Several Dead In 50-vehicle Pennsylvania Pile-up

I'm at the flying J close there. You couldn't get a word in edge wise on the cb it was jammed. The weather at the time of the crash wasn't all that bad at least east of there where I was. There are more and more trucks on the road that don't have or use a cb. Very tragic.

Thankfully I was routed North today. Drive this stretch of 78 many times every week. When windy, it can be very dicey.

Are drivers responsible for their own cb, or does it come with the truck .

Generally speaking, you have to buy your own. You can go with fairly inexpensive to fairly pricey depending on what you want to put into it.

Thanks. Looks like it is a needed investment.

Scary to think about. I was just up there before this happened when it first started snowing. The roads I remember seeing were slick and wet and the temperature was well below freezing. That was the first winter weather I've driven through. I was going very slow, I didn't want to find out if my truck would actually slide. I did notice some drivers taking it as easy as me, while some others just blew past.

Dan

Snow squalls.

Three of our drivers were involved in the accident. One driver apparently witnessed one of the victims pass while trying to help. You can see our one team truck in the pile up. I saw the drivers in our linehaul office. Everybody was pretty shaken up.

One of my runs was cancelled last night due to snow squalls.

It's not the accumulation that makes squalls dangerous, it's the whiteout conditions that happen very fast. For all you new drivers, if you hear squalls being predicted, don't drive through them.

The best defense is to listen to the weather service. Sometimes squalls develop and you are caught off guard. Following distance is about your only defense.

Dan noticed this:

I did notice some drivers taking it as easy as me, while some others just blew past.

Excellent point. Even on solid ice, you can get your truck up to freeway speed. But as much distance it took to go from zero to 60, you'll need at least that to stop. Half a mile to get going? Half a mile to stop.

The drivers who blew past Dan are the ones who will be guests at an interstate pile-up.

Also, out of your whole company, you are the one who knows best the conditions you are driving through. You are the one who can call it a day because of weather - not your DM of anyone else. If you believe the road is unsafe, pull over and message your dispatcher.

Remember this, too: it's easier to pull a rig out of the mud than it is to tow a truck out of an accident.

Here is some food for thought also...

There was a similar fatal pileup involving 38 cars and 6 semi-trucks that occurred on I-94 in Southwest Michigan on January 17th.

Police issued 20 traffic citations to drivers involved. 16 went to car drivers and 4 went to semi-truck drivers. The citations ranged from failure to reduce speed, to following to closely,

One truck driver was charged with 2 felonies. Police say he was driving his semi truck in a reckless manner causing him to crash into a disabled vehicle. He caused the only two deaths in the pileup. The first charge, reckless driving causing serious impairment of a bodily function, carries a maximum penalty of 5 years. The second charge, reckless driving causing death, carries a maximum penalty of 15 years.

You could just as easily be in a similar situation if you choose to drive in unsafe weather conditions.

As 6 String mentioned - reports coming out of this accident indicate that it wasn't a slip-n-slide occurrence, but a near zero visibility.

At that point - on the highway - even if you stop immediately right where you are, you risk getting nailed from behind.

There are no easy answers for how to deal with a scenario like this, save for really staying on top of weather reports, lights and flashers on (even though flashers are not really recommended for a vehicle in motion), cut your speed WAY DOWN, and get off the highway to shut down as soon as practically/safely possible.

Again - from reports, this came on quite suddenly, in what were otherwise pretty clear conditions and visibility went down to nothing. The initial pile-up happens in a matter of seconds, and at that point - it's a pile ON.

We've seen enough of these recently, and they are pretty scary to look at the aftermath.

Y'ALL BE SAFE OUT THERE...

Rick