259-Car Autobahn Pile-Up Largest In German History
07-20-2009, 01:14 PM
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Yeah, just found it as well. I can't help but see the irony in this large of a pileup on the road known for no upper speed limit....
Although I recognize that most of it does actually have a speed limit now, and this probably wasn't caused by everyone doing 150+
Although I recognize that most of it does actually have a speed limit now, and this probably wasn't caused by everyone doing 150+
07-20-2009, 01:14 PM
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My Dad was stationed in Germany and told me that the Germans use this light on the BACK of their car-called a fog light (some big, long word in German.) What they did was on the autobahn when it is foggy, they dont slow down, they turn on the fog lights. That way someone behind them can see the fog light and can follow the person ahead of them in the fog.
Can you imagine?? 50 or so cars forming a 100mph train in the fog steering only by the small light on the car infront?
Needless to say, this caused accidents. My Dad told be that he saw an interview of a soul surviver of a 50 car pileup. The TV station found him on the side of the road. He was sitting there with a cig in his shaking hand telling how after he came to a stop, he immediately dove from the car, over the rail and down a steep hill. He said that as he dove, he heard the explosion of metal and glass behind him as a train of cars and trucks drove into the pileup that he had just been in. One of the trucks was a gasoline tanker or something flammalble.
No one but he survived.
Can you imagine?? 50 or so cars forming a 100mph train in the fog steering only by the small light on the car infront?
Needless to say, this caused accidents. My Dad told be that he saw an interview of a soul surviver of a 50 car pileup. The TV station found him on the side of the road. He was sitting there with a cig in his shaking hand telling how after he came to a stop, he immediately dove from the car, over the rail and down a steep hill. He said that as he dove, he heard the explosion of metal and glass behind him as a train of cars and trucks drove into the pileup that he had just been in. One of the trucks was a gasoline tanker or something flammalble.
No one but he survived.
07-20-2009, 01:19 PM
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Last year, I was driving on I-80(?) through eastern PA in the mountains at midnight, and the fog was so dense I couldn't see my hood, and could only barely see the white line looking out my side window down at the ground. One of the scariest times I have ever had on the road. Using my GPS on maximum zoom helped a fair amount, but even though I was only crawling, I was paranoid about getting rear ended by someone that wasn't.
Ideas like using that light would terrify me.
One of the comments says that this pileup occured over the course of 2 hours? Someone else said low sun was blinding glare plus slick roads, but still...2 hours?
Ideas like using that light would terrify me.
One of the comments says that this pileup occured over the course of 2 hours? Someone else said low sun was blinding glare plus slick roads, but still...2 hours?
07-20-2009, 01:50 PM
#8
Last year, I was driving on I-80(?) through eastern PA in the mountains at midnight, and the fog was so dense I couldn't see my hood, and could only barely see the white line looking out my side window down at the ground. One of the scariest times I have ever had on the road. Using my GPS on maximum zoom helped a fair amount, but even though I was only crawling, I was paranoid about getting rear ended by someone that wasn't.
Ideas like using that light would terrify me.
One of the comments says that this pileup occured over the course of 2 hours? Someone else said low sun was blinding glare plus slick roads, but still...2 hours?
Ideas like using that light would terrify me.
One of the comments says that this pileup occured over the course of 2 hours? Someone else said low sun was blinding glare plus slick roads, but still...2 hours?
07-20-2009, 01:53 PM
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driving in germany is awesome and dangerous . everybody drives at 100 mph except when stau are slowing traffic. after a while you get use to drive fast all the time . never got in at accident myself but i see some bad ones..
07-21-2009, 12:01 AM
#14
It's a Cavalier
I'm sorry. That's ridiculous. That reporter implying that because it's the Autobahn, its automatically horrifically dangerous.
Here's an example of a 200 car pile up in some exotic place called "Michigan". Der. Having a speed limit doesn't mean this kind of thing won't happen.
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/a...WS01/501130352
We're such douchebags in the US about speed limits. Seriously. Nothing but whiners. Teach our people to drive better, and take more accountability. Let me drive my damn car at a higher speed if it's in a environment designed for it with people around me that can also DRIVE.
Here's an example of a 200 car pile up in some exotic place called "Michigan". Der. Having a speed limit doesn't mean this kind of thing won't happen.
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/a...WS01/501130352
We're such douchebags in the US about speed limits. Seriously. Nothing but whiners. Teach our people to drive better, and take more accountability. Let me drive my damn car at a higher speed if it's in a environment designed for it with people around me that can also DRIVE.
07-21-2009, 12:05 AM
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From teh wiki; sourse of ALL information.
[edit] Major pileups
Main article: List of road accidents
11 December 1990: Interstate 75 in Calhoun, Tennessee, United States, between Chattanooga and Knoxville near the Hiwassee River, due to very heavy fog; fiery crash involved 99 vehicles; 12 deaths and 42 injuries. A fog warning system has since been installed, and the highway patrol enforces speed limits aggressively. [1]
October 1991: A15 Motorway near Ochten, Netherlands, due to fog, 150 vehicles, 1 death, 64 injuries.[2]
2 December 1994: Interstate 35 in San Antonio, Texas, United States, 127 car pile-up caused by blinding glare and rain-slicked roads, 67 injuries.[3]
20 March 1995: Jubilee Parkway in Mobile, Alabama, United States, due to fog, 200 vehicles, 1 death, 90 injuries.[4]
10 March 1997: M42 motorway in the United Kingdom, due to fog - 160 vehicles involved, 3 deaths, 60 injuries. [5][6]
31 December 1998: 100 cars crashed on an ice-slicked section of Interstate-75 in central Michigan, killing one and injuring 39.[7]
3 September 1999: Highway 401 in Essex County, Ontario, Canada, just east of Windsor. Very dense fog and tailgating causes an 87-vehicle pile-up, killing 8, and injuring 33 more. [8][9]
February 2001: Interstate 95 in Stafford County, Virginia, United States, 131 vehicles plus two others nearby totaling 80 more, due to a snowstorm whiteout.[10]
March 2002: Interstate 75 in Catoosa County, Georgia, United States, due to one-time sudden fog, about 125 vehicles [11]
12 January 2005: Interstate 96 in Ingham County, Michigan, United States, around 200 vehicles, due to dense fog leaving 2 dead and 35 injured.[12][13]
17 March 2005: near Helsinki, Finland, around 300 cars crashed on highways leading to the capital, 3 deaths and 60 injuries. Visibility was very poor due to heavy snowfall and a week of clear weather had given drivers a false impression of safety.[14]
5 November 2007: Highway 99 south of Fresno, California, United States, due to the tule fog that occurs frequently in fall and winter; involved more than 100 vehicles, killed at least 2 and injured dozens of others.[15]
9 January 2008: Four people were killed and as many as 38 injured in a major pileup on Interstate 4 in north central Florida involving 70 vehicles, as fog mixed with smoke from a controlled fire that reached out-of-control proportions combined to make it almost impossible for motorists to see.[16]
20 January 2008: More than 100 vehicles crashed into each other on Highway 400 near Toronto due to bad weather conditions. [17]
March 11, 2008: Around 6.39am UAE time a series of vehicle crashes occurred, involving cars, SUVs, buses and trucks, because of heavy fog on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway near Ghantoot, Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, leading to the worst ever crash and multi-vehicle pileup in the country’s history. According to Dubai based Gulf News and Reuters the incident killed 3 people and injured 277, involving 60 vehicles from which 25 caught fire according to Abu Dhabi Police. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]
20 March 2008: 231 vehicles round about number of foci crashed at highway D1 in Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. About 30 people were injured, 3 of them seriously. Nobody was killed.[26][27][28][29][30][31][32]
25 March 2008: A near 60 vehicle pile-up in heavy snow on Austria's main east-west highway causes one death with six injuries. [33]
11 January 2009: "More than 50 cars..." in Derry, NH[34]
19 January 2009: A 35-car pileup occurs during a snowstorm on Interstate 70 in Myersville, Maryland.
19 July 2009: Dozens of people injured, 10 critically, when 259 vehicles were involved in a pile-up due to heavy rain on the German Autobahn A2 near Braunschweig in Lower Saxony.[35]
[edit] Major pileups
Main article: List of road accidents
11 December 1990: Interstate 75 in Calhoun, Tennessee, United States, between Chattanooga and Knoxville near the Hiwassee River, due to very heavy fog; fiery crash involved 99 vehicles; 12 deaths and 42 injuries. A fog warning system has since been installed, and the highway patrol enforces speed limits aggressively. [1]
October 1991: A15 Motorway near Ochten, Netherlands, due to fog, 150 vehicles, 1 death, 64 injuries.[2]
2 December 1994: Interstate 35 in San Antonio, Texas, United States, 127 car pile-up caused by blinding glare and rain-slicked roads, 67 injuries.[3]
20 March 1995: Jubilee Parkway in Mobile, Alabama, United States, due to fog, 200 vehicles, 1 death, 90 injuries.[4]
10 March 1997: M42 motorway in the United Kingdom, due to fog - 160 vehicles involved, 3 deaths, 60 injuries. [5][6]
31 December 1998: 100 cars crashed on an ice-slicked section of Interstate-75 in central Michigan, killing one and injuring 39.[7]
3 September 1999: Highway 401 in Essex County, Ontario, Canada, just east of Windsor. Very dense fog and tailgating causes an 87-vehicle pile-up, killing 8, and injuring 33 more. [8][9]
February 2001: Interstate 95 in Stafford County, Virginia, United States, 131 vehicles plus two others nearby totaling 80 more, due to a snowstorm whiteout.[10]
March 2002: Interstate 75 in Catoosa County, Georgia, United States, due to one-time sudden fog, about 125 vehicles [11]
12 January 2005: Interstate 96 in Ingham County, Michigan, United States, around 200 vehicles, due to dense fog leaving 2 dead and 35 injured.[12][13]
17 March 2005: near Helsinki, Finland, around 300 cars crashed on highways leading to the capital, 3 deaths and 60 injuries. Visibility was very poor due to heavy snowfall and a week of clear weather had given drivers a false impression of safety.[14]
5 November 2007: Highway 99 south of Fresno, California, United States, due to the tule fog that occurs frequently in fall and winter; involved more than 100 vehicles, killed at least 2 and injured dozens of others.[15]
9 January 2008: Four people were killed and as many as 38 injured in a major pileup on Interstate 4 in north central Florida involving 70 vehicles, as fog mixed with smoke from a controlled fire that reached out-of-control proportions combined to make it almost impossible for motorists to see.[16]
20 January 2008: More than 100 vehicles crashed into each other on Highway 400 near Toronto due to bad weather conditions. [17]
March 11, 2008: Around 6.39am UAE time a series of vehicle crashes occurred, involving cars, SUVs, buses and trucks, because of heavy fog on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway near Ghantoot, Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, leading to the worst ever crash and multi-vehicle pileup in the country’s history. According to Dubai based Gulf News and Reuters the incident killed 3 people and injured 277, involving 60 vehicles from which 25 caught fire according to Abu Dhabi Police. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]
20 March 2008: 231 vehicles round about number of foci crashed at highway D1 in Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. About 30 people were injured, 3 of them seriously. Nobody was killed.[26][27][28][29][30][31][32]
25 March 2008: A near 60 vehicle pile-up in heavy snow on Austria's main east-west highway causes one death with six injuries. [33]
11 January 2009: "More than 50 cars..." in Derry, NH[34]
19 January 2009: A 35-car pileup occurs during a snowstorm on Interstate 70 in Myersville, Maryland.
19 July 2009: Dozens of people injured, 10 critically, when 259 vehicles were involved in a pile-up due to heavy rain on the German Autobahn A2 near Braunschweig in Lower Saxony.[35]
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