Massive pile-up on I-75

[Doug]

Authorities are saying smoke from an act of arson may be to blame for a huge pile-up south of Gainesville that killed 10 people early Sunday morning:

http://gma.yahoo.com/arson-may-cause...-abc-news.html

They say that smoke and fog are the most deadly causes of traffic accidents in Florida, and suggest that when conditions are poor, drive slowly and listen for sounds of screeching tires...

[Matt Meltzer]

I heard the 911 calls on the news this morning. Shit sounds scary. Like imagine you're just driving up I-75 and cruising along and all of a sudden - SMASH - you're head on with a crashed tractor trailer. I know that section of 75 all too well, the last straightaway before you get to Gainesville. Sad story.

[Doug]

It must have been around Payne's Prairie?

[Matt Meltzer]

Yep. Right on that stretch before you get to the first Gainesville exit. Big brush fire in there combined with fog made for no visibility.

[GandJ]

What I still don't understand is why would people be driving at full highway speed if the visibility is zero? If you're approaching a fog bank / smoke bank ahead, you would see it up ahead of you before you get to it. You should slow down before you get to it while you still have visibility.


Then again, rethinking this, maybe 80% actually did slow down, and maybe that's why "only" 20 vehicles crashed instead of a possible 100? Who knows .....??

On a highway like that, it wouldn't tke long for 100 vehicles to get to the smoke area.


Glenn

[Doug]

I guess in those conditions, you're not only worried about what's in front of you, but who's coming up behind you. And as I recall, people on the 75 have a tendency to tailgate.

[Matt Meltzer]

Yeah and even if you're going, like, 45 miles an hour stuff can come up quick. Maybe not fatally quick, but quick nonetheless.