Posted on 01/11/2015 5:20:25 AM PST by CHICAGOFARMER
WATCH SCARY 150 CAR PILE UP VIDEO BATTLE CREEK MICHIGAN
One reason is cars were much heavier back then and could stop faster...and of course people had snow tires on their vehicles as well...
You could make n interesting analogy with football player and drivers...
When you load a high school athlete on the football field with body armor helmets etc., it only prevents serious injuries for a little while. After the players become accustom to their new supper human powers, they just run faster and hit each other harder and the gains are gone.
Same thing with drivers. Put all kinds of safety equipment in a car; antilock brakes, airbags etc., and over time drivers will respond by modifying their driving habits. Driving faster, following too close and overall riskier driving.
Perhaps it’s not a one to one correlation, but it’s there...
There was a similar wreck in Red Hampshire last week; although it only involved 35 cars. People need to slow the **** down and they need to quit tailgating. I see lintheads hauling *ss all the time on the interstate under less than ideal conditions; then this happens. I tell my wife to do her best to stay back from other vehicles this time of year.
Huh? Cars are much heavier today than they were 20 years ago.
Back in the early 80's a pretty nasty ice storm hit HOU, and Ship Channel Bridge became an ice rink for several dozen cars Like I said earlier, we get this about every 40 years, and that is why I am glad I live in the south, or more specific, my part of the south.
Officially up to 193 vehicles now 76 were semis.
Back in the 60’s, when we lived in Michigan, we drove big cars with aggressive studs and treads. We drove at sane speeds. We NEVER had a snow related accident.
“20 years ago such accidents were fairly rare in the north.”
You mean when they were still allowed to use road salt?
That depends on make, model.
I looked at a 1990 and 2010 F-150 4 x 2 curb weight...
2010 model was almost 900 lbs lighter...
A 2010 Ford Taurus was heavier than a 1990...
“Traction control and 4 wheel drive aren’t magic.”
They’ve documented that people drive faster in dangerous conditions, knowing that they have safety devices, like Anti-Lock Brakes. There may have been some improvement with these safety systems, but not nearly as much as expected.
“The early warning system is gone.”
Yes, but the technology is WAY ADVANCED now. It doesn’t take much for a cell phone tower to see a build-up of stationary pings in a location that otherwise shouldn’t have it, or even just a stopped car up ahead...and perhaps warn on-coming drivers.
...and that’s just a start as to what could be done.
Road salt wouldn’t have made a bit of difference. There was just a tiny bit of snow on the road that made it slick but melted off by itself in a few minutes after the snow quit.
“Huh? Cars are much heavier today than they were 20 years ago.”
Probably a push, both regarding size and braking ability...especially on ice. About the only things that can noticeably help are studs and tire chains.
I’ve been in a white-out on I-75. What do you do? If you keep going with less than 50 foot visibility, you don’t know what you are going to run into. If you pull over and stop, you are asking to be part of an accident.
About all I could do was to pull to the right lane, slow to about 40 mph (from 70), turn on my flashers and hope everything worked out.
Maybe I got lucky, but we made it through.
“Road salt wouldn’t have made a bit of difference. There was just a tiny bit of snow on the road that made it slick but melted off by itself in a few minutes after the snow quit.”
Maybe you know more than me about this situation, but I’ve driven on snow and I’ve driven on ice - that certainly looked to be ice to me.
That’s all you can do till you find an exit.
Its rather drive worse side roads at a more appropriate speed and make it home.
Just a reminder folks, you can film a landscape scene by rotating the cell phone 90°...
I don’t watch vertical videos. How hard is it to hold the camera correctly?
Brilliant!
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