I-81 Carnage......

[89isluv]

Coming home to Blacksburg from Roanoke last night at about 2.30 am. Came around a bend in the interstate to several trucks and cars just stopped in the middle of the road. Lots of flashing red lights ahead. Parked my bike on the shoulder and walked up about 50 yards or so. Wish I hadn't. Walked around the firetruck to see what was going on, large SUV had apparently swerved to miss a deer, struck the guardrail and rolled several times. First thing I noticed was the luggage, lots of kids clothing and a purple stuffed animal. As I started to look around I realized that scattered among the debris were the bodies of 4 or 5 people. I have never in my life seen such carnage. I hope that the thought of this will not offend anyone here, but will serve as a reminder that life is fleeting. We all share a love of cars, but we should all try to think about the level of responsibility that we assume every time that we get behind the wheel. Just be safe everyone, buckle up, be responsible.

[LINUS]

And don't swerve for anything you can beat in a head-on collision.

SUV>deer.

[euroshark]

don't swerve for anything you can beat in a head-on collision.

lol, good advice, I'm gonna get a tattoo of that on my shoulder or something.

[Jon325i]

Just this evening there was a local traffic report on the radio - some of the details are still sketchy at this point - but apparently on I-5 a vehicle swerved and crossed the median and into on-coming traffic. No reports of fatalities but the highway patrol closed the freeway so lifeflight could evac two severely injured passengers. What caused this to happen? Some witness reports state there was a dog in the freeway and the vehicle in question swerved to avoid it.



Jon

[whiltebeitel]

I'm from that part of VA. It's scary just to hear about that stuff, let alone witness it firsthand.

[JasonC]

And don't swerve for anything you can beat in a head-on collision.

SUV>deer.

QFT, and even my sister proved that a small car can take out two large amimals that was bigger then a deer.

[LINUS]

Sadly, the reason I say what I do there is because I used to be an EMT, and I saw a lot of bad injuries due to well meaning people putting themselves & others at risk vs. hitting someone's dog, etc - when if they would have pre-trained themselves to only avoid if completely safe, otherwise hit it. Then the worst you are out is the cost of front - end damage, but you walk away alive & generally zero bodily harm.

Even as a dog owner, if my dog is loose in the street & gets hit, it's my fault for not keeping a closer eye on him.

I had to hit a deer once on HWY 20 since I had a guy in the lane beside me, and the car in front of me hit it - it was foggy as heck, and by the time I saw the hobbled deer in my lane, all I could do was brake hard and hold my lane - it sucked, but all it did was pop the radiator, kill the hood, core support, & front bumper skin & beam - but I called AAA & had the car dropped at my house. If I had to do it again, I'd do exactly the same thing - it cost $1500 to repair the Jetta, but the lady behind me swerved, overshot & crossed the median, missed all traffic (lucky broad!) - and ended up facing traffic in their shoulder ditch, and completely messed up the front of her car. She easily could have been hit & killed, or killed someone else.

I was impressed at the pics Reactionar posted - I'd call a horse (or 2) a scary proposition in a sports car - props to your sis if she had the will to hold her lane in that situation, I don't think many of us could wear stones that big.

[Rennsport]

last friday i was on on I-90 going over snoqualmie pass, it was stop and go traffic (memorial weekend traveler's). my buddy's truck started overheating so we took the exit to wait for it to cool down.
After about a half hour we were both looking over at the free-way to see if traffic was any better, and here comes an idiot in the westbound lanes going east! he struck another car head on.
Since i have first responder training i ran over to the accident, well i wasnt the first one there and they took the people out of the cars (big no-no, do what you can for them in the vehicle, let someone who knows what they are doing take them out)
the driver going the wrong way was a 40ish father with his 2 year old in the passenger seat, they both passed away at the scene. which is something i hope noone ever has to see.
the three people in the car that was struck were airlifted in critical condition.

please do not drink and drive, it could be your last, or you could kill someone else, even your 2 year old daughter.

[dlmpsy]

I-81 is a dangerous road, a lot of traffic, big trucks, speeders and inattentive drivers. One foggy morning on a two lane road I swerved into the other lane to miss a cat, about that time I saw a car without it's headlights on, I didn't hit it, but I won't cut into another lane to avoid hitting someones pet.

[Jscotty]

One thing that they teach in professional truck and bus driving is that swerving to miss something is the LAST thing that you do when confronted with something on the road. Unfortunately they do not teach this in regular car driving school and most times your natural incination would be to swerve around a pedestrian without thinking about all of the other people that you can kill or seriously hurt in the process.

Speed must have been a factor. I don't know which direction they were going in but any time I have driven down I-81 comming down those mountains, it was not that hard to do 80 to 90 mph without even thinking about it. Overall I like I-81 when I go out to Danville. Its a LONG drive from DC but its a very nice, enjoyable and scenic trip.

[nando]

I swerved to miss a rabbit the other day (at 25mph). and I still hit it.. but the possum on the freeway when I was going 80? I just ran it over. there was no way I was avoiding it at that speed..

[whiltebeitel]

I know w guy who works accident investigation, and he told me about one incident, where a car was broken on the side of the road at night, and another motorist saw him, pulled around, and parked their car on the shoulder, facing the broken car with his high beams on, so they could see. They figured they couldn't fix the car on the side of the road, so they pushed it into the grass and were taking things out of the trunk so they could go to the nearest town and get the car towed. At this time, a semi was approaching this part of the road. He saw the lights of the second car, and thinking there was someone driving on the wrong side of the road, swerved into the grass to avoid. He hit 3 people standing behind the first car, killing all of them instantly. :(

[JGood]

I worked on Memorial day, and on my way home through some of the busiest roads in southeastern PA, I saw some of the worst driving ever. I've done a lot of driving in my 6 years that I've had my license, probably 150-175 thousand miles. But to that day I've never seen anything like it. There's cars sliding, spinning, bouncing off shit, it's a fucking demolition derby. Roads shut down, ambulances and rescue vehicles everywhere, it's like the end of the fucking world. I got off the highway, went to a friends house that was about half way to my house and just chilled there. I didn't go home until late that night, because I was scared for my life.

I think there should be a mandatory advanced skills driving school required along with a 1 year minimum permit period. At which point you have to pass a more aggressive test, that you must retake every 5 years. Yeah, some people won't be able to have a license, some people will be pissed, and it will effect some peoples income due to commuting conflicts. But, everyone will be able to drive without the fear of death. The people who don't pass the test would have probably eventually killed themselves, and maybe an innocent family if they had their license anyway. Do you realize how many people die every day in careless car accidents?

[ldsbeaker]

It's disgusting how people drive sometimes.
I was driving home from 5er Fest yesterday (after midnight) and almost hit a fox, a dog, and smashed the crap out of a big ass toad.
I had spent time earlier on Sunday on I-81, there were cops everywhere. Where the hell were they at late at night?

I was too tired to speed.

p.s. what's up with idiots who don't dip their high beams for oncoming traffic?

p.p.s. I had spent time earlier on Sunday on I-81, there were cops everywhere. Where the hell were they at late at night?

[MikeE30325i]

p.s. what's up with idiots who don't dip their high beams for oncoming traffic?

i dunno, but that is one thing that drives me crazy. that impairs you a lot, even if only for 5 seconds. but then again, five seconds may be all it takes....