On Sat, 24 Nov 2012 08:10:01 -0800 (PST), harry
wrote:

On Nov 24, 3:37*pm, "Pete C." wrote:
wrote:

On Fri, 23 Nov 2012 19:28:04 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:

wrote:

On Fri, 23 Nov 2012 15:44:52 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

Been lucky I guess. *Only a few times I was caught in heavy fog or
rain/snow on the interstate. *Seems very few people passed me when I
put on my blinkers and went as slow as about 20 mph. * But I could see
maybe 15-30 feet.
Must be terrible to find yourself in zero visibility. *Only thing I
can figure with the big Texas pile-up damage is folks went from good
visibility into a wall of fog that was already pile up with crashed
vehicles.
When I hitch-hiked from Norfolk to Chicago in the '60's I picked up a
ride with dead-heading trucker late at night. *Mack pulling an empty
flatbed.
Never forget it. *Our talking was what kept him from nodding off.
Penn turnpike near Beaver Falls. *Fog for about 20 miles, maybe 50 ft
visibility.
He never went below 80. *Took a year off my life.
I said goodbye at his first fuel stop, out of the fog. *But I wanted
away from him.

A good driver will pull on the shoulder and park when the fog gets as
bad as it did in Texas. *I'd rather lose a few hours, than get killed or
my car wrecked. *Then again, when the fog is that bad, I avoid getting
on a freeway, or get off the nearest ramp when it begins. *Some drivers
have no brains.

The accident may well have begun with someone who pulled to the shoulder
and parked and thus when the next person suddenly found themselves in
dense fog they followed the tail lights directly into that stopped
vehicle. Fog can appear very suddenly and a road that had great
visibility can have a fog bank blow over it from an adjacent area in
seconds. The area in question is reported to be straight and level, a
75mph zone and have some adjacent marsh areas where the fog likely
rolled in from. Exits are miles apart.

Merely speculation, unless you have personally spoken to the person who
was first in the crash. *I'd probably to be the first to intentionally
drive off the road into a corn field if the fog was that bad. *I'd
rather pay for a tow than get into a crash like that. *A marsh.....
well, that's another story!

Getting well off the road, and turning off your lights so other drivers
do not follow your tail lights thinking that's where the road is would
be sensible.



By the way, I think 75mph is TOO fast for any highway, anywhere,
anytime.

Total nonsense, may have been correct in the days of the Model T, but
certainly not for any modern auto.

I also learned when I took drivers ed (about 44 years ago),
that a person should maintain a distance of one car length for every 10
mph of travel,

More nonsense. Following distance needs to account for your reaction
time and the potential delta between your braking distance and that of
the vehicle in front of you. This does not need to take speed into
account since speed affects both your vehicle and the one in front of
you. If you are in a big truck and following a small car you need more
following distance since the vehicle you are following can stop in a
shorter distance than you can. Conversely if you are in a small car
following a large truck you need less following distance since you can
stop in a shorter distance than the vehicle you are following.


The drivers aren't thinking simultaneously.. It is a cascade effect.

That's what he said, dummy.

The first driver has finished his thinking process before the second
one starts his.
So you are the one talking crap.

No, harry, once again you're proving yourself to be the illiterate old
git that you are. Do try to read.