OT: Hope Nobody from Here Was Involved in This

[kebzach]

Madison - About 30 vehicles were involved this afternoon in a series of collisions in dense fog in the eastbound lanes of I-90, north of the intersection of state Highway 12, on the far east side of the city.

Numerous injuries and at least one vehicle fire were reported. The Wisconsin State Patrol was being assisted by the Dane County Sheriff's Department and several local EMS and fire departments.

The Journal Sentinel will continue to follow this breaking news and post reports when more information is available.

[jerrod]

i just came back from chicago and sat in that for an hour and a half


i saw ambulances go by from towns i haven't even heard of

[MikeIsGood]

The fog is absolutely unreal. I've heard stories of people that couldn't see the front of their vehicle while driving. My brother-in-law is a firefighter and he's on site right now. One of my friend's dad is a fire chief and he is there as well, along with my friend who went along to help in any way he could.

Scary stuff. I've heard of jackknifed semis, fuel leaks, cars on fire. Yikes.

[jerrod]

i couldn't see anything,


90 was blocked off at the beltline exit so everyone had to get off there so then the stoughton road exit was backed way up with people trying to work their way around

[cheeztrain]

I live on the southeast side, not far from the accident. I've never seen fog like this today. It is hard to even drive in town, I can't imagine what it was/is like on the interstate.

[jerrod]

I live on the southeast side, not far from the accident. I've never seen fog like this today. It is hard to even drive in town, I can't imagine what it was/is like on the interstate.

didn't bother me at all


there was the occasional freaked out driver going 40 with their hazard lights on but i had no problem going normal spees

[soboMP3]

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didn't bother me at all


there was the occasional freaked out driver going 40 with their hazard lights on but i had no problem going normal spees

Um, yeah, you might want to slow down then.

[jerrod]

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Um, yeah, you might want to slow down then.

why did i need to slow down? i could easily see the cars in front of me

maybe you should suggest that people learn to leave some stopping distance between the cars in front of them

[bigkurty]

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why did i need to slow down? i could easily see the cars in front of me

maybe you should suggest that people learn to leave some stopping distance between the cars in front of them

Um fog is localized for the most part. It could be sparse in some areas and extremely dense in others. So unless you were driving down I90 where the accident occurred, you have no idea what kind of fog they were in.

[soboMP3]

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why did i need to slow down? i could easily see the cars in front of me

maybe you should suggest that people learn to leave some stopping distance between the cars in front of them

You would want to slow down because speed limits are set for "perfect" conditions. Very low visibility does not equal ideal conditions, and thus you should slow down. I was driving home from the North Woods all day. It was foggy all day yet not very bad. Visibility was generally fine and I drove normally. However, when I got to the Sheboygan area, I could barely see 50 feet in front of me, and I let off the gas and drove 45-50 for a good while.

I have a feeling if cars were actually going 40 with their emergencies on, the fog was pretty bad. I did not see any of that in my driving, and it got pretty bad.

[jerrod]

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Um fog is localized for the most part. It could be sparse in some areas and extremely dense in others. So unless you were driving down I90 where the accident occurred, you have no idea what kind of fog they were in.

i was pretty close


but now they're saying 2 accidents, total of around 100 cars, 2 deaths

[Ryan5UW]

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why did i need to slow down? i could easily see the cars in front of me

maybe you should suggest that people learn to leave some stopping distance between the cars in front of them

Um, you need to slow down because you aren't the only car on the road. You might be able to see everyone just fine, but that won't do you any good when someone who can't see you changes lanes right in front of you. Does it benefit you to see them as you crash into them, or do they benefit from not seeing you as they get hit?

[jerrod]

the visibility was fine on 94, that was my point


but if it was so bad on 90, people should have slowed down and left more room.

[soboMP3]

Ok cool. Your initial post sounded like you were going through bad fog passing people with their hazards on, as if you were a badass mofo or something. I drive fast myself, but only when conditions permit. As soon as I hit Sheboygan's fog, I had imagery of that crash from 5 years ago in my head and slowed the hell down.

[jerrod]

Ok cool. Your initial post sounded like you were going through bad fog passing people with their hazards on, as if you were a badass mofo or something. I drive fast myself, but only when conditions permit. As soon as I hit Sheboygan's fog, I had imagery of that crash from 5 years ago in my head and slowed the hell down.

i don't know what i said that made you think that, i drive pretty cautiously because i have a tiny car and a collision with a bigger car wouldn't end well.


i'm just still shocked over how many cars were involved

[Ryan5UW]

Ok cool. Your initial post sounded like you were going through bad fog passing people with their hazards on, as if you were a badass mofo or something. I drive fast myself, but only when conditions permit. As soon as I hit Sheboygan's fog, I had imagery of that crash from 5 years ago in my head and slowed the hell down.

Yeah, that's what I thought too. My bad...

[jerrod]

i didn't word it very well


anyways, this morning i'm reading 50 people taken to hospitals, 3 with life threatening injuries but still only the 2 deaths.

for that many cars on a highway, i think 2 is kinda lucky

[dogswithbeesintheirmouths]

I didn't really think the fog was that bad, it was not undrivable anyway. It was certainly much thicker around Johnson Creek than in Madison. The problem is a combination of people driving too fast without being alert enough, people idiotically slamming on their brakes instead of letting off the gas when they can't see well enough, and people who don't know how to work their car's defogger.

It took me about half an hour to go the 2 miles from Buckeye road to the beltline, as I was pretty close to when they first shut down I90. Of course for some reason they closed it down to 1 lane a short distance before the beltline exit, which is a 2 lane exit.