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R6MGS

R6MGS

Yoda
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Weird Driving experience this morning; It's about 6:30 am, I am driving into work on the highway, traffic's crawlin at about 30km...It's still dark out and I start to notice the cars ahead of me disappear, kinda like something from the twilight zone - just completely disappearing. So I keep moving and just before I get to the point where the cars are disappearing the car infront of me disappears! Now I can just barely see a thick cloud in my headlights in the road infront of me and in the opposing lanes a transport truck is on fire against the guardrail, billowing a cloud of thick black smoke...Next thing I know I am driving in complete darkness, cannot see anything at all. It only lasted like that for about 2 seconds but it felt like forever. I just kept a steady speed not wanting to be hit by the guy behind me, but just waiting to hit the guy infont of me if he decided to slow down or hit the brakes. After emerging from the cloud my windsheild was covered in black stuff that wouldn't come off, a bunch of cars started darting for the shoulder to clean their windsheilds....I opened the window and stuck my head out to see ahead while holding the washers on....Eventually the washers cleared enough of the black greasy stuff off so that I could see....but my headlights were dim all the way in. Once I got into the underground at work I parked and noticed that the entire front end of the car was covered in the black grease.....I wiped the headlights with some tissue but it just smeered, so I used a bit of colone to cut the grease.
I guess that truck that was burning must have had some plastics or something in it that made all that greasy black stuff....and the wind was blowing it right into the opposing traffic....was pretty scary.
 
Here in California we're prone to really thick fog. Sometimes it causes chain-reaction collisions--dozens of cars piled up. The cops then get on their high horses and declare that it's all the fault of people who don't slow down in such conditions, but in fact, the chain reaction was probably started by someone who had instinctively slowed down. I often wonder what I'd do if I suddenly found myself doing 65 in one of those fog banks where you can't see the hood ornament--probably, I'd do what you did: just keep going and hope everyone else is doing the same.
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/iagree.gif It's not the people that don't slow down, rather it's the people that slam on the brakes until they are at a comfortable speed. Unfortunately, their car has already disappeared into a fog bank by the time they react to the thickness of the fog, and well, since they can't be seen in the soup the guy behind them gets the surprise, and then the guy behind him and the guy behind him, and it goes on...

I remember a couple of years back when they had the 99 car pile up on PCH. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonod.gif I think part of the problem with heavy fog in CA is that not everyone in CA deals with it regularly. I mean, I ~might~ have seen fog 2 times in the valley I live in the entire time I've been here, but I'm sure the coastal regions get fog a lot more often than that.

Florida is prone to some heavy fog a ~lot~ more often than what I've seen in my area of CA, and they get fog in all parts of the state. So, most drivers out there know how to deal with it, and know that snap changes in speed will result in accidents.
 
Reminds me of my honeymoon in Fla. Just picked up the rental car and were headed for the hotel. Starting raining cats & dogs. Could not see a thing so I pulled over. When the rain subsided, the apron was lined with cars that did the same thing. Then we move on without a problem.

If were to teach this in defensive driving ya might have less problems. Especially in areas prone to this type of weather.
 
Standard procedure down here for sure. Park it and wait 2 min.
 
I tried cleaning the car up...stuff on there pretty good. I got the windsheild and lights good and clean with some gas line antifreeze...I am gunna wait till the weekend to try and get it off the paint(this is on the caddy). THe jacket I was wearing smells like burnt plastic as well.

We don't get alot of really heavy fog here, occasionally it'll be enough to get annoying, but never enough that you can't see, so most people don't really know how to handle it(most people on the road here can't drive anyway). I watched the news last night waiting to hear about the accidents it caused...but didn't see anything, surprise,surprise.
 
A few years back, a bridge on Interstate 90 in upstate New York, collapsed late one night, as I recall 2, 0r 3 cars made the plunge before someone figured it out and stopped. All the people that went over died.
 
That happened here in Quebec recently....peices of the bridged crushed some cars underneath....don't recall the actual number, but there was quiet a few fatalities. That was actually the first thing that went through my head when the cars started disappearing....Until I reassured myself we where on solid ground, not a bridge.
 
One of the dangers down here is "Florida Ice", the slickness created on a hot day when the oils ooze out of the pavement and you get a little moisture on it. Gets the out-of-staters all the time!
 
One of the dangers of the 'mag chloride' products that we use in northern Colorado instead of salt is very much like your "Florida Ice". The roads can be completely clear except for mag chloride residue, add a little bit of moisture (even morning dew when the conditions are right) or a slight rain (not enough to wash down the street but just enough to get it wet) and the road can be a slippery as black ice. Straight black ice is real fun too. The upside of the mag chloride residue though is that once it starts snowing again, it prevents the black ice from forming. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif It's those 'twilight' periods that can be real fun.
 
I commuted 50 miles each way for years on Florida's Interstates... In the rainy season I'd pick the biggest (read: most mass) 18-wheeler still rollin' and glue me peepers to his tail-lights. No matter WHAT ~he~ impacted, I calculated I was likely to be able to stop before he did... and pull the (insert LBC of choice) car to his outside to prevent being smooshed by following 'motorists'... Never had to test th' assumption, but figured it to be sound enuff to stick to.
 
I hear THAT! It is a little intimidating on I95 though, running alongside one of those big guys in a Bugeye and looking directly at his hub caps! Boy I did that for 80 miles a day for a year or so (Jupiter to Delray). Glad I don't do that any more - so's the bugeye!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
A few years back, a bridge on Interstate 90 in upstate New York, collapsed late one night, as I recall 2, 0r 3 cars made the plunge before someone figured it out and stopped. All the people that went over died.

[/ QUOTE ] dar100, same thing happened here in greenwich ct. locals were complaining for months that the bridge on i-95 was making unusual noises growning-rumbling the dept. of highways did nothing about it, one early morning the thing just fell into the river killing several people. we get very little "fog" around where i live but alot of people seem to always be driving in it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
 
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