Why is this happening ???

That's a terrible seen. Hope everyone is OK. Any members injured by this? Hopefully not many more injuries are discovered

 

Your very right we probably all have done something stupid while driving and luckily got
away without a major accident.

Years back when we had our Mr2 I had a guy trying to get me to race againt his thunderbird. Roads were not good snow covered and patches of black ice. It didn't end very well one poor innocent
Lady just about lost her life. The guy decided to pass on the crest of a hill there were five cars involved only two connecting the rest of us in the ditch. It sheared her car wide open could hardly tell what kind of car it was she ended up with only scratchs from the glass very very lucky.

So yes I agree 100% driving is one of the most dangerous things most of us do on a daily basis. One persons stupidity or very poor judgment can end up pretty tragic for themselves and other innocent people.

 

The you tube videos that are up on this are insane. A FedEx truck sent a white Chevy damn near to the top of another semi. Freaken nuts.

 

Evidently you didn’t research this particular situation well. It was absolutely weather related. Between the ice, the upward hill and downward hill there was no avoiding it. They could’ve been doing 10 mph and this would’ve still happened. It was a perfect storm of unfortunate events that caused this with weather being the #1 culprit.

 

It’s all down to personal responsibility.

 

Yep. I drove the Coquihalla a few winters ago through a blizzard. Near white out, 30 yards of visibility, icy, howling wind, drifting snow, the works. I was in 4x4, with studded winter tires, doing about 50km/h in the right lane and still sliding around. I was getting passed by people doing 120+ at least. Lunatics.

 

13 vehicle pile up being reported outside of NW Houston this morning.
Not many details yet but suspect many of the same factors at fault.

 

It's a collision, not an accident.

 

A lot of people FROM up North move down here thinking they know how to drive on snow and ice. They're shocked when the find out we have a grand total of zero snow plows, don't salt every square inch of roadway (sand and sometimes a chemical spray is used on overpasses and an occasional intersection) and that the ground and air temperature are perfect for forming black ice. When black ice forms, the natives that don't know how to drive on ice, and the transplants that only think they know how to drive on ice, get into trouble. Usually, the cars involved slide off the road. In this case, the construction barricades on the highway locked everyone into a couple of lanes with no way out. Once the first vehicle wrecked, the rest had no place to go, and no way to slow down in time. The best way to drive on the ice in Texas is simply don't. If you must, use chains, don't drive a pickup (no rear traction unless it's heavily loaded), avoid the highway until it thaws, and drive slowly.

I posted this a while ago, it illustrated my point pretty well.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/10-tips-for-driving-in-the-snow.10107/page-2#post-167190

 

Black Ice and not the air freshener.

 

It's an accident unless they did it on purpose.

 

To me, accident implies it couldn't have been prevented. If everyone was driving to the conditions, they all would have been fine.

 

and several someones driving way too fast for the conditions running right up their backside. They all were and some of them should be prosecuted for manslaughter.

 

Same. I've also had big rigs tailgate me so close I can barely see their headlights. And no, I didn't cut them off and they could have simply passed me. There are many bad truck drivers. I used to have to manage them in a previous job.

 

Because we haven’t engineered the nut behind the wheel completely out of the design yet, that’s why.

 

Ice is a killer man. I am so incredibly cautious when driving during the winter. I get passed every damn day by little cars. Some people drive so fast it’s ridiculous.I will do everything in my power to stay safe on the road. I’ve also grown up in MN and understand how fast things can change when you hit a slick spot, awful feeling. Lots of people down south probably don’t understand, well most people up north don’t either. Or just think they are invincible or something

 

Makes me glad AZ doesn’t mess around when it comes to closing I-40 during big winter storms. I’m sure it makes a lot of people angry they have to delay their travel but at least they make it alive.

 

The problem is that car manufacturers load up cars with all kinds of gadgets that give drivers a false sense of security. Many think they can drive the same in any condition. It's those people who put those of us who try to drive appropriately in harms way.
There's also all those entertainment centers and HVAC controls in the the dash that are so complicated and are a big distraction while you need to drive. There are so many settings and buttons that have to be set just right or you'll spend precious time being distracted from keeping your eyes on the road when you should be safely driving. And then there's those damn smart phones.
I don't need all that crap and would be perfectly happy driving a car that with basic gauges, a simple radio and heater/AC controls just like my '56 Ford does.

 

I listened to a really interesting podcast that this reminds me of. They talked about how football players have better safety equipment than ever, yet injuries are more common and worse. It turns out when you think you are safer you get careless, and in some cases the safety equipment becomes a weapon. Putting your head down and charging for example to use your helmet as a battering ram, nobody did that when football players wore a leather skin on their head.

One professor on that show likened it to car safety and how we become so carelessly now that we have things like airbags and crumple zones. Its an interesting behavior.

 

i've driven the 401 (and 403) many many times. i was usually headed to mississauga, cambridge, kitchner, hamilton or burlington. flying is an understatement. it's insanity.

 

A lot of people that move down there from up North apparently do not know how to drive in snowy and icy conditions . That’s probably why they moved down there to get away from it .

 

Absolutely correct! My small town in upstate NY has more plow trucks than the entire state of Georgia. It’s just a completely different ball game down there. There is just nothing you can do about ice and especially black ice.

It’s very sad these situations happen. And like you said pickups are some of the worst vehicles. Every October I add about 450lbs of sand bags or cement bags to the truck and one of the reasons I run a cap. The weight helps in snowy conditions. Nothing helps on ice

 

Similar in a winter weather driving related kind of way.

https://www.ntd.com/plane-slides-off-taxiway-at-pittsburgh-airport-no-injuries_566021.html

 

It’s true. I much rather take my wife’s outback on crappy roads than my truck. Smaller but feels much more stable

 

Ice and "I'm the best driver and don't need to take it easy" attitudes.

 

This ^ plus most drivers have little to no situational awareness, they are in a safe bubble and they are wearing blinders. They are numb to what is happening around them.

 

Texas drivers, ice, and IH-35 don’t mix.

 

Ok.
You 2 are correct..
I don't know anything about professionally driving, including the very road this happened on, for the last 35 of my 58 years..
I know nothing..

 

No, you are wrong...
@Cpl_Punishment and @The Patriot 1776 have determined that this collision was 100% the fault of the weather.
Nothing on God's green earth could have prevented it....

No one was going too fast, no one wasn't paying attention, no one is at fault.
It is completely and undeniably due to precipitation falling from the sky and sub zero temps..
The cause is solved..
These 2 just saved the lawyers and the courts a lot of time and money..

So who are all these people going to sue?
The companies with the biggest pockets, (TXDOT, City of Ft Worth, FedEx, JB Hunt, Coca-Cola, etc..) that's who...

 

Around my area dump truck drivers are the biggest cock heads. In traffic they will weave in and out to get ahead of every single last car they can. But I can live with that one. What really bothers me is the uncovered cargo and rocks spewing out of their back end as if a little kid was just back there throwing handfuls out. “Stay back 350 ft” Yea fucking right. Biggest load of shit I’ve ever seen going down the highway.

Insurance too. Wreck your car? Screw it insurance will get me another!

The punishment for bad driving just isn’t strict enough. That’s assuming it even gets enforced.

There was a time I got followed home because I stopped at a series of stop signs. I have video of the guy behind me just blowing right through all of them without even considering touching his brakes. Out of curiosity I called the local PD non emergency line later and asked because the guy threatened me and my family. Their solution? Just speed up. No punishment. Just tell the civilized drivers to break laws. Ever since I’ve slowly rolled through all stop signs in my city, assuming it’s clear.