1-80 Wyoming Massive Car Pile Up

a reply to: Chadwickus

Yep. They claim it's a distraction. Truckers are targeted here in a huge way, so I'm not surprised that they've started to.

a reply to: Zaphod58

OK. That's Wyoming. It's not pulling Elk Mountain, it's the tops of these you have to watch. Just warm enough from the sun to melt on the asphalt but the wind brings the below freezing light snow on the road, hits the moisture and promptly turns to ice.

Maybe just a mile or two.....Rookies....well, not any more...

Wth??

Does anyone remember that old game Lemmings? I felt like that is exactly what I was watching. That was horrific and I am amazed that nobody died.

Geez...

a reply to: nwtrucker

Elk Mountain doesn't get a lot of ice on the road just because all winter its home to the 60+ mph winds. Rain and snow parallel the ground without touching it. Heh.

I hate that damn stretch.

a reply to: Chadwickus

I know some single lane bridges on the Cassiar Highway but it's been about 5 years since I've been up that way. 3-4 trailor units? Really? Where is that?

a reply to: Zaphod58 Oh, the top does, LOL. Believe me. Usually on a sunny day. Air temp around or just above freezing. The sun hits that black asphalt, melts what was there and then the wind blows the little stuff right over the melted wet part. Instant refreeze... It catches them by surprise, snub their brakes and away they go.....

a reply to: nwtrucker

Australian road trains. They'll pull three or four 53 foot trailers.

a reply to: nwtrucker

STRAYA MATE lol

Yeah Australia, most highways north of the Tropic Of Capricorn have single lane bridges

a reply to: nwtrucker

Oh I know. I've been that way a lot. I went through on a Thursday one trip, and back through on Saturday. The only difference in forecast, including wind speed, was that Thursday called for ice, Saturday didn't.

a reply to: Chadwickus

Oh, OK. The Cassiar highway is in Northern British Columbia, it's a 'short cut' on the Alaskan Highway route.

The '2 ways' are short wave radios. Not legal but 'permitted'. They have better range- as long as there's a straight line transmission, mountains block their signal- than CBs.

We generally sing out on the radio as we approach those one lane 'bridges' letting anyone know on the other side- both are steep grades down- that we're coming so back out of it...

An interesting run in the winter...no pile-ups like this one of course.

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

Due to the ice, there's not a lot of traction, so when you do get hit the impact is lessened by the give that icy conditions cause.

When I was running Alaska, a guy fell asleep in a car during an ice storm, came across the two-lane highway and head-on'd with a Pete'. He wasn't even injured!

The truck was an '07 signature edition that took 6 months to fix-they wouldn't 'total' it due to it's cost- and I was the first driver to get that truck once repaired...

What really sucks for these drivers and companies is that if WyDOT had No Light Trailer signs up, the state won't pay a dime to clean up the fuel or hazmat spilled by the trucks. If they're an independent driver, either they or their insurance will have to pay for cleanup.

Its good to have a video of this pileup, but couldn't this guy have put down the camera, and try to warn the oncoming traffic of the pending disaster?

Lives could so easily have been lost there, but hey, it's a great Youtube vid.

a reply to: WhoDat09

A lot of truckers drive way to fast for conditions. I've been in snow storms on highways many of times with low visibility and these truckers pass you while cars are doing 10 mph. They throw up snow and slush and make visibility more treacherous for drivers. The trucks are barreling down the highway like battering rams. It seems like some of them think they're trucks are not prone to sliding in bad weather and can stop on a dime.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: AreUKiddingMe

What CB? No one has them or uses them anymore. I'll go an entire shift and hear four drivers.

I watch just as many old times go blazing through similar conditions. I'll slow down, and when I do hear something on the CB it's usually saying get the hell out of their way. Bull haulers especially.

Wouldn't have your ears on, driving in inclement weather like that? Wouldn't you have shouted out a heavy break check even if you expected that not too many were listening? There should have been some chatter I would think, especially after the first few reached the 42.

a reply to: Bilk22

Read that first part again. There aren't many left out here. I've tried for twenty miles to get an answer before and not gotten a peep out of it.

a reply to: Bilk22

Your correct in that I'd also have my radio on in bad weather. Zaphod is also correct in there may not be a response or comment at all.

a reply to: Zaphod58

It seems to me that the use of CB's would help prevent incidents like this.

I gained an elevated respect for truckers after watching a group of trucks surround an Ok state patrol car for about 40 miles on North 69 back in 2008. It was fairly interesting. Were CB's used back in 2008?

My absolute favorite road in the U.S is 287 from Laramie down to Boulder. I can certainly see however why truckers may not appreciate the beauty of the drive.

a reply to: WeRpeons

It's hard to generalize on weather conditions and truck speed. In many conditions '4 wheelers' go too slow!

Especially with big trucks, too slow means cold rubber and not enough momentum to avoid loss of traction.

In certain conditions, ie, good visibility, yet slippery due to ice or snow, faster is better (within limits). Cars go 'slow' so as to be able to stop. An experienced trucker needs momentum or he loses traction. He knows stopping isn't an option. He therefore will steer around an object-or a stopped vehicle- rather than move too slow.

It approaches an art form. LOL. I will give you an actual example that I saw more than once. Going around a well banked curve too slow and if it's slick enough, the vehicle will slide down that bank due to gravity and end up in the ditch. Yet with just the right amount of speed, that same vehicle with the centrifugal force now available, counters the gravity and makes it around that curve!

I've watched Greyhound buses run 70 MPH on the Al-Can on solid ice- almost no traffic- then one stopped and thumped his tires. The thump cause the bus to slide sideways off the highway and into the ditch! Yet he ran hundreds of miles in the same conditions at 70 with no problems...

What this video shows is a very rare occurrence and I'm not excusing the drivers.

A good trucker drives much closer to the 'edge' than an average driver. He has certain advantages that cars do not. He also has disadvantages. He also has knowledge that you do not.

Most average drivers would be stunned at the amount of driving information they don't know!

Bottom line, these guys were taking the option of least consequence. Nowhere to pull off, no ability to stop, therefore steer around a problem, too slow results in loss of traction- a stunning concept for most-and the chance of being rear-ended. (as this video shows.)

They lost their last option by having both lanes blocked. it is their fault/responsibility.

In all honesty, I would probably have been driving similarly. The difference is I would have deliberately gone into the median trying to keep the truck upright thus avoiding a collision and getting towed out after the mess was cleaned up.

I could go on and on about that road, no exits for miles, exits tend to be worse than the road itself due to lack of use and the heat provided by vehicle tires and engine heat....so on.

Glad I wasn't there...

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