Horrifying pile up on the motorway

[Trilby]

A black fog??

What in the world is that?

Sounds like Stephen King! good lord!!

[SamIam]

Originally Posted by Brianna

A black fog??

What in the world is that?

Sounds like Stephen King! good lord!!

Maybe a really heavy fog suddenly descended on the M5, making it impossible for the drivers to see anything more than a foot away? England specializes in fog the way Eskimos specialize in snow.

The truly awful pile-up with burning cars and people trapped inside is certainly worthy of Stephen King. How terrible!

[glatt]

That's scary. I hate situations like that. You should never drive faster than conditions allow, but if the conditions dictate that you drive 15 mph on the highway, you are either going to get rear ended, or else cause the car behind you to panic brake, and then they get rear ended. I guess the best option is to slow down before entering the fog so the cars behind you can see that you're slowing and be ready to do the same. But if there's no time...

There's no good answer.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by glatt

That's scary. I hate situations like that. You should never drive faster than conditions allow, but if the conditions dictate that you drive 15 mph on the highway, you are either going to get rear ended, or else cause the car behind you to panic brake, and then they get rear ended. I guess the best option is to slow down before entering the fog so the cars behind you can see that you're slowing and be ready to do the same. But if there's no time...

There's no good answer.

Of course the answer is don't drive faster than condition allow.

I don't know what a "black" fog is, but I've driven in fog, patchy fog, rapidly appearing fog, etc. It's frightening and dangerous. One situation that I've been in similar to this is driving on the highway and smoke from fires obscured the roadway quickly and almost completely. This is a very dangerous situation. If I can't drive more than 15 mph, I'd rather be parked on the shoulder, well off the roadway. Being unable to see should mean being unable to drive. You can't drive if you can't see. Terrible.

[infinite monkey]

Originally Posted by BigV

Of course the answer is don't drive faster than condition allow.

I don't know what a "black" fog is, but I've driven in fog, patchy fog, rapidly appearing fog, etc. It's frightening and dangerous. One situation that I've been in similar to this is driving on the highway and smoke from fires obscured the roadway quickly and almost completely. This is a very dangerous situation. If I can't drive more than 15 mph, I'd rather be parked on the shoulder, well off the roadway. Being unable to see should mean being unable to drive. You can't drive if you can't see. Terrible.

When I went on my whirlwind trip, I got caught in a sudden blinding rainstorm. I couldn't see in front or behind. I couldn't pull off because, knowing no one else could see, I might have been rear-ended. As it was, I could have been anyway. I was white knuckled until it cleared, which seemed forever but wasn't.

You can't pull off somewhere if you can't see, either. If the conditions (fog, rain, blizzard, etc) are other than "patchy" you're really in the hands of fate and luck. Kiss your ass goodbye and hope for the best. Hope for patchy.

The best drivers can get beat by nature.

I'd almost rather deal with the asshats in bumper to bumper construction zones at rush hour. Oh, yeah. I do.