http://rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/index/article/718/6/*http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...e=6&u=/ap/20021104/ap_on_re_us/highway_pileup LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) - Authorities said drivers were going too fast for foggy conditions before a massive freeway pileup of nearly 200 cars and big-rig trucks that injured 41 people, nine critically. California Highway Patrol Officer Joseph Pace said visibility was down to about 50 feet in heavy fog when the chain-reaction crashes began just before 7 a.m. Sunday on the Long Beach Freeway. There were 194 vehicles involved, including seven or eight big rigs. The freeway, about 25 miles south of Los Angeles, was shut down for nearly 11 hours before it was reopened. "It looked like bumper cars," said Lorne Whittle, who was heading to work in his sport utility vehicle when he found himself approaching the wreckage. "I stopped and then cars started bouncing off each other." Another driver, Butch Onesto, said he hit the brakes to avoid the crash but his car was struck by three others. "Something told me to get out of the car. I kicked open the passenger door, climbed out and ran," said Onesto, who was uninjured. Seconds later, a car smashed in the driver's side of his car, he said. Another car ended up on his car's roof. By late Sunday, a 77-year-old woman remained hospitalized in critical condition and a 33-year-old woman was in intensive care. Six other people also remained hospitalized. The rest were treated for minor injuries and released.
It is amazing that something like this hasnt happened in Houston the way people drive in horrible conditions.
daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayamn......Body shops in the Long Beach area are salivating right now...
Okay. To politicize this event.... It's accidents like this that are why I feel that if people really cared about other people getting hurt needlessly they should work to make stricter "car" or "driving" laws as opposed to gun laws. A car accident is much more randon and, therefor, much more scary (to me!) then getting shot! If a criminal has a gun, they know it's a deadly weapon (which is why I say blame the shooter and not the gun). Most drivers, on the other hand, have no clue that they are controlling one of the most deadly devices ever invented by man. And even if they do know, they don't think they'll get into a wreck (who ever does?) so they drive reckless even when they know better. As a result you are far more likely to get hurt (or killed) in an auto accident then shot - people just don't realize (or think about) how dangerous cars are. You might say that cars are necessary to society and you'd be right. However, reckless and unsafe driving are not necessary to society. If you lowered the speed limits and revoked drivers liscenses of people who drove recklessly (ran stoplights or stopsigns, weaved in and out of traffic, etc...) then far fewer people would get hurt (assuming the laws were enforced - which is another discussion!). Everyone on this board has known someone who has been in or affected by an auto accident but I bet far fewer know people who have been affected by gun crime. One reason I feel that people focus on guns (as opposed to other things that kill tons of people) is that its easy to make laws that take away other people's freedoms and much harder to support laws that would take away YOUR freedoms. I know quite a few people that are very anti-gun but drive fast and reckless. They have no problem outlawing guns but don't you dare interfere with their "right" to drive the way they wish, even if driving more responsibility would save lives. If the same amount of people hurt in this accident had been hurt by a gun wielding psychopath, people would be screaming for stricter gun laws (witness the DC sniper). But because it's "just" cars, people just say "how sad" without screaming for more "car" laws. Just my rant!
Ummm, Chase...visibility was down to 50 feet because of early morning fog. Should we make it illegal to drive when there is fog on the road? I don't have any numbers handy, but I'd be willing to bet that 80% of traffic accidents that cause injuries or deaths are attributable someone driving whilel on alcohol or drugs. These "unsafe drivers" you speak of are more a nuisance than anything. Personally, I don't know anybody that runs red lights or stop signs on purpose. In fact, I recently had to take a defensive driving course after getting a ticket, and speeding isn't even one of the top five causes of traffic accidents. People driving too SLOWLY is, though...
Not illegal to drive when there is fog, but the article stated that people were driving too fast. Maybe fluctuating speedlimits based on conditions. I.e. When it's raining, have those new signs indicate the speed limit is now only 45 MPH. This pileup probably wouldn't have happened if people were driving at a reasonable speed. But your post illustrates one of the things that I'm arguing against. You are making up an excuse for this accident when the fact of the matter is people were driving too fast for the conditions. According to the article "Authorities said drivers were going too fast for foggy conditions...". There are no good reasons for people to drive fast in foggy conditions. A lot of people got hurt and even more people were inconvenienced because some jerk just couldn't slow down. As far as accidents caused by drinking or drugs.... that furthers reinforces my point. Those people would be considered reckless drivers and should have their liscence taken away immediatly. If they are caught driving without a liscence they should do jail time. People's lives are at stake here. Only recently (since the 80's) has society even taken drunk driving seriously and that's only because some moms lost children to drunk drivers and formed a club! But the main point in my original post was that people want to make up all sorts of unreasonable gun laws (regardless if they would actually work, are practical or are enforcable) and get really mad when gun rights people counteract their arguments. To a gun person, registering guns (or ballistic fingerprinting or whatever) is just as unreasonable as outlawing driving in the fog. Stupid laws sound great if YOU don't have to follow or enforce them. But don't you dare make a law that requires me to drive slow. Shoot, we lower the speed limit to make the air for everyone better and people can't drive the new speed. It's just too inconvenient - damn the lives lost or the environment. Also, FYI, until very recently I never owned a gun nor had any desire to. I own a bunch of guns now because my father-in-law was killed recently - in a car accident. He and his family have owned guns for generations with no gun accidents or injuries (at least in his lifetime) but a car crash got him. So now I've got a bunch of guns (that I don't even want) but no father-in-law.
