INSANE video: 150 car pileup in Michigan snowstorm with cars/18 wheelers crashing

[AdamK47]

I lived in West Michigan for 25 years and drove I96 between Grand Rapids and Muskegon pretty much every weekday. There was no such thing as snow days for me. You can have constant white out conditions with the lake effect snow. It happens all the time in the Winter. If you drive too fast, you can cause an accident. If you drive to slow, you can cause an accident. In many circumstances you need to be going with the flow with 15 feet of visibility. You only know you are on the road because of the taillights you see in front of you. The edges of the road are indistinguishable from everything else. You need to experience it before critiquing the drivers in the video.

 

[Ophir]

Which in this instance would require a driver to stop on the shoulder in a white-out blizzard to put tire chains on. Seems unwise but maybe that's just me.

Great thread. Lots of armchair drivers and zealots that want to impose something just short of marshal law.

Have you ever seen a snow chain checkpoint? A cop stops traffic with a couple flares. Tells each driver chains are required. A 1/4 mile ahead a second point is set up to confirm chains or snow tires. In that 1/4 every car finds a spot to put them on or turn around. Generally a little stand pops up to sell chains for $60. If you have snow tires pass right through the 2nd one. That is totally marshal law, I know.

No one said anything about requiring snow tires being purchased on the spot. That's obviously stupid and a strawman. I even suggested only having the first checkpoint to change the speed limit and make drivers aware of treacherous conditions ahead.

 

[moonbogg]

That shit is frightening. You don't realize the gravity of the situation until he gets closer and you hear people crying and screaming, trying to get out while cars are still crashing into them. Good god Christ on a frozen banana.

 

[PingviN]

Slow the fuck down, idiots

 

[KeithTalent]

Blah, vertical video. :|

KT

 

[sandorski]

Blah, vertical video. :|

KT

That was indeed annoying.

 

[Ichinisan]

Current count is 193.

 

[Exterous]

At least I provided ideas, whereas you have provided none and even questioned the wisdom of slowing down.

And yeah, I'm sure it's crazy inconvenient to have a couple of highway partolmen set up a checkpoint and tell each driver the speed limit just changed to 25 mph and road conditions may be extremely dangerous ahead. Oh yeah, you're right, that's what a nanny state would do.

60 years in Michigan, I can see why you are so bitter, combative, unimaginative, and cantankerous.

Edit: BTW, I'm a process engineer at a Fortune 500 company leading Lean/Six Sigma improvement projects. I have my green belt, am working on my second project for a black belt, and have delivered $3MM in productivity over the last two years. I think my skills would actually have a lot of value in government.

I can see why you would be a benefit to government given that you have no idea what the fuck you are talking about but like to talk like you do. Spend a couple of years in an area that gets sudden and\or widespread white out\icy conditions and you'll figure out why your idea is idiotic

 

[Red Squirrel]

Blah, vertical video. :|

KT

Yeah pisses me off that people continue to do this. They have to realize that their video is not only going to be watched on a phone but on computers, TVs etc. Shoot it freaking sideways idiot!

 

[jasonstevens584]

Whoa, that was nuts.

 

[SKORPI0]

Current count is 193.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/story/news/2015/01/09/snowstorm-update-half-foot-snow/21493101/

 

[Ophir]

I can see why you would be a benefit to government given that you have no idea what the fuck you are talking about but like to talk like you do. Spend a couple of years in an area that gets sudden and\or widespread white out\icy conditions and you'll figure out why your idea is idiotic

Fair enough. I guess I'm wrong, though I haven't been given a reason other than not knowing what the hell I am talking about. If you gave me a good reason why, then I drop it and move on.

It doesn't matter, I don't care. I'm not the one living in a place where at any given moment I could blindly drive into my doom.

Mind you, I was throwing out ideas to try mitigating this situation rather than throwing my hands up in apathy. I'm not creating policy nor arguing, just trying to find a better way. I'm surely wrong with my idea, that's fine, not all ideas are the right one, but there IS always a better way. A constructive adult would say: "No, that wouldn't work, and this is why... but maybe we should try this..." The rest are more apathetic. The lowest kind get angry and resort to insults.

 

[bguile]

Fair enough. I guess I'm wrong, though I haven't been given a reason other than not knowing what the hell I am talking about. If you gave me a good reason why, then I drop it and move on.

It doesn't matter, I don't care. I'm not the one living in a place where at any given moment I could blindly drive into my doom.

Mind you, I was throwing out ideas to try mitigating this situation rather than throwing my hands up in apathy. I'm not creating policy nor arguing, just trying to find a better way. I'm surely wrong with my idea, that's fine, not all ideas are the right one, but there IS always a better way. A constructive adult would say: "No, that wouldn't work, and this is why... but maybe we should try this..." The rest are more apathetic. The lowest kind get angry and resort to insults.

Connected vehicles (cars that can transmit real time data to other cars) is probably the solution.

 

[Craig234]

The first ~20 cars I feel bad for. After that, nothing. This is Darwanism at work bro. Let it take its place. I drive EXACTLY the speed limit. Weather conditions -10%, 20% for shit like this.

The world is overpopulated as it is. Go ahead. Drive 20+ on snow-days. Fucking losers.

Sound like a moral scumbag and sociopath.

 

[OverVolt]

Connected vehicles (cars that can transmit real time data to other cars) is probably the solution.

Yes and what happens when the first car in the pileup is somebodies 1970 challenger restoration?

Or a well maintained 1990's car?

 

[Exterous]

A constructive adult would say: "No, that wouldn't work, and this is why... but maybe we should try this..." The rest are more apathetic. The lowest kind get angry and resort to insults.

If you choose to take your idea being called idiotic as an insult that is up to you although I consider the statement be more of a fact than an insult. Since you asked me to explain why your idea is idiotic I will although I would have thought that the idiocy of stationing a patrolmen at every highway onramp for widespread issues or expecting an officer to be at the correct area instantly when a sudden white out occurs would be pretty obvious.

As for your statement above, interestingly enough it places you in your so called 'lowest kind' given that it is actually an insult so I am not really sure your point with making it - other than to show that you are the lowest kind? Unless it is strictly an AND statement in that case I would caution you about making unfounded assumptions about people based on vague information because I can assure that that I was, in no way, angry.

 

[shortylickens]

Yes and what happens when the first car in the pileup is somebodies 1970 challenger restoration?

Or a well maintained 1990's car?

You also dont have to install seat belts in 1950's cars, but overall vehicles are safer these days and it benefits society as a whole.

The 1st car with modern connected systems will save all the others. It still reduces lives lost.

 

[rh71]

is there no technology that automatically puts the hazard lights on when a car gets into a collision? Doesn't that make some sense? I don't know if it's a complete white-out (likely not, seeing the video), seeing blinking lights up ahead would definitely get people to lay off the accelerator.

 

[CZroe]

Yes and what happens when the first car in the pileup is somebodies 1970 challenger restoration?

Or a well maintained 1990's car?

What do you think will happen?

If there is an accident and connected cars slow down early, it will slow all traffic down, connected or not. It doesn't matter whether the car that started it is connected or not. As soon as another is involved that is, whether simply snagged or stopped in time, it will report to the others. Simple.

 

[Printer Bandit]

He should have run up ahead to warn drivers

 

[Ophir]

If you choose to take your idea being called idiotic as an insult that is up to you although I consider the statement be more of a fact than an insult. Since you asked me to explain why your idea is idiotic I will although I would have thought that the idiocy of stationing a patrolmen at every highway onramp for widespread issues or expecting an officer to be at the correct area instantly when a sudden white out occurs would be pretty obvious.

As for your statement above, interestingly enough it places you in your so called 'lowest kind' given that it is actually an insult so I am not really sure your point with making it - other than to show that you are the lowest kind? Unless it is strictly an AND statement in that case I would caution you about making unfounded assumptions about people based on vague information because I can assure that that I was, in no way, angry.

It's cute that you thought I was either referring to you or thought you were angry. It was just a statement of fact to the problem solving process. Also, great job trying to pin me as a hypocrite. A little thin, but whatever gets you through the day.

Clearly posting highway patrolmen at every on ramp is implausible, as is having them roam around looking for such unpredictable conditions. Chains won't work either. The suggestion of connected cars is a good one, but still many, many years away from implementation.

I wonder if more can't be done to make whiteouts a (more) predictable event. I refuse to believe the sequence of events and atmospheric condition markers can't be used to give +/- 5-10 mile resolution to a white out event. Such a prediction could be exploited to create a dynamic system of road signs to modify the speed limit and send out warnings. This can be used in conjunction with the highway patrol that can narrow their focus to deploy their forces. I don't recall seeing anything like that in my time in Buffalo, but maybe such a thing exists there or in Michigan.

 

[Ophir]

is there no technology that automatically puts the hazard lights on when a car gets into a collision? Doesn't that make some sense? I don't know if it's a complete white-out (likely not, seeing the video), seeing blinking lights up ahead would definitely get people to lay off the accelerator.

That's an interesting idea, never thought of it, but seems like it could be easily implemented to trigger with airbag deployment.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

wow that isn't funny at all, but that completely reminded me of burnout revenge on xbox360 where they had all of those crash zones lol.

good for that guy to finally realizing he should start helping some people.

Think he realized when people weren't getting out of their cars and getting to safety.

Surprised there was only one fatality. A truck driver died. I'm guessing it's the guy at 0:49

Yes he came in way too fast. Surprised the SUV stuck into the back of the truck @1:24 didn't get severely injured, looks like the bumper hit right at the windshield level.

 

[halik]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9fI5M6_XVk

HOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIT

Flying down 70mph in total white out seems like a good idea...

 

[halik]

Lots of armchair drivers here who are clearly perfect drivers who always drive the correct speed for whatever situation is occurring in front of them even if they don't know what that situation is and regardless of how rare that situation is.

It also seems like some people also have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to driving in the snow. You can be driving along just fine at a safe speed for the current conditions when, in the span of a couple of seconds, the conditions change that cut that safe speed in half or by two thirds. Wind is a big cause of this particularly in western michigan as are county plowing lines (Oh I must have crossed a county line so this clear, salted highway is no longer salted and is suddenly icy)

We got caught on that very same segment of I94 last year during thanksgiving in identical conditions (complete whiteout, packed snow on the road); took us 7hrs to do chicago-detroit.

I was going ~25-30mph with hazards on in an AWD card with brand new snows, every now and then getting passed by SUV idiots flying 50+ plus on whatever shitty stock tires those come with. Those are the people that end up plowing into shit when their braking distance is 3x the distance they can see.

That part of Michigan is pretty much always covered in snow, lake effect central.