3 dead, 23+ injured in I-94 40+ car pile up

[Midniteoyl]

White out conditions and heavy winds jack knife a semi starting the chain reaction...

Crews work to clear Indiana pile-up: 'There's just so much destruction' - chicagotribune.com

 

[deezler]

Yikes. I was watching that narrow band of lake-effect snow squall on the radar last night. Driving between Kalamazoo and Chicago in the winter, you always find some nasty stretch of treacherous road conditions.

I-94 in west Michigan also has "pavement test zones" where they alternate the paving surface for no good reason. Can go from fine to ICE just like that. Ugh.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Some of those cars and semis were really bad.. Wonder what the speed was when it started?

 

[3930dave]

On expressways, many people don't react proactively enough to diminished visibility. On an interstate, during the day - rarely does visibility drop instantly.

Random lake effect snow is one of the worst conditions, at least around here. It is not considered a major storm, so little is done for road maintenance. I still say we don't use enough sand here - not perfect, but you will get some traction on ice with sand.

It just takes one vehicle to spin... often it is somebody at the front of a pack who panics, and jams the brakes too hard.

Doesn't even take Winter conditions. One of the worst here was triggered by fog, in the early Fall on the 401 down towards Windsor.

Many people feel invincible in their vehicles. Sad news like this reminds us all how fragile life is.

Rgds, D.

 

[kevin37b]

Or drops their cellphone ?

 

[3930dave]

Or drops their cellphone ?

That's one reason I bought a good quality phone mount.

And.... everybody knows to leave the Cruise Control off in Winter - Right ?!

Rgds, D.

 

[Baby Grand]

That's one reason I bought a good quality phone mount.

And.... everybody knows to leave the Cruise Control off in Winter - Right ?!

Rgds, D.

... and in heavy rain.

 

[MossRoad]

I can tell you that a heavy band of lake effect snow came through South Bend, IN last night around 6pm and we got 6-8 inches of snow in about an hour and a half. One of my co-workers 6 miles west got closer to a foot in the same time period. My wife was out driving in it and had to stop. This is in town, going 5mph, not out on a highway. She said it was hard to see past the hood of the car and she'd never seen anything like it in 50+ years. And then it was over. I went out at 7:45 and there were stars and it was a pleasant evening. I don't think I've ever seen that much snow in that short of a time-span ever in my lifetime.

 

[Midniteoyl]

On expressways, many people don't react proactively enough to diminished visibility. On an interstate, during the day - rarely does visibility drop instantly.

Random lake effect snow is one of the worst conditions, at least around here. It is not considered a major storm, so little is done for road maintenance. I still say we don't use enough sand here - not perfect, but you will get some traction on ice with sand.

It just takes one vehicle to spin... often it is somebody at the front of a pack who panics, and jams the brakes too hard.

Doesn't even take Winter conditions. One of the worst here was triggered by fog, in the early Fall on the 401 down towards Windsor.

Many people feel invincible in their vehicles. Sad news like this reminds us all how fragile life is.

Rgds, D.

In this case, according to the car in front, a semi trailer started jack knifing prolly due to a wind gust (very, very windy) and at least 2 more semi's hit it starting the chain reaction.

And around here, visibility CAN go to zip in just a few seconds with wind whipped snow. Shoot, I had it happen with dirt and dust from a field one dry summer. Going 65mph and had to come to a stop and pull over very quickly as a gust came up suddenly. They dont call Chicago 'The windy city' for nothing

 

[PastTense]

It just takes one vehicle to spin... often it is somebody at the front of a pack who panics, and jams the brakes too hard.

Wrong; it takes the whole pack driving way too fast for conditions and following too closely.