Miracle in the I-35 pileup

[papaof2]

This guy is out of his vehicle and over the barrier in just over a second - just before the semi hits the vehicle.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks0i4OoUUxY

About 2 minutes of mostly slow motion video.

[willc453]

Looked up on who was involved truck driver wise.....figured JB Hunt & FedEx would be involved, but figured England or Knight would be too. Thing is, these happen because people are NOT paying attention to road conditions AND going too fast. And what of those that may of been on their phones....regular & truck drivers? Thing is, I've driven thru conditions like this, with NO chains. Why? Because I didn't know what the chain laws were and believe me, they vary from state to state. Some will tell you they're needed, others say put 'em on if you need 'em (but it's NOT mandatory) and go to the eastern seaboard, NO chains. Period. Picked up a load of beer out of Ft. Collins, Colorado for some place in Wyoming. Found out that when I woke up, we got 3-4 inches of snow. And I'm LOADED weight wise, but legal....barely. Burn off fuel heading north which will reduce my weight some what. I'm taking my time going north....as in 35-45mph with other drivers and vehicles zooming by me. I knew I was doing the right thing when I kept seeing more than one vehicle (no trucks) that had skidded off the road. Got to Wyoming with time to spare as the road got better as I headed north. Got to the beer distributor and next morning backed trailer to their dock which was at an angle. Real bitch in trying to get out of there once I was empty, but got it done. Hit black ice twice while driving.....pulling triples to Tonopah just south of Fallon and pulling a trailer a few miles from Donner Summit. Both times the road APPEARED to be free of ANY ice. Talk about a pucker factor. Thing is, companies are NOT giving their newbies adequate training. England would actually make someone a trainer after they'd been driving by themselves for six months?! There's a Youtube video where the trainee lost control going west bound(?) on Donner. He survived, trainer didn't. When my partner and I would go over Donner, we were chained up, with him driving. I was NOT in the sleeper, but siting right next to him. In case know knew this, there's a seat belt you can use on your rack, along with a safety net that you lock into place just like a seat belt. Got tossed one time when we were in Southern Calif. in clear/good weather. Partner had to hit his brakes to avoid rear ending someone who suddenly decided to cut in front of us. After that, yeah I made sure I was prepared. Was in Illinois(?) at one of our yards and got A LOT of photos of trucks & trailers REALLY messed up, including one that caught fire.

[papaof2]

A long time ago (vehicle was a '95 Camry), I was driving the route that is now I-22 from Atlanta to Memphis (it was US78/278 then). The snow (and some freezing rain) kept getting heavier and I kept driving slower, including a stop for coffee - to melt the ice off the wiper blades.

I quickly caught up with the people who zoomed past me - most of them were either in the median or across the shoulder. By the time we were close to Memphis, I had acquired a long convoy behind me as apparently some people assumed I knew how to drive in that mess. We arrived later than planned but we arrived undamaged, so perhaps I did ;-)

I agree on the "not paying attention" part. If there is a sea of brake lights ahead of you, you should at least kill the cruise and ease off the gas - before you discover that you can't stop. Better to take the shoulder slowly by choice than be forced there at speed.

[9idrr]

Feb 26, 2021 11:24:31 GMT -6 willc453 said:

Looked up on who was involved truck driver wise.....figured JB Hunt & FedEx would be involved, but figured England or Knight would be too. Thing is, these happen because people are NOT paying attention to road conditions AND going too fast. And what of those that may of been on their phones....regular & truck drivers? Thing is, I've driven thru conditions like this, with NO chains. Why? Because I didn't know what the chain laws were and believe me, they vary from state to state. Some will tell you they're needed, others say put 'em on if you need 'em (but it's NOT mandatory) and go to the eastern seaboard, NO chains. Period. Picked up a load of beer out of Ft. Collins, Colorado for some place in Wyoming. Found out that when I woke up, we got 3-4 inches of snow. And I'm LOADED weight wise, but legal....barely. Burn off fuel heading north which will reduce my weight some what. I'm taking my time going north....as in 35-45mph with other drivers and vehicles zooming by me. I knew I was doing the right thing when I kept seeing more than one vehicle (no trucks) that had skidded off the road. Got to Wyoming with time to spare as the road got better as I headed north. Got to the beer distributor and next morning backed trailer to their dock which was at an angle. Real bitch in trying to get out of there once I was empty, but got it done. Hit black ice twice while driving.....pulling triples to Tonopah just south of Fallon and pulling a trailer a few miles from Donner Summit. Both times the road APPEARED to be free of ANY ice. Talk about a pucker factor. Thing is, companies are NOT giving their newbies adequate training. England would actually make someone a trainer after they'd been driving by themselves for six months?! There's a Youtube video where the trainee lost control going west bound(?) on Donner. He survived, trainer didn't. When my partner and I would go over Donner, we were chained up, with him driving. I was NOT in the sleeper, but siting right next to him. In case know knew this, there's a seat belt you can use on your rack, along with a safety net that you lock into place just like a seat belt. Got tossed one time when we were in Southern Calif. in clear/good weather. Partner had to hit his brakes to avoid rear ending someone who suddenly decided to cut in front of us. After that, yeah I made sure I was prepared. Was in Illinois(?) at one of our yards and got A LOT of photos of trucks & trailers REALLY messed up, including one that caught fire.

Boy, didn't the chain monkeys make some good money back in the ol' days? Don't know if there're many guys doin' that any more.