Another massive 50+ vehicle accident has happened again this winter!

[imanamerican63]

The second one in 3 days of each other! Last Friday near Beloit Wisconsin and this morning between Laramie and Rawlins Wyo. and a few weeks ago, two other 50 vehicle pileups in Michigan and on the Ohio Turnpike.

As a truck driver for 40 over years, it seems here in the last fifteenth years, there are more and more of these accidents occurring. I have no idea way, but the weather is usually the main reason. No one slows down. That goes for the 4 wheelers and the semi driver. Too many lives are lost and it’s what causes most of our insurance prices to go up.


Please slow down when in adverse weather conditions! It’s your family that you could be saving and if it’s the proper thing to do? Find a safe place to wait out the storm!

[Walleye]

1. This is because people feel like they have to drive as close as they can to the car in front of the

Sometimes it’s just a bad habit, sometimes it’s actually bullying behavior, either way it doesn’t get the driver there any faster. And it’s very dangerous. We were taught one car length for every 10 mph should be the distance between you and your next car. They taught that in driver’s ed I don’t know if they even do that anymore. And I know sometimes accidents are unavoidable because of the weather

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. 2 seconds minimum following distance, 3 is better.

[stopdiggin]

7. which is a hell of a lot further back

than a lot of people would judge.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

9. Yet it is so easy to do

Pick something the vehicle ahead of you passes as a marker, count 'one thousand one, one thousand two', and if you've reached the marker by then, back off a bit.

Back bumper sticker: The car is cheap but the lawyer is REALLY good.

[maxrandb]

27. In snow and ice and rain, that needs to be increased to 8-10 seconds

I am sorry to make this political, but it just might be.

One of our major political parties has become infested with folks who just don't give a shit. It's main party platform is "Fuck you, I got mine", with a large dose of "rules don't apply to me".

That attitude permeates society from drivers, to store clerks, to pharmacists, to co-workers, to family and friends.

Slow the hell down in bad weather. The posted speed limits are for ideal driving conditions.

When I was stationed in Lemoore, CA, every Tulle Fog season, there would be at least one massive pileup somewhere in the San Quacin Valley.

For those that have never experienced it, I am talking fog so thick you couldn't even see your hand if it was 3 inches from your face. We used to have to stop at intersections, roll down the window, and rely on sound and smell, because you couldn't see a frickin thing.

[OAITW r.2.0]

15. In heavy snow/rain conditions, it's human nature to want to maintain visibility with the car

in front of you. Even if it means traveling at an unsafe higher speed. The problem with that logic is you can easily follow that car off the road.

[stopdiggin]

22. if you're travelling in conditions where all you can see

are taillights ... (and I've been there!) You're in a very dicey situation already. If there are other options (like leaving the roadway) they should be considered.

Not lecturing. I F-ing hate white knuckle driving. Hope to never be in that position again.

[OAITW r.2.0]

31. No question this situation is dicey as hell.

But I think this is how 50 car pile ups happen....

[hurple]

2. 70mph and higher freeway speed limits don't help

And likely have a lot to do with the rise in crashes.

[LisaM]

3. Yes, they need to slow it down.

It's better for the environment too.

[a kennedy]

23. Got that right, we're 70MPH and everyone does OVER that.

[global1]

4. Ever Since Covid People Began Driving Reckless....

they are more reckless now than ever.

It's scary out there on the expressways and streets of this country even in good weather now.

[moniss]

8. Right you are

and even on city streets it is noticeable the increase in speeding, reckless driving, impatient people speeding around each other etc. Some of this is also the influence of aftermarket performance parts manufacturers showing people in their constant advertising all modified up and aggressive driving around corners, weaving in and out of traffic etc. The car companies themselves are also guilty. It has encouraged people to always push to the limit and that is in keeping with the general ad push in culture anymore. Exercise to the limit, party to the limit, stock trade to the limit, buy a house to the max limit of barely making payments, all kinds/frequency of vacations etc. and the list goes on and on and rampant consumerism goes along without a care or responsibility on the part of those pushing all of this.

[Mopar151]

10. Old racer here...

You know what we talk about at the races? How f'n crazy it is on the street! Once you learn how to drive REALLY fast, "social driving" ain't where you get your yaya's out!
My friend says it well: " Im driving to work. I look over at the lights, and they're mad as hell, scared to death, or f'n texting!"

[moniss]

11. Right on the money

and it is similar to a conversation I had recently. A guy was talking about having put bigger brakes and aftermarket sway bars on both the front and rear of his daily-driver pickup. He said "When I corner really hard I don't want to have any lean." I asked him if he ever thought of slowing down before a corner so the truck didn't lean and he just looked at me. He had no answer for why on a basic city street he felt the need to push his vehicle so hard around corners. But Mopar you and I know all the junkyards are full of overpowered/overly driven vehicles that were driven in a reckless manner by people who lack any real skills.

[Mopar151]

16. We call those cars "organ donors"!

Not that "Mario" s pickup should wallow like a hog, but you need a little lean for the suspension to work!

A bigger, stock front bar from the junkyard and some decent shocks would do for anyone sane! That, and avoiding cheapo tires - premium tires, bought used are way better.

[moniss]

19. Yes indeed

I see these guys all the time running around with the cheapest tires they could find (usually worn out), cheapest rotors and pads but they've got fancy wheels and a heavy foot. Along with at least one tail-light/brake-light/turn signal out and windshield wipers that haven't been changed in years.

[Ron Green]

6. If this hadn't become such a shithole country

we’d still have the network of passenger rail we had a hundred years ago.

Gee, with the technological advances since then, we probably could rival China.

[moniss]

12. Way back

in the '70's I took a course where we discussed energy/transportation alternatives as part of a larger course in environmental issues/history. The role that money/GM/bought and sold politicians etc. played in the destruction of passenger rail/urban rail was monumental. Looked at another way the money/profit/power game can be better understood and the destructive influence it continues to play.

As rail developed there was money spent by government and others and profits made. But after a certain point the profit stream changes to one of operational revenue minus maintenance etc. The large money from construction/equipment purchasing has by then mostly been made. So if you can change the system so that whole new huge outlays of cash are required then you have quick millions to be made. The politicians love it because nobody gets excited about them taking a picture next to 5 miles of track that had recent maintenance but if they are standing by 4 lanes of new concrete with construction trucks and hardhats now that is a sure vote-getter. So once again the intersection of money/greed/corporate power/power hungry politicians happened and not for the benefit of the average citizen.

[Ron Green]

25. That's an excellent point.

It’s not just the hyper-individuality of our culture, but also the fecklessness of our politicians.

[Tetrachloride]

13. I know the Wisconsin stretch of highway well.

the psychology of the road there encourages people to drive faster than average. oh look
at this straightaway.

[moniss]

20. That stretch is

maintained (I use the term loosely) by Rock County and this isn't the first time that their poor response during a snow event has caused this to happen. I remember many years ago when they backed off thinking the snow would end and they could take a breather and hit it in the morning. It didn't stop and the snow that had been somewhat slushy froze into deep bad ruts that night when the temperature dropped like a rock. It was nearly impassable for days. They had to bring out heavy loaders to try and knock down the ruts enough so that people could even drive. Finally the temperature came up and along with lots of chloride and plows running they finally got the road cleared. You may remember that one.

[Tetrachloride]

21. Dodge County was also slow on road construction

my dad said back in the 60s that he knows from the potholes etc that we had entered Dodge County.

It made me aware of the county differences

I was a Wisconsin Illinois delivery driver for a while. the entire stretch from north of Wisconsin Dells to Rockford kept me on yellow alert

[BigmanPigman]

14. Try driving in CA after a long, dry period.

The roads have dried up oil on them from months of no rain and then when it finally does rain the roads are extremely dangerous but everyone drives like a maniac. I am more afraid of the other drivers' lack of concern and skill than I am from the slick roadways themselves. People are self absorbed idiots and are becoming bigger idiots with each passing second. And what pisses me off even more is that when you slow down they speed right around you, no care in the world except for themselves and often without insurance. I live about 1 mile from 2 hospitals and when it rains I hear the sirens and the helicopters going to the hospitals for hours and hours.

[DFW]

17. Here in Germany, a 50 car accident barely makes the headlines

Germans don‘t slow down for ANYTHING. Certainly not snow, ice or thick fog.

If there aren‘t at least 75 cars involved in an Autobahn pile-up, it‘s barely newsworthy.

[hlthe2b]

18. Ohh, that stretch of I-80 across WY is notorious--one of the most treacherous in winter in the US

It was laid out all those years ago fully knowing that there were alternatives that would be less susceptible but politics entered in. Those winds. I shudder at past attempts on that highway. Quite often better south on I-70 across the CO mountains, when those WY high winds come up (and with proper chains or 4WD with the best snow tires).

[a kennedy]

24. I just dread driving now.......used to enjoy it now, HATE it.

[Wednesdays]

26. And if the conditions are bad, STAY HOME!

If you can possibly do without that trip, or at least postpone it, do so!

[Mysterian]

28. The problem is too many stupid people

The USA has a lot of them.

[fromVT]

29. Rise of 4WD/AWD

People with 4WD/AWD feel invincible driving in the snow and ice... and they're often the ones you see that have slid off the road.

Those with beater cars and (close to) bald tires drive slow and do OK.

[Prairie_Seagull]

30. In shit weather of any type, DON'T USE CRUISE CONTROL.

Before I learned this, i was nearly in multiple accidents. Weather= active participant driving.

As Malaise says,

That is all.

[IbogaProject]

32. I blame SuperMarioCart a popular video game

It incentivizes dangerous driving and even vehicle collisions, so it normalized close calls. I think that game which has been around since the 90s has caused the use of turn signals to decline as surprise moves are rewarded in that game I believe. I'm an early Gen X so I grew up with video games and am conversant in the game culture all along, but not in the way of the ones any younger than me learned to drive from a game like Super Mario Cart.