Jump to content
Lucky

Florida Traffic Nightmare

Recommended Posts

  • Members
Posted

Having once, and hopefully never again, driven in a "tule fog" in Northern California, I can see how the lack of visibility that suddenly enveloped a Florida road led to the deaths of ten motorists who thought they would be home soon:

Photographs of the scene taken hours later revealed an aftermath that resembled a Hollywood disaster movie. Twisted, burned-out vehicles were scattered across the pavement, with smoke still rising from the wreckage.

Cars appeared to have smashed into the big rigs and, in one case, a motor home. Some cars were crushed beneath the heavier trucks.

Reporters who were allowed to view the site saw bodies still inside a burned-out Grand Prix. One tractor-trailer was burned down to its skeleton, charred pages of books and magazines in its cargo area. And the tires of every vehicle had burned away, leaving only steel belts.

Before Camps hit the fog bank, a friend who was driving ahead of him in a separate vehicle called to warn of the road conditions. The friend said he had just seen an accident and warned Camps to be careful as he approached the Paynes Prairie area just south of Gainesville.

A short time later, Camps said, traffic stopped along the northbound lanes.

“You couldn’t see anything. People were pulling off the road,” he said.

Camps said he began talking about the road conditions to a man in the car stopped next to them when another vehicle hit the man’s car.

The man’s vehicle was crushed under a semi-truck stopped in front of them. Camps said his car was hit twice, but he and another friend were able to jump out. They took cover in the grass on the shoulder of the road.

All around them, cars and trucks were on fire, and they could hear explosions as the vehicles burned.

The story: Florida traffic nightmare

67716524.jpg

LA Times

  • Members
Posted

Granted that this may not have been of general interest to MER, but having driven in such conditions and known the absolute fear of being on a highway and unable to see, I identified with it. To be driving somewhere and just be dead a few seconds later is always a fear!

  • Members
Posted

Driving in dense fog scares the piss out of me, Lucky. Drive too fast and ram into pile up in front; drive too slow and idiots behind run up your tailpipe. I just try to get off road as soon as possible.

  • Members
Posted

I cannot count the times I have driven that portion of I-75 on numerous road trips to Florida over the years. Just last May I traveled that road and there were numerous field fires and smoke on the highway then. Thankfully I traveled it during the day and without Fog mixed with the fire smoke. It is such a Florida gateway for tourist traveling from the North the victims are probably from numerous states.

  • Members
Posted

I cannot count the times I have driven that portion of I-75 on numerous road trips to Florida over the years.

Ditto, in my college years I commuted between Tampa and Gainesville often. I have seen some bad accidents in that stretch, but not this bad.

Fog is common in Florida at certain times of the year, night time and early mornings.

The problem with interstate driving in fog is that even if you pull off the road, thinking that is safer, there is danger you could still be hit by others thinking it wise to pull off too. If you pull way off you risk getting stuck in soft sand or muck requiring a tow truck to get out.

  • Members
Posted

Driving in dense fog scares the piss out of me, Lucky. Drive too fast and ram into pile up in front; drive too slow and idiots behind run up your tailpipe. I just try to get off road as soon as possible.

Agreed. Dense fog and ice both scare the shit out of me. The former because of too high speed front or back crash, the latter for some crazy ass driver coming at you from any direction, sides too. Also, I get queasy when I feel my car inching sideways telling me I'm going too fast. I ease off the gas and pray. :whistle:

Guest CharliePS
Posted

My father's younger sister was killed in a low-speed accident in thick fog, back in the days before seat belts, air bags, safety glass, etc.(her head went through the windshield, which severed her jugular), so I was raised by parents who were scared to death of driving in fog and would do anything to avoid it. This accident on I-75, however, was not one that you could prepare for, because it was caused by sudden, unexpected smoke, at night, with lots of big trucks travelling at high speed. Being thrust into a situation in which you have no control and no idea what to do is something that everyone fears, and quite rightly.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...