Freak interstate "Accident" in FL

Freak interstate "Accident" in FL

www.msnbc.msn.com

"You could hear cars hitting each other. People were crying. People were screaming. It was crazy," he said. "If I could give you an idea of what it looked like, I would say it looked like the end of world."
He said cars and trucks were on fire and they could hear explosions as the vehicles burned.
"It was happening on both sides of the road, so there was nowhere to go. It blew my mind," he said. "It was like a war zone. It literally looked like someone was picking up cars and throwing them."

(visit the link for the full news article)

I dont care what the rest of the report says: that line quoted from someone who was there AND involved says all I need to hear.

"It literally looked like someone was picking up cars and throwing them."

That, to me, is a very, solid, accurate description. How does one conclude with a statement such as that, short of actually witnessing the event upon which was described!?!?!



To back up that claim; a paragraph at the botton of the article explains how this event has happened before in 2008 but much worse.

"Heavy fog and smoke were blamed for a deadly string of accidents four years ago. In January 2008, four people were killed and 38 injured in similar crashes on Interstate 4 between Orlando and Tampa, about 125 miles south of Sunday's crash. More than 70 vehicles were involved in those crashes, caused by fog and smoke including one pile-up that involved 40 vehicles."


So what am I saying?

Nothing.
Only that the entire event has 'sketchy' written all over it...and deserves a ponder...

My 2c


ThatGuy45

www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I saw this story, horrific. The man describing it; well it makes you feel you are there. There are more of these happening it seems, I am remembering the one in Arizona caused by the dust storm. Gives you shivers for sure.

Originally posted by ThatGuy45

"It literally looked like someone was picking up cars and throwing them."

www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

edit on 29/1/12 by ThatGuy45 because: edit to clean up

I have heard people say things like that when they are surveying the results of a terrible accident. It looks like somebody had thrown the vehicles/debris around.

And fog can cause terrible accidents on highways. If you can't see the pileup before you can'y effectively slow down from around 70 mph (when I drove in Florida people got pissed if you went less than 80) and then you join the pileup. I think that this incident can be adequately explained by fog.

Thats crazy, yeah that quote and that it was like the end of the world stood out to me as well.

Heavy fog and smoke and idiots driving 70+MPH.
If they weren't going so fast they could have seen that there was trouble ahead. A vehicle on fire is hard to hide.
This is not a freak accident, but it sure was caused by freaks.

Originally posted by ThatGuy45

I dont care what the rest of the report says:


So what am I saying?

Nothing.

I think that about sums everything up here.

Its a freak series of accidents on what is historically a bad stretch of road.
Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

Don't make this a conspiracy please.... accidents happen, and the mixture of fog and smoke would be enough that ignorant drivers would barrel headlong into it.... People do it all the time, though the only time you actually hear about it is when someone gets hurt or killed.

OMG I cannot believe they are using the swamp gas explanation again literally!

The Florida Highway Patrol had closed the highway briefly earlier overnight because of a mixture of fog and smoke from a marsh fire in the Paynes Prairie area south of Gainesville.

I live in this area - that stretch of I-75 dips down into the Praire - it is like a huge bowl. Smoke from a marsh fire on the south side of this bowl created zero visability. This horrific event - will leave a considerable mark on this area. My heart goes out to the families and friends of those lost in today's accident as well as all the Law Enforcement Agencies and First Responders who dealt with something today that they "have never seen as bad" as in entire careers. I know for a fact this incident has taken a toll on our local community here in Gainesville. This event will leave a mark of trauma on anyone who was at the scene today.

reply to post by OhZone




Apparently, you have never driven in Florida's famous fog/smoke. I've seen it so thick, that you can't see your own hood ornament.

Yes, that stretch of highway is known for traffic problems. It's called Payne's Prarie and it's several miles long in a straight low-lying stretch of nothing. The wind pattern effect is rather odd because of the terrain. It's just a big channel carved out of the countryside.

The fog/smoke occurs when temps are just right, and we have an unchecked brush or muck-fire going on.

This one happened when I was working rotation for FHP, back in 2000. It was the worst fog/smoke I had ever seen.

articles.orlandosentinel.com...

Originally posted by youdidntseeme

Originally posted by ThatGuy45

I dont care what the rest of the report says:


So what am I saying?

Nothing.

I think that about sums everything up here.

Its a freak series of accidents on what is historically a bad stretch of road.
Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

However,

"He said cars and trucks were on fire and they could hear explosions as the vehicles burned."

The description was a war zone. I can say I have never, in all of the accidents I have witnessed, said that they looked like a war zone. And again, that statement is open to speculation as we could argue that i have not 'witnessed' a horrific enough situation... Now granted this could very well be a young, inexperienced individual whose descriptors are more vivid than necessary; But after reading the entire article, I just had a sense of... well that something was off/odd about the entire situation.

So all opinions appreciated, just stating my own.


ThatGuy45

reply to post by ThatGuy45


So you are saying your mental image of an accident you have not seen is more clear and acute than an actual witness?

reply to post by ThatGuy45


I have lived in South Florida for about 16 years and I have seen 4 instances of mind-blowing accidents:
Three were on city streets and the last on I-95. Three of them were cars literally upside down on the street (two inside city limits and one on I-95), and one was a car hanging over a canal bridge like some action movie.

Suffice to say a lot of people in FL drive like psychos. A ten car pile-up, while rare, doesn't surprise me in the least.

We get yearly smoke banks from various fires including the deliberate burning of cane fields and it can cause all sorts of havoc. The smoke seems to hug the ground in a lot of cases so I can see how this kind of thing could happen. It doesn't excuse people from acting like morons and driving too fast in situations that merit a little common sense but common sense seems lacking in a lot of places these days.

Originally posted by ThatGuy45

Originally posted by youdidntseeme

Originally posted by ThatGuy45

I dont care what the rest of the report says:


So what am I saying?

Nothing.

I think that about sums everything up here.

Its a freak series of accidents on what is historically a bad stretch of road.
Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

However,

"He said cars and trucks were on fire and they could hear explosions as the vehicles burned."

The description was a war zone. I can say I have never, in all of the accidents I have witnessed, said that they looked like a war zone. And again, that statement is open to speculation as we could argue that i have not 'witnessed' a horrific enough situation... Now granted this could very well be a young, inexperienced individual whose descriptors are more vivid than necessary; But after reading the entire article, I just had a sense of... well that something was off/odd about the entire situation.

So all opinions appreciated, just stating my own.


ThatGuy45

I happen to know from an inside source that one of the commercial vehicles was transporting ammunition. This may explain why it sounded like a war zone.

The one time I have driven in Florida I was traveling at around 75-80 mph, when out of nowhere 3 bikers zoomed by swerving between cars and popping wheelies whenever they could. The had to have been going at least 90. I understand the rush and how fun it might seem to amaze yourself with your skill and control, but most of the time you only end up amazing yourself with how quickly things go wrong.

Definitely some crazy drivers in FL, couple that with low visibility and crashes are almost inevitable. That being said you have to feel for anyone who was injured in this accident. I just hope people actually learn from incidents like this.

reply to post by GoOfYFoOt


I live in Florida and have driven in Fog thick enough that beyond the edge of the right of way very little could be seen and I watched the fuzzy image of the car ahead very carefully..
I didn't drive 70+ MPH.
If ever it was so bad that the hood ornament could not be seen, don't you think that any sane person would not proceed? If it was That bad wouldn't people be running off the road? Isn't that the same thing as putting a blind person behind the wheel?

I really have to wonder why there was not an alert as to the road conditions here.
Surely someone must have reported it earlier.