me doing damn near freeway speeds for me to feel safe going anywhere near an on-ramp in wintry weather. [quote] And why couldn't they see[/quote] They saw 'em just fine. There's just no way they were ever gonna burn off all that speed quickly enough. They were being stupid and going way too fucking fast. Not even a rally car on studded race-spec snow tires could have stopped in time at the speeds most of them were going. A street car on all-season tires didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. [quote] or hear the crashes up ahead? [/quote] Modern cars are deprivation tanks for outside sounds. If it doesn't happen within 100 feet of the car chances are the occupants won't hear it.

[QUOTE=>VLN<;46895980]Oh my God. That video is surreal. I didn't realize somebody actually filmed the wrecks piling up. Why are they all going so fast? And why couldn't they see or hear the crashes up ahead? In the video, you can see for a pretty good distance. Amazing only one person was killed.[/QUOTE] Visibility is probably <.25 mile and going 45+ mph that's not enough time to even slow down on that kind of ice.

Holy fucking shit, my mind is going in all directions from this, in one way I think the whole thing looked weirdly comedic just watching all those vehicles slam into each others, like some really cruel physics tech demo and does nobody have winter tires or those chain things you put on your wheels in case of these sort of road conditions and why didnt anybody get out of their car and go up the road and wave at people - in another way it was fucking tragic just hearing all the people in the background including that kid who was crying "mommy" and all in all it was just fucking terrifying. What we know now is basically one man died at the scene, we don't know how many are injured or how badly they are injured and there is the possibility that more will die or end up in a coma or with severely debilitating injuries for life. Shit man that's horrible. Too horrible. Hope no one else dies.

[QUOTE=NeverGoWest;46896241]does nobody have winter tires[/quote] Nope. Most people drive around on All-Season tires, mostly because a set of All-Seasons will last 4-6 years between changes. Tires are expensive, rims even moreso, most people can't justify spending $800 on a set of wheels and tires they'll use maybe one week out of the year at most. On top of that you'd be terrified if you knew just how few people knew how to change a tire on their car in America. It's a pretty sad state of affairs and stems mostly from how we treat driving licenses like a right. It's even worse in southern states, like TN where I live. Here we can go 3 or 4 years without a single flake sticking to a bridge, then suddenly it's a goddamn blizzard out there. Catches so many people out that the smartest thing any southerner can do is just not drive at all. Thankfully down here itt'l all melt off within 3-4 days, you can just pull some vacation or sick days and not bother with the clusterfuck. [quote] or those chain things you put on your wheels in case of these sort of road conditions[/quote] Snow chains are a great idea. They also cost money and get forgotten because they won't see use for 10 months out of the year. [quote] and why didnt anybody get out of their car and go up the road and wave at people[/quote] BEcause then they'd just get run over themselves. And ignored.

[QUOTE=NeverGoWest;46896241]Holy fucking shit, my mind is going in all directions from this, in one way I think the whole thing looked weirdly comedic just watching all those vehicles slam into each others, like some really cruel physics tech demo and does nobody have winter tires or those chain things you put on your wheels in case of these sort of road conditions and why didnt anybody get out of their car and go up the road and wave at people - in another way it was fucking tragic just hearing all the people in the background including that kid who was crying "mommy" and all in all it was just fucking terrifying. What we know now is basically one man died at the scene, we don't know how many are injured or how badly they are injured and there is the possibility that more will die or end up in a coma or with severely debilitating injuries for life. Shit man that's horrible. Too horrible. Hope no one else dies.[/QUOTE] Like TestE said, in the United States, very rarely will you see winter tires. It's generally radial only. [editline]10th January 2015[/editline] It's actually illegal to use them in most states.