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| 2004.01.30 - Pile-up on the way home | ||
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< Back to Currently I drive from Olympia to Tacoma every day on the way home from work, primarily on I-5. Its pretty crowded most days, but on Friday, its usually lighter. On this day, though, a heavier than normal rain was making the drive a little slower than normal, and it was fairly filled in. All of a sudden, the clouds ahead of us opened up into blue sky, and while we were still being rained on, we were left looking through the water into the direct sunlight... it was so bright that my eyes hurt. When I looked at the road ahead of me, it would wash out in a purplish afterglow... it was nasty. |
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The picture on the left was before the sun started shining and before
everyone tightened up... I dropped back, and was going to get off the highway - people couldn't see, and I thought that if something happened, it was going to be UGLY. I probably had 20 car lengths ahead of me... I'd been in a similar situation before, but this time there was no grassy median... But, before I could pull off, I saw the top of a semi dart to the right, then back to the left. It was too bright to see any break lights, but I new in my gut what was going on... |
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I let off the gas, and started looking for "escape routes". In about 30 seconds, with lots of squealing and swerving, and squeezing by people, it was over. Cars all around me hit each other, almost seeming to play tag. In the picture on the right, the car in front of me had hit the minivan, and the "A+" general contracting truck had been rear ended, and the gaggle of cars in front of the truck all piled into each other... there were wrecks in front of me, and behind me... I managed to not get hit! |
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The cloud that blocked the sun didn't show up until the wreck was over, of
course! The blue patch was right in front of the sun, letting it
shine directly on us. The contrast between the bright of the sun, with the darkness of where we were, and the water made it nearly impossible to see, and in the end 60 cars, 8 semis, and 3 busses were caught up in the wreck... it was amazing! There were only a few of us in the area that managed to escape without a dent... or worse! An Army convoy was caught up in the wreck, so an Army medic ran up and down the road, checking for any life-threatening injuries... there weren't any. Within 5 minutes, the fire department was on site, and the folks who needed it were getting medical assistance... |
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I couldn't imagine how they were going to sort out who did what to whom
for the insurance...
The WSDOT truck was on the scene in minutes, directing folks either to a collection area, or past the wreck. |
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A soldier walks along the wreck, looking for military-related folks
involved in the wreck... it happed about 2 exits away from Ft Lewis. I don't think they're going to sell that van any time soon... |
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The wreck literally stretched on for more than a mile... there were 8
general "wrecks", in groups of a dozen or so, all part of one big one. Only a couple of vehicles in the Army's convoy were involved... most ducked off the road when it started happening, and avoided the forray. |
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This is one wreck I will remember for a long, long time!
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