Posted on 02/11/2021 11:16:05 AM PST by USA Conservative
A pileup just north of downtown Fort Worth has been deemed a “mass casualty event” by officials early Thursday morning.
The major crash was first reported around roughly 6 a.m., and the highway remains closed in that area as officials work to clear the scene. At least five people have died in the pileup, according to the Associated Press. Up to 100 cars were involved in the crashes. Police said dozens were hospitalized for treatment.
Fort Worth Fire Department spokesman Mike Drivdahl said authorities were going to each vehicle to assess medical needs after the “mass casualty incident” involving tractor-trailers and other vehicles on Interstate 35. The freeway will be closed all day “to remove vehicles one by one,” he said. The official cause of the crash has not been determined, as officials prepare for a lengthy investigation, but there were several reports of black ice earlier in the morning throughout North Texas. One of our readers in Texas sends us a video that shows how the massive pileup started.
Video below:
(video uploaded on the site)
Thirty-six people have been taken to hospitals with varying degrees of injuries, according to the spokesman. Authorities had to use the Jaws of Life to pry open vehicles and free those trapped inside them.
First responders said there are still some cars wedged underneath other vehicles, causing some of the uncertainty around how many causalities there are, but they added there are some fatalities still likely on the scene and it could take some time to reach the bodies.
A video from the aftermath of the pileup:
First responder teams sent 14 ambulances and an ambulance bus to the scene to provide onsite care. The crash was declared a “mass casualty” event. Officials said they had used the bus to keep victims from developing hypothermia as well.
>> What scares me is FOG.....even pulling off the road is no guarantee someone is thinking the same thing and plows into you......
Yep. I was driving in a down pour one day (blinding rain on a winding road). I was worried about just parking on the shoulder for that reason and the only business/parking lot I saw was completely filled with cars.
I kept going (slower than the speed limit) and after around 5-10 minutes I got through that tough patch (including hailstorm). Turns out there were tornadoes in the area.
If it’s not one thing it’s another
Experienced it on many occasions...
Here’s some tail light footage from early in the pileup.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt7rxczzMSE
Agree. Probably a bus load of Insurance Adjusters will be glad someone stopped to record that video.
Iced over that FedEx sled pilot could have been working every brake he had & the video would have been the same.
Put the trailer into ABS, get that Jake Brake into action...you do all you can, but 100,000 pounds GVW slides a helluva long ways on ice. A quarter mile stopping distance wouldn’t shock me in the least.
I've long wondered why careless driving rules for ordinary vehicles AND careless truck drivers don't result in investigations and perhaps charges for excessive speed, endangerment, even manslaughter for failing to heed warning lights, weather reports and obvious hazard areas.
I remember as a kid that the truckers were always the safest guys on the road.
Now they are often the worst. I live in a cold, windy, mountainous area and we see EMPTY semi-trailer trucks roaring into 80, 90, 100 mile winds, skidding sideways down the asphalt, f'ing themselve up and anyone one nearby as well.
I know truckers have to bust their butts out there too, but if my company puts me and others in danger...fuggedaboutdit!!
I know it takes a lot longer for a truck to stop than a car, but it looked like the driver didn’t even try to stop.
I have driven across some terrible conditions in Alberta.
We get winter all the time in Edmonton, but we don’t get pileups like I see in the States.
You got that right.......I’m afraid to drive anymore, especially out of my little comfort zone.
You got that right.......I’m afraid to drive anymore, especially out of my little comfort zone.
Here is some crazy video from “American Truck Drivers.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQqLsHgMRrA
(Watching 10pm FW local news now)
The roadway was a solid sheet of ice. The first responders had to bring their own bags of sand and litter to use around the wreckage just to be able to walk on the ice.
TWO of the 18 wheelers landed on top of multiple cars likely causing life impacting injuries if not death.
Those accidents are caught on video.
There is an 18 wheeler that was able to slow but still impacted but nowhere near at the same rate of speed.
But WTH, it’s the express lane so open throttle even in bad weather as the lanes parallel to the expressway are slowing down because of bad conditions...
Not a good look for FedEx.
That truck was flying and should not have been.
The I-35W SB roadway BEHIND where the wreckage occurred was not having icing problems and was on more elevated terrain, so traffic was moving at normal speeds.
Those drivers could not see far enough ahead to see the wreckage that had occurred on the lower level of the road, until they hit the downward slope and encountered the icing.
Yes it was quite clear the pile up was underway as people were already videoing, which makes me wonder why the truck had not tried to start slowing down sooner. Tragic
Ever hear of ‘too fast for conditions’?
So that rather leads to ‘no’.
I’ve driven regularly in heavy snow, but ice storms are a completely different thing, or freezing rain.
Freezing rain is just a wet road...until it is a no-friction surface. You can have extended skid-outs at 5 mph or less, and it is in patches so the frictionless surface just appears with no visible differentiation from simple wet pavement.
I’ve driven in both the NorthEast heavy snowstorms and in the ice storms the edges of the Sun Belt get, and the ice storms shut everything down for a reason. 1/16” of wet ice is far worse than deep snow. And the freezing rain will often wash off any of the salt that the very limited snow removal resources lay.
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