100 car pile-up in TX
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@copper said in 100 car pile-up in TX:
@horace said in 100 car pile-up in TX:
black ice?
Not far from there on the LBJ Freeway I once passed a guy while I was going backward at maybe 40 MPH. I hit some black ice and didn't even realize it until I had to steer around a guy going really slow. There was no friction at all, I was just spinning. Eventually I hit some dry pavement and slowed down.
That area is known for black ice.
We hit black ice at over 70mph on I-90 as we drove home from a visit to hubby's grandmother after Christmas in 1997. Hubby had been going 75 mph when I told him to take it off cruise control, that I thought there was black ice ahead. About two seconds later, we hit the ice.
There were no other vehicles around us as we slid, spun slowly, and slid some more, eventually sliding backwards into the ditch, plowing through dried weeds as high as the middle of my passenger window of my pickup truck. We were still going 50+ mph as we slid backwards at an angle down into that ditch, so we went waaaayyy down into the ditch, and it was very wide. Thankfully, there was no fence or sign to hit in that area. We were a LONG way off from the highway before we stopped.
All the time we were sliding backwards on the highway, hubby and I talked. We had a full conversation, while sliding along, about how smooth this bizarre skating was, that we could see the cars that had been behind us were now facing us, and they had slowed waaaay down and turned on their blinkers. I also noted that daughter was asleep in her carseat between us on the bench seat, and said it was just as well she was asleep, so she wouldn't get scared.
While we slid into the ditch that sloped down from the highway, which seemed to go on for an eternity, I kept softly saying, "Please don't roll. Please don't roll. Please don't roll." The sideways pressure was enormous. Hubby was pushed into the driver side door, and I was hanging on to the door on my side, while daughter continued to sleep.
When we finally stopped, there were tire tracks for several hundred feet ahead of us where we had plowed through weeds and brush as tall as I am. We just sat there for a while, trying to collect ourselves. Daughter, age 3, woke up and asked where we were. I told her we were in the ditch.
"Mommy, why did Daddy drive us in the ditch?" Holy cow, we laughed.
After explaining to her that we had slid into the ditch by accident, hubby asked me, "Well, what do we do now?"
Stubborn wife said, "Put it in 4-wheel, and drive out the same way we slid in."
Hubby looked at me like I was nuts.Again, I said, "Put it in 4-Low, and see if we can move forward." He wanted to drive straight up the slope to the roadway, and I said no. I said to follow our own tracks, because we knew we wouldn't hit something. We'd already cleared a path.
When we finally reached the highway again, there was a group of cars waiting for us. There were people standing outside their cars, waving their hands above their heads, clapping, cheering, laughing. It took a while for us to drive back out of the ditch, and these people had been watching the entire event from first slide to ditch dive to return to roadway. There were offers to help us, but we said there really wasn't anything to do.
One guy said, "Well, at least let me pull the weeds from your front bumper!"
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Great story, Brenda, since it had a happy ending!
What truck were you driving, and when you got home and inspected it, was there much damage?
Black ice is one scenario where positraction is bad. I hit black ice, went into a slide but couldn't get out of it as both wheels (rear-wheel drive) were spinning, and couldn't use the brakes. This was before ABS, not sure if ABS would have saved the day. As it worked out, I hit dry pavement so no crash. Lucky day.
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DON’T let them eat cake.
- RFK Jr -
. Wow!!!!!!!Brenda, glad that your slide was okay.
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@rainman said in 100 car pile-up in TX:
Great story, Brenda, since it had a happy ending!
What truck were you driving, and when you got home and inspected it, was there much damage?
Black ice is one scenario where positraction is bad. I hit black ice, went into a slide but couldn't get out of it as both wheels (rear-wheel drive) were spinning, and couldn't use the brakes. This was before ABS, not sure if ABS would have saved the day. As it worked out, I hit dry pavement so no crash. Lucky day.
Rainman, it was the truck I still have, my 1991 3/4 ton Chevy 4x4. Yes, hubby was driving my truck and put it in the ditch. That's why he asked me what we should do to get out of the ditch. I have more experience with the vehicle.
I took my truck for an inspection at the dealer after we got home. My concern was all that pressure as we slid backwards through the ditch, especially since we were still going so fast. The dealer we use has quite a good service department, and they said they couldn't find any damage. Since I've had the truck in use since then, they must have been right. I would have loved my truck anyway, but that it got us out of that ditch, it's an extra bond.
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Final death toll 6. Took them 30 hours to reopen the highway.
Some details about the victims here. Parents on their way to work, mostly. Sad.
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@friday said in 100 car pile-up in TX:
Amazing there weren't more deaths. I guess this just goes to show how good cars are now.
Brenda, even though I knew you ended up fine, I was still tense reading your story.
Friday, the experience was surreal. It was all like slow motion until we started going backwards in the ditch. First, we slid forwards for hundreds of feet, the gradually swung sideways. We slid sideways, covering both lanes of the highway, for several hundred feet more. We were so lucky no one else was in our path in either lane.
Slowly, we turned again while sliding and ended up backwards. It was all so gradual, and rather graceful, until we left the pavement and hit the ditch. There was so much time to talk, note the other vehicles, check on our little girl, and wonder what would happen next.
Most people describe an accident as happening so fast there was no time to react. This was so slow, and yet we were still going so fast. We still marvel that we came out unharmed.
I love my big blue truck.
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@jon-nyc said in 100 car pile-up in TX:
Harrowing, Brenda. Glad it’s behind you and you were all ok.
It's been over 20 years, yet whenever hubby and I hear of a bad situation with black ice, not only do we feel terrible for the people in the current situation, we revisit our good luck and feel so incredibly grateful.
