Multi-car Accidents

[Anonymous]

So 23 cars involved in a pileup on the Bay Bridge. I always hear about these multiple-car crashes and smack my forehead. Why don't people adjust their driving for the conditions? They should give people tickets for tailgating and run PSAs. Everyone involved in that kind of wreck is responsible because they weren't keeping a safe distance. Start ticketing for not driving safely. Why wait for a crash like that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So 23 cars involved in a pileup on the Bay Bridge. I always hear about these multiple-car crashes and smack my forehead. Why don't people adjust their driving for the conditions? They should give people tickets for tailgating and run PSAs. Everyone involved in that kind of wreck is responsible because they weren't keeping a safe distance. Start ticketing for not driving safely. Why wait for a crash like that?

Generally because they are too important. VIPs baby!

[Anonymous]

I think the vast majority of people have very little idea how much stopping distance they need given speed + reaction time, with the latter being both highly individual and subject to the influence of all the distractions that beset people.

I think a lot of drivers focus only on the vehicle in front of them and thus greatly limit their warning time when something bad starts to happen.

You also have to calculate in the likelihood that some cars that were able to stop in time were pushed into the car in front of them by someone who rear ended them.

The reports I read also seemed to suggest that sudden fog may have been involved. That can be extremely disorienting.

[Anonymous]

I was taught one full car length per ten MPH. Actually caused a pile up on the beltway once and the trooper responding let me go because I was the only one in it who didn't hit the guy in front of him.

I hope no one was seriously injured on the bridge.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes there are other factors – a friend of mine plowed into a multicar pile up because it was just over the crest of the hill. She had no idea it was there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes there are other factors – a friend of mine plowed into a multicar pile up because it was just over the crest of the hill. She had no idea it was there.

That also sounds like her fault. If you can't see far enough ahead to stop in time then you're driving too fast. Doesn't matter what the speed limit is.

[Anonymous]

Because there are so many people who don't understand the basic physics to motion. They think that slamming on the brakes means that any vehicle of any weight going any speed can stop on a dime. They have no idea of how precipitation and ice can change the stopping distances and they think that no one in front of them would ever have a reason to stop.

If you don't believe it, look at this recent thread. The OP was completely clueless about stopping distances and responsibility. The sad thing is that there are many more of these types of drivers out on the roads now than the ones that actually understand the physics of stopping and driver responsibility.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1162787.page

[Anonymous]

Generally, I'd agree with OP's criticism, but it sounds like this really was a uniquely terrible set of conditions -- see one person involved in the crash who described a sudden wall of impenetrable fog that only became apparent once you were already on the bridge and took 10 minutes to emerge from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/01/28/chesapeake-bay-bridge-crash-witness-fog/

Next time, they probably should close the bridges or impose extreme limits on number of cars crossing it.

[Anonymous]

Everyone in that crash who ran into someone in front of them should be cited.


That crashed should’ve been stopped within the first two vehicles, if everyone was driving responsibly.