Amost bone dry

[SeaRay245se]

We had a huge pile up on I71 down south by Mansfield Ohio during a snow storm last week or so and the highway patrol said the same thing,they think the weather played a big part in it......REALLY YA THINK....The police don't seem to be the brightest bulbs in the pack these days.

[DrivenDaily]

The weather didn't cause the accidents, the drivers did. They did not adjust for the conditions. There were other drivers who adjusted and weren't involved.

The weather can cause an accident if it suddenly and unexpectedly changes otherwise normal conditions into something like a white-out. But barring the suddenness of something that was unforeseen and/or not forecast, the weather was expected and apparent before everyone got on the road.

[Dilatory]

It's easy to sit back and say what should've happened when an accident like this is mentioned but people are human and invariably someone will make a mistake eventually and if you're really unlucky you can be the one person that sets off something like this, you can't always account for everything the guy driving beside you will do. Add a nice smooth sheet of ice, snow and the busiest highway in North America and eventually something is going to happen, never mind the possibility of mechanical failures.

My two cents is don't throw stones if you live in a glass house, nobody is perfect.

[DrivenDaily]

Not perfect, not throwing stones.

I've driven in conditions like that and been very scared, but I also adjusted my driving style to suit the conditions.

I agree about not being able to make adjustments for what the guy beside you does, but then again, the weather didn't cause him to hit you, he did. (In most cases...)

Like I said, barring stuff like a sudden, unexpected onset of a blizzard or severe rain, or the dangerous black ice that you don't know about until you're on top of it, if there weren't any drivers out there, there wouldn't be any accidents. Add a car or two (or a whole passel of 'em) and now you have a bunch of folks with extremely varied driving abilities and someone is gonna be the cause of any accident.

If weather could cause the accident all by itself then it would also have the keys to your car and you wouldn't be in control. So, the driver is the one who loses control due to lack of awareness, or lack of ability, or suddenly coming upon severe conditions, or some combination of those.

Not throwing stones, just making a case for keeping from blaming the weather (or as some say, God) without due process. ("Due process" can also be known as "thinking ability".)

[BobX2]

Before this gets totally out of control (no weather involved), lets revisit the statement.
"police are looking into today’s blast of winter weather as a possible factor in the crashes"
No where is it saying that the weather was the sole, root cause or that there was no human factor involved.
There is no doubt, or denying, that the weather was a factor. A clear, sunny day and this accident doesn't happen.
This is starting to take the humor out of posting what started out as a funny comment.

[Dilatory]

Originally Posted by DrivenDaily

Not perfect, not throwing stones.

I've driven in conditions like that and been very scared, but I also adjusted my driving style to suit the conditions.

I agree about not being able to make adjustments for what the guy beside you does, but then again, the weather didn't cause him to hit you, he did. (In most cases...)

Like I said, barring stuff like a sudden, unexpected onset of a blizzard or severe rain, or the dangerous black ice that you don't know about until you're on top of it, if there weren't any drivers out there, there wouldn't be any accidents. Add a car or two (or a whole passel of 'em) and now you have a bunch of folks with extremely varied driving abilities and someone is gonna be the cause of any accident.

If weather could cause the accident all by itself then it would also have the keys to your car and you wouldn't be in control. So, the driver is the one who loses control due to lack of awareness, or lack of ability, or suddenly coming upon severe conditions, or some combination of those.

Not throwing stones, just making a case for keeping from blaming the weather (or as some say, God) without due process. ("Due process" can also be known as "thinking ability".)

Sorry if my response seemed to single you out Driven, it wasn't my intention. I agree with you on all points, you just have that unaccountable chance of something stupid happening. The 401 is a scary enough highway without having to deal with weather. Some seriously bad drivers on that mother.

[cp-the-nerd]

I'm with DrivenDaily. People need to know their limits and stay home when bad weather is coming. When there's snow and ice in the forecast, I'm more scared of other drivers than the weather. People are just so damn stupid! They practically drive with one foot on the brake and one on the gas when there's snow falling, and brakes are your worst enemy in slick conditions.

Now obviously weather was a factor, but only because people drive like they're brain-dead.

[09LT2]

I definitely understand what driven is saying. People cut in and out of lanes during dry weather, and they continue to do it in snowy weather. People are just selfish and ignorant for constantly wanting to go faster and get ahead of everyone else. If people drove with sufficient spacing between cars, this pileup would not happen, and if it did, would be much less severe bc people would have a greater distance to slow down.

Another big problem is tires. There are no requirements for how good your tires are to drive on the roads (except at 2/32nds they are "legally bald"). People are driving in these treacherous conditions with basically racing slicks bc either they cant afford snow tires or they are too cheap to pay for them. Its one thing to risk your own life but its another to put all the rest of the drivers on the road at risk like in this pileup. I think there should be accountability and some form of inspection to drive on public roads. (I know some states have it already).

Ok, stepping off my soap box lol.