Posted on 01/13/2005 6:39:04 AM PST by apackof2
Edited on 01/13/2005 7:04:03 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
[Body text removed. Gannett allows headline and link only: reference.]
Michigan bump
The two employees of Enterprise Rent-A-Car were driving back from a business meeting near Grand Rapids when they came upon the chaos.
"You couldn't see but six cars ahead," Gentner said.
"We weaved through a bunch of them, luckily missing everything. We finally stopped and cars were flying ahead of us into the woods and ditches."
Foster, 35, of Commerce Township, and Gentner, 25, of Royal Oak, helped injured motorists from their mangled cars and carried stretchers across the median to waiting ambulances that couldn't reach the mess of vehicles.
Gentner said several people were trapped in their cars and at least one woman had to be cut from her car wedged between a semitrailer and a cargo van.
No pictures?
But, what the hey - the speed limit's 70, so by darn we were going 70...
Seventy nothing... Most people drive about 90 on that freeway.
I visted my brother in michigan over the holidays this past year. Speed limit is 70 and I was going between 75-80 mph just about the whole time and people were passing me like I was going still.
So, where are the 'Bush's fault' claims that usually follow the 'bad news'?
I-96 is my normal commuter route.
Well, staying at the speed limit is probably a better idea than the one guy at the front who realizes he has bad visibility, and slows down to 20. Then the guys keeping up with traffic behind him have all of 6 car lengths to realize this guy isnt moving, slam on their brakes, and hope the guy behind them does the same thing.
Its a sunny day, unlimited visibility
I'm on a lonely stretch of interstate
I have no passengers in the car
This insures that I can drive like a bat outta hell on the first Tuesday in August. The other 364 days, I'm as cautious as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
In Michigan, speed limits are pretty much a suggestion, turs signals are a sign of weakness and it's not tailgating unless you're actually touching the bumper of the car ahead of you.
That's why I love living here.
This is going to be a topic at the convention tonight, guaranteed. I wonder how many IngCo GOPers were involved...there had to be a few, I bet.
Anyone driving 70 yesterday was a fool looking for trouble.
Mitten drivers would all do well to remember the old driver's ed equation: reduce your speed by 10 mph for every driving obstacle. This crash occurred in fog, on a rainy day with heavy snowmelt, during rush hour. Is it necessary to always follow the 10 mph reduction rule? Probably not. It wouldn't have hurt matters yesterday, however.
Remind me to not drive near you in heavy fog - the fog doesn't cause the accidents - idiots driving at breakneck spped when they can only see far enough to warrant 15 mph cause accidents like this. Ther's enough erratic idiots to make it dangerous enough in clear weather so trusting them when you can't see them is foolhardy. Every so often, I have to dodeg something that fell off a truck etc., that would do major damage if I hit it at 70 - heavy fog doesn't give you time to take evasive actions.
My husband was driving a rig in this wreck yesterday. He told me on the phone that the fog was real thick and everyone was going slow, well then the fog cleared and everybody floored it! Then they came back into a patch of fog. Screwed everyone up.
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Fog does not start right now right this minute, there are clues, and I'm with you it is the idiots that started this, and unfortunately they were probably unscathed in the accident. This type of thing does not happen in the open country of the midwest because people here look out for each other, especially the idiots. Yesterday was a prime example, I had 4 incidents of failure to yield by opposing drivers, all of which would have resulted in serious accidents, and one dead pedestrian, if I had not been on idiot alert.
Well, theres a difference between going full tilt down the road, and the people who nearly stop as soon as they cant see. If you gotta slow down that much, pull over until you can see. Ive seen too many accidents caused by some idiot slamming on their breaks during a whiteout. If you cant see them, they cant see you, so nearly stopping in the middle of the road is asking for trouble.
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