http://www.click2houston.com/hou/news/stories/news-185909520021228-121211.html HOUSTON -- Thick fog was being blamed for a 71-vehicle pile up with some catching fire Saturday morning on a Houston tollway that injured dozens of people, authorities said. The accidents happened at about 7 a.m. on the South Sam Houston Tollway (Beltway 8) near U.S. Highway 90 in southwest Houston. Investigators told News2Houston that cars and trucks were stalled in both directions on the Beltway 8. There were no fatalities, but about 30 people were injured and transported to five area hospitals, authorities said. Capt. Ray Valenta of the Harris County Precinct 5 Constable's Office said there were 36 cars wrecked in the westbound lanes and 35 cars wrecked in the eastbound lanes. A constable's office spokesman said all the injuries appeared to be minor. Some vehicles caught fire, but all fires had been extinguished by 10:30 a.m. "You couldn't see anything" because the fog was as thick as "pea soup," said Roger Ealey, 27, of Missouri City, a Houston suburb. Ealey had just dropped off his wife at work and was driving alone when he suddenly came upon the wreckage. He was driving a Geo Metro subcompact, and dove out of the car as he saw it was about to rear-end a pickup. Ealey suffered minor injuries and his car was lodged under the pickup. "The fellow in the truck had his lights off, so I just jumped out before impact," he said.
He jumped out of a moving car going how fast? And the fog was so thick, he could actually see the car in front of him and do it fast enough before the impact? That's one weird story.
Roger Ealey is famous. I've heard this phenomenon dubbed as the "pea soup pileup" on media outlets all around the nation.
