BuffJim Posted February 11, 2021 Share #1 Posted February 11, 2021 I saw a picture on Twitter of a 100+ car pileup north of Fort Worth. What’s going on in Texas? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted February 11, 2021 Share #2 Posted February 11, 2021 2 minutes ago, BuffJim said: I saw a picture on Twitter of a 100+ car pileup north of Fort Worth. What’s going on in Texas? Most of the US is "north of Fort Worth". Why is it Jsharr's fault and not @Kzoo's????? 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Guest Posted February 11, 2021 Popular Post Share #3 Posted February 11, 2021 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffJim Posted February 11, 2021 Author Share #4 Posted February 11, 2021 I’m not good at cutting and pasting on my iPhone (I’m sure it can be done) but the local CBS Dallas Twitter Feed was posting Ice Ice Baby a few hours ago and is now posting Pray. Pray Hard. Pictures are pretty unreal. C40BAC67-D894-4F65-84B6-F0B7660428C9.webp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted February 11, 2021 Share #5 Posted February 11, 2021 5 dead so far and the highway is closed for the rest of the day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 11, 2021 Share #6 Posted February 11, 2021 So here is the scoop Down here, rain or sleet or snow falls, melts on contact and then when temps drop or enough stuff falls, it refreezes hockey rink style into black ice. From what I hear, this is very different than what happens up North, where the snow and ice remain crunchy and can be driven on. What happened overnight was sporadic bands of precipitation moving through much of Texas and causing bands of icy roads. We have almost none in our hood, but less than a mile away we have a flipped semi truck and tons of accidents. It is not that Texans cannot drive in snow, it is the fact that we get tons of black ice and nobody can drive on black ice. Secondly, we do not have enough brine, sand and salt trucks to cover all streets. So major overpasses and highways get brined ahead of time and sanded after the fact, but often only after something horrific like the pile up in Fort Worth happens. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Some Old Guy Posted February 11, 2021 Share #7 Posted February 11, 2021 The Weather Channel says the temp in Fort Worth was 24 F with light freezing rain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffJim Posted February 11, 2021 Author Share #8 Posted February 11, 2021 I’ve always believed it’s the condition of the roads that matters much more than the skill of the drivers. Of course some people drive too fast in dangerous conditions. We use a lot of salt here and it makes a big difference. Not a fan of sand or cinders that some locations use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Some Old Guy Posted February 11, 2021 Share #9 Posted February 11, 2021 19 minutes ago, maddmaxx said: 5 dead so far and the highway is closed for the rest of the day. And 36 or so sent to the hospital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Some Old Guy Posted February 11, 2021 Share #10 Posted February 11, 2021 2 hours ago, BuffJim said: I saw a picture on Twitter of a 100+ car pileup north of Fort Worth. What’s going on in Texas? The pics on the Weather Channel seem to show quite a few semi trucks as part of the 100 vehicle count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 11, 2021 Share #11 Posted February 11, 2021 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Some Old Guy Posted February 11, 2021 Share #12 Posted February 11, 2021 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffJim Posted February 11, 2021 Author Share #13 Posted February 11, 2021 Yowza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheep_herder ★ Posted February 11, 2021 Share #14 Posted February 11, 2021 Texas is not the only place unfortunate enough to have black ice. It occurs through the west and I assume other areas with the right melting, etc. conditions. Situations become much worse as the density of traffic increases. Out here, mostly results in slide offs or sometimes roll overs, but in some instances smaller pileups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted February 11, 2021 Share #15 Posted February 11, 2021 53 minutes ago, jsharr said: So here is the scoop Down here, rain or sleet or snow falls, melts on contact and then when temps drop or enough stuff falls, it refreezes hockey rink style into black ice. From what I hear, this is very different than what happens up North, where the snow and ice remain crunchy and can be driven on. What happened overnight was sporadic bands of precipitation moving through much of Texas and causing bands of icy roads. We have almost none in our hood, but less than a mile away we have a flipped semi truck and tons of accidents. It is not that Texans cannot drive in snow, it is the fact that we get tons of black ice and nobody can drive on black ice. Secondly, we do not have enough brine, sand and salt trucks to cover all streets. So major overpasses and highways get brined ahead of time and sanded after the fact, but often only after something horrific like the pile up in Fort Worth happens. Nope. Black Ice is common up north. What is less common (but not impossible) is that drivers slow down a bit and stay farther away from each other. I assume that Texans are still driving like they were riding the bull at the local bar. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 11, 2021 Share #16 Posted February 11, 2021 1 minute ago, maddmaxx said: Nope. Black Ice is common up north. What is less common (but not impossible) is that drivers slow down a bit and stay farther away from each other. I assume that Texans are still driving like they were riding the bull at the local bar. There is a good chance of that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted February 11, 2021 Share #17 Posted February 11, 2021 1 hour ago, jsharr said: There is a good chance of that. There are some here too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikeguy Posted February 11, 2021 Share #18 Posted February 11, 2021 6 hours ago, jsharr said: Down here, rain or sleet or snow falls, melts on contact and then when temps drop or enough stuff falls, it refreezes hockey rink style into black ice. From what I hear, this is very different than what happens up North, where the snow and ice remain crunchy and can be driven on. We have black ice up north... We also have hundreds of these trucks. They spray all of the bridge surfaces with liquid salt BEFORE there is black ice. Trust me you do not want to follow one of these when they are spraying out the liquid salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge ★ Posted February 12, 2021 Share #19 Posted February 12, 2021 6 hours ago, maddmaxx said: Nope. Black Ice is common up north. What is less common (but not impossible) is that drivers slow down a bit and stay farther away from each other. I assume that Texans are still driving like they were riding the bull at the local bar. It's tough to realize you've got black ice under you until it's too late no matter where you're from. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted February 12, 2021 Share #20 Posted February 12, 2021 What a mess, a shame people died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikeguy Posted February 12, 2021 Share #21 Posted February 12, 2021 6 minutes ago, smudge said: t's tough to realize you've got black ice under you until it's too late no matter where you're from. Been there done that... more than I want to remember. Once, I was driving my 1977 Z28 in the winter to work. Not the best kind of car for ice and/or snow. To test to see how slippery it was... I use to tap on the gas pedal and if the tachometer would jump, I knew the rear wheels were slipping. I'd push down on the clutch and ride it out until I had traction again. Anyway... I was on a 4 lane highway, came over the top of a hill, to see about 10 cars smashed together, and many in the ditch. There was no way to stop, I just aimed for an open snowy area along the right side of the road. I made it into the snow and missed the huge wreck. I then tried to move left before I was burred in a huge snow drift. I was moving fast enough (momentum can help sometimes) I got back to the side of the road, and was not stuck.... I missed everything. It was a miracle.... That said.. some of the cars behind me weren't so lucky. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted February 12, 2021 Share #22 Posted February 12, 2021 9 hours ago, BuffJim said: I saw a picture on Twitter of a 100+ car pileup north of Fort Worth. What’s going on in Texas? 100+ car pileup or so I hear. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikeguy Posted February 12, 2021 Share #23 Posted February 12, 2021 5 minutes ago, Philander Seabury said: 100+ car pileup or so I hear. 133 car/trucks and so far 6 dead. Many more injured... https://www.dallasnews.com/news/weather/2021/02/11/winter-weather-causes-hazardous-conditions-on-north-texas-roads/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 12, 2021 Share #24 Posted February 12, 2021 So that road is a tollway. It had not been sanded or salted or brined and it has walls on both sides, no shoulder and I believe is narrows where wreck occurred. Perfect storm. Gov't finger pointing has already begun, just hours after the wreck. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge ★ Posted February 12, 2021 Share #25 Posted February 12, 2021 Perfect storm indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted February 12, 2021 Share #26 Posted February 12, 2021 13 hours ago, BuffJim said: I’m not good at cutting and pasting on my iPhone (I’m sure it can be done) but the local CBS Dallas Twitter Feed was posting Ice Ice Baby a few hours ago and is now posting Pray. Pray Hard. Pictures are pretty unreal. C40BAC67-D894-4F65-84B6-F0B7660428C9.webp 77.44 kB · 5 downloads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted February 12, 2021 Share #27 Posted February 12, 2021 10 hours ago, Clark said: Egad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted February 12, 2021 Share #28 Posted February 12, 2021 8 hours ago, smudge said: It's tough to realize you've got black ice under you until it's too late no matter where you're from. Sometimes true, but paying attention to conditions might provide some advanced warnings to be cautious. It did happen to me once when I wasn't paying attention. Fortunately much of the New York Throughway has no guard rails close to the pavement so the cars in front of me who had locked up their brakes tended to be self cleaning off the road. Then the trick was not to use the brakes so that a vestige of steering was left to try to avoid the worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge ★ Posted February 12, 2021 Share #29 Posted February 12, 2021 1 hour ago, maddmaxx said: Sometimes true, but paying attention to conditions might provide some advanced warnings to be cautious. It did happen to me once when I wasn't paying attention. Fortunately much of the New York Throughway has no guard rails close to the pavement so the cars in front of me who had locked up their brakes tended to be self cleaning off the road. Then the trick was not to use the brakes so that a vestige of steering was left to try to avoid the worst. It's Texas. They aren't accustomed to watching out for ice of any sort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parr8hed Posted February 12, 2021 Share #30 Posted February 12, 2021 If any of you are on the facebooks there is some absolutely horrific video of the semi trucks not able to stop, just barreling into the crashed cars. There is a particular fed ex semi truck (that from the looks of the video is going waaaaaaaay too fast) and it just smashed full-speed into a bunch of wrecked cars. It's truly hard to watch because you know that you are watching people lose their lives. Perfect storm indeed. I left work Wens and we were in the middle of an ice storm. Turned a 25 min drive home on a nice easy stretch of interstate into a very treacherous drive. Semi trucks were tailgating everyone, driving way too fast for those conditions on a sheet of ice. I actually got off the highway and took back roads home, I consider myself a good driver but the semis out there scared the shit out of me. And that doesn't happen often. It took me about an hour and a half to get home. I wish people could just slow the fuck down in bad conditions. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prophet Zacharia Posted February 12, 2021 Share #31 Posted February 12, 2021 I was driving from Miami to Philadelphia in December, 1990. Left Florida in 80 degree temperatures, drove all night, reached Baltimore just around daybreak. Looked ahead on I-95 to see nothing but brake lights and stand-still traffic. With good fortune, the exit to I-895 was just in front of us, we’d take the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel and bypass the accident and be home in time for breakfast! What we didn’t know was that it was ice that had caused the accident on 95, and as we came around a curve on the on-ramp (a giant bridge), there was ice on 895, too. In front of us were two cars, spinning in the middle of the two lane road. There was no way to stop and no where to go. We aimed for but the hole between the spinning cars, but that closed on us as the two cars spun together, blocking the entire road. We coasted about 1/4 mile before walking back to the accident scene, we didn’t want to get rear-ended by the next car. I think we were car #3 in a 26 car pile-up before it was all over. Spent the morning in the Harbor Tunnel administration building, waiting for family to reach us. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheep_herder ★ Posted February 12, 2021 Share #32 Posted February 12, 2021 At times, back roads are your friends. In bad weather, I normally get off the interstate and travel the old highway between Columbus and Park City, MT. Often wrecks in both lanes of the interstate in that stretch. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted February 12, 2021 Share #33 Posted February 12, 2021 1 hour ago, Prophet Zacharia said: I was driving from Miami to Philadelphia in December, 1990. Left Florida in 80 degree temperatures, drove all night, reached Baltimore just around daybreak. Looked ahead on I-95 to see nothing but brake lights and stand-still traffic. With good fortune, the exit to I-895 was just in front of us, we’d take the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel and bypass the accident and be home in time for breakfast! What we didn’t know was that it was ice that had caused the accident on 95, and as we came around a curve on the on-ramp (a giant bridge), there was ice on 895, too. In front of us were two cars, spinning in the middle of the two lane road. There was no way to stop and no where to go. We aimed for but the hole between the spinning cars, but that closed on us as the two cars spun together, blocking the entire road. We coasted about 1/4 mile before walking back to the accident scene, we didn’t want to get rear-ended by the next car. I think we were car #3 in a 26 car pile-up before it was all over. Spent the morning in the Harbor Tunnel administration building, waiting for family to reach us. My event was just the opposite. I was aiming for the point where two spinning cars were touching each other because I thought it was going to be the softest place to land. They spun apart just before I got there and through the gap I squirted. Luck is sometimes blind chance favoring good decisions. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 12, 2021 Share #34 Posted February 12, 2021 3 hours ago, smudge said: It's Texas. They aren't accustomed to watching out for ice of any sort. Yes we are! We demand lots of ice in our iced tea. Preferrably ice from Sonic! We also like ice in margaritas on the rocks and in any sort of Coke. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted February 12, 2021 Share #35 Posted February 12, 2021 4 hours ago, smudge said: It's Texas. They aren't accustomed to watching out for ice of any sort. That does seem a cop out as we pretty much annually discuss the poor driving of folks in Texas or the south during wintry weather. Add on top the presence of big rigs ("professional" drivers) and it's hard to believe it is just folks not knowing the roads could be in bad shape. I'm not sure what Texas DOT does to treat the roads - if anything - or if they bother with highway signage, but in 2021, with a fair level of certainty that cold and ice were on the way, it almost seems criminal that such a pile-up could happen Heck, even a cell phone broadcast message a few times that day prior to and during the storm/weather event would have been appropriate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parr8hed Posted February 12, 2021 Share #36 Posted February 12, 2021 39 minutes ago, Razors Edge said: That does seem a cop out as we pretty much annually discuss the poor driving of folks in Texas or the south during wintry weather. Add on top the presence of big rigs ("professional" drivers) and it's hard to believe it is just folks not knowing the roads could be in bad shape. I'm not sure what Texas DOT does to treat the roads - if anything - or if they bother with highway signage, but in 2021, with a fair level of certainty that cold and ice were on the way, it almost seems criminal that such a pile-up could happen Heck, even a cell phone broadcast message a few times that day prior to and during the storm/weather event would have been appropriate. It makes one wonder how it even started? Who was the first jackass to wreck, and why? No doubt a cowboys fan I bet. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted February 12, 2021 Share #37 Posted February 12, 2021 Up north we just have more experience driving on the stuff and it doesn't hurt have the equipment and the materials to take care of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikeguy Posted February 12, 2021 Share #38 Posted February 12, 2021 12 hours ago, sheep_herder said: At times, back roads are your friends. In bad weather, I normally get off the interstate and travel the old highway between Columbus and Park City, MT. Often wrecks in both lanes of the interstate in that stretch. During a snow storm, most of the time I use the state highways and skip the interstate. Some of the county highways are OK, it depends... sometimes about how fast and which direction the wind is blowing. Some roads drift over more. Now that I'm retired... I just stay home. I had to drive in the worst weather all of the time for work. Now I rather just wait for a few hours or days whatever it takes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted February 13, 2021 Share #39 Posted February 13, 2021 45 minutes ago, Bikeguy said: Now that I'm retired... I just stay home. I had to drive in the worst weather all of the time for work. I remember a few times waking up at 3am so Wo46 and I could clear snow so we could make it to work on time. One time we had 19 inches of snow and still expected to be at work 4:30am 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BR46 Posted February 13, 2021 Popular Post Share #40 Posted February 13, 2021 We don't miss those days 3 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted February 13, 2021 Share #41 Posted February 13, 2021 1 hour ago, BR46 said: One time we had 19 inches of snow and still expected to be at work 4:30am Well, yeah! It is Wisconsin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted February 13, 2021 Share #42 Posted February 13, 2021 9 hours ago, BR46 said: Up north we just have more experience driving on the stuff and it doesn't hurt have the equipment and the materials to take care of it. Our lowlands hardly ever get snow (this week excluded) so the city and counties don't invest in much cold weather equipment and if they do -- seems it all goes up to keep the ski resorts open. Most folks don't understand that black ice is a serious issue and we live in a very hilly region. Storms come in and dump a lot of moisture, then a cold front comes in and freezes the wet, hilly roads and then snow is dumped on top of it. Often the next day or two it will heat up enough to melt the pack and then refreeze again over night. I guess what I'm saying is things aren't flat around here and folks aren't used to driving in it -- and those that do are overconfident mofos w/ 4x4 rigs that end up in the ditch. Even with your skill set as a driver and your understanding and experience driving in ice and snow, I think you are taking your life into your own hands if you came out here to drive in it. It's not you that'd I'd be concerned about -- it's them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted February 13, 2021 Share #43 Posted February 13, 2021 9 minutes ago, Dottles said: . It's not you that'd I'd be concerned about -- it's them I was in Georgia when they got a small amount of snow and ice and I seen some people do everything wrong that you can do wrong for driving in ice and snow. In 3 inches of snow my son showed up for work and security was surprised that he made it to work. He told me that the guys that showed up where the guy who grew up in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prophet Zacharia Posted February 13, 2021 Share #44 Posted February 13, 2021 9 hours ago, BR46 said: I was in Georgia when they got a small amount of snow and ice and I seen some people do everything wrong that you can do wrong for driving in ice and snow. I was driving from DC to Baltimore and people were abandoning their cars on the side of the road for 1/4 inch of snow. Took me about 3 hours to get home. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted February 13, 2021 Share #45 Posted February 13, 2021 48 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said: I was driving from DC to Baltimore and people were abandoning their cars on the side of the road for 1/4 inch of snow. Took me about 3 hours to get home. Meanwhile driving to work in the UP. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted February 13, 2021 Share #46 Posted February 13, 2021 On 2/12/2021 at 9:46 AM, Razors Edge said: That does seem a cop out as we pretty much annually discuss the poor driving of folks in Texas or the south during wintry weather. Add on top the presence of big rigs ("professional" drivers) and it's hard to believe it is just folks not knowing the roads could be in bad shape. I'm not sure what Texas DOT does to treat the roads - if anything - or if they bother with highway signage, but in 2021, with a fair level of certainty that cold and ice were on the way, it almost seems criminal that such a pile-up could happen Heck, even a cell phone broadcast message a few times that day prior to and during the storm/weather event would have been appropriate. From what I have observed, "professional" drivers are a pale shadow of what they used to be. There are far too many kids blowing stop signs and using the truck like an "I'm bigger than you are" weapon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffJim Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share #47 Posted February 14, 2021 Another bad one in Texas today. I-10 near El Paso. NASCAR Fever. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 15, 2021 Share #48 Posted February 15, 2021 Ryan and I went for a drive and a walk. We may or may not have done a donut or two in the golf course parking lotRyan and I went for a drive and a walk. We may or may not have done a donut or two in the golf course parking lot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 15, 2021 Share #49 Posted February 15, 2021 9 degrees is cold to my thin Texican blood n Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted February 15, 2021 Share #50 Posted February 15, 2021 8 minutes ago, jsharr said: 9 degrees is cold to my thin Texican blood n If you are out in the cold long enough the blood thickens up naturally. .....that's why we drink so much it to thin the blood out naturally 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now