Horrible pictures. Best wishes to all families involved.

I blame Michael Bay.

great, now we can look forward to ANOTHER Final Destination sequel...

/not that I actually mind.. I love those movies...

Sorry, I ate fidels today. My bad, I didn't think it would affect Florida though

Geez... Good thoughts going out to all involved.

/Final Destination came to mind for me, too.
//Not proud.

"Man this smoke and fog is heavy"
"Honey, maybe we should slow down"
"Don't worry, I've got it under control"

"We just hit it, and you couldn't see anything," said Henry

That's the way they roll in Florida.

Lone Stranger: "We just hit it, and you couldn't see anything," said Henry

That's the way they roll in Florida.

you mean, Floriduh?

Flordia, worst drivers period.

And thats coming from a Masshole.

It rains and you'll go by 15 cars in the ditch because they were still going 90mph thinking everything would work out swell.

Ad placement fail...

Why am I not surprised the media blames the fog and smoke, but not the motorists driving too fast and following too closely for the conditions?

fregniacciaro: Ad placement fail...

win

This happened a few weeks ago also in the New Orleans area on I-10 near the Michoud exit. A stubborn marsh fire that could not be extinguished underground created a bank of smoke that crossed I-10 westbound. I believe it was foggy that morning also. The witnesses said that as soon as they entered the smoke, it was too late. I think about 40 vehicles were involved.

Link (accident video)

TyrantII: Flordia, worst drivers period.

And thats coming from a Masshole.

It rains and you'll go by 15 cars in the ditch because they were still going 90mph thinking everything would work out swell.

No, no, no.
When it rains in Florida every idiot slows down to 25 miles an hour on I-95 and puts their hazard lights on.
You know hazard lights, the double blinker thingy that is only supposed to be used when a vehicle is STOPPED.

10 dead...thats awful. Driving in dense fog is no joke..I was driving between Amherst and South Hadley one night and (stupidly) entered a dense fog in the mountains...I couldn't see the road at all...could barely see the end of the hood. I couldn't tell if I was on the right side of the road or whether I was even facing the right way. My lights made the fog glow around me and I couldn't even tell if anyone was coming. I didn't want to drive off the cliff on the other side of the road so I crept along at 2 mph until I got out of it. Bizarre experience, creeping along in fog, occasionally getting glimpse of the road and mountain when the wind would make the fog shift. Thank god no one else was on the road.

I don't know what happened to Gainesville tonight. Something came out of the fog and tried to destroy us. In one moment, it vanished. But if this has been anything but a nightmare, and if we don't wake up to find ourselves safe in our beds, it could come again. To the cars on the highway who can hear my voice, look across the road, into the darkness. Look for the fog.

Why didn't the TSA prevent this terrible tragedy?

ultraholland: I blame Michael Bay.

KABOOM! FLORDASPLOSIONS!!!

I was in a pile-up that was caused by a sudden snow burst. Visibility was bad and the road quickly became covered in slush. I was going slow already but when I came over a slight hill I saw that there were cars stopped on the highway. Even though I had about a quarter mile to stop I was still going at a good clip and about to smash into them. Fortunately I was able to steer the car up the side of a grassy embankment without hitting anyone.

After that it was a nightmare as cars that were going 60 or even 70 came up that same hill and started smashing into the wall of cars I had just missed myself. It was just a cacophony of crashes and honking and screaming. I was halfway sure a truck was going to come barreling out of the fog and come right at us. Fortunately, that didn't happen, but there many other cars flying up the same embankment all around me and my wife.

I saw one woman run from her vehicle across 4 lanes of traffic. She was so close to getting hit at one point. I'm pretty sure it would have been fatal considering the speed of the car and the fact she would have been run over by other cars. Luckily she got out of there OK.

I'm not sure what the best strategy is in a pile-up, but I told my wife to stay in the car and as the traffic was coming from behind us, I told her to keep her head against the back of her seat in case we got rear-ended. That was definitely the longest few minutes of my life, just waiting to for that truck to come roaring out of the fog.
Amazingly in the end we didn't even get a scratch on our car but we were stuck there for over an hour as the emergency crews tended to the injured and started clearing out the cars that were totaled. When we got home we watched the news about the pile ups. Apparently there were 3 others around the city that day and ours was actually one of the less severe ones.

For anyone who's curious, I would say that when weather is bad or there is limited visibility the best thing is to slow down. Put on your four-ways and don't hesitate to pull over if you think its getting dangerous. Speeding in bad weather/visibility situations is amazingly stupid as you are endangering your life and those around you. If you do get in a pile-up, stay calm and try not to make rash decisions. Sometimes staying put is a good idea as cars are designed to protect people. Of course, sometimes fleeing is better but don't just go running or you might end up like the lady who nearly got clipped. Wait and watch, have your path planned out.

TL;DR - snow, pile-up, super lucky, no damage, drive slow in snow, thank you

Hm, maybe it wasn't Amherst I was coming from, it may have been Northhampton. I can't remember. I don't think I was on 116.

I didn't see those low freezing fogs very often, but they showed up in the winter in the mountains and always late at night. I think the incident I was describing above was at 2-3 am.

I was there in 1995 but I can't remember exactly when the fog thing happened.

Michael Bay taking notes.

ecor1: Hm, maybe it wasn't Amherst I was coming from, it may have been Northhampton. I can't remember. I don't think I was on 116.

I didn't see those low freezing fogs very often, but they showed up in the winter in the mountains and always late at night. I think the incident I was describing above was at 2-3 am.

I was there in 1995 but I can't remember exactly when the fog thing happened.

It can get a little treacherous between Amherst and Mt Holyoke...

You think that's bad, don't roll up towards Burlington in the wee hours

There are three or four places along that stretch of I75 that happens. You'll be rocking along and then just hit a 1/2 mile long fog bank. If you are warned ahead of time, you just take the next exit and wait it out.

The main problem is if there are 5 drivers on the road they will use 5 different strategies Training for harsh conditions is bleak at best. Does not work!

That stretch of road can get really foggy without much warning (it's in a shallow bowl, so the fog really hangs there). I've driven it early in the morning many times, and it doesn't look so bad from a distance, but once you're in it it gets thick fast. This happened in darkness, at least the first part of it did, so you wouldn't have been able to see the fog and smoke ahead. Then, if people start putting their hazard lights on and suddenly slowing down it can get really disorienting. And of course, people are going 75 or 80 mph when they hit that stuff, and they're following about 2 or 3 car lengths, if you're lucky, from the car ahead of them.
I drive on I-75 a lot, and it scares me sometimes.
One of the worst times was when a sudden very heavy downpour developed, and just about everyone put on their hazard lights, but they never pull over, so you don't know if the guy with hazards on are stopped or moving. I hate that. There were so many people around me with hazards flashing that I literally lost my bearings and my head felt like it was spinning.
I just went out to get some dinner and drove under the freeway,the southbound lanes are still moving at a crawl.

JasonOfOrillia: "Man this smoke and fog is heavy"
"Honey, maybe we should slow down"
"Don't worry, I've got it under control"

That's been proven. People tend to actually speed up in fog.

bowtiesheep: ecor1: Hm, maybe it wasn't Amherst I was coming from, it may have been Northhampton. I can't remember. I don't think I was on 116.

I didn't see those low freezing fogs very often, but they showed up in the winter in the mountains and always late at night. I think the incident I was describing above was at 2-3 am.

I was there in 1995 but I can't remember exactly when the fog thing happened.

It can get a little treacherous between Amherst and Mt Holyoke...

You think that's bad, don't roll up towards Burlington in the wee hours

Burlington? VT? Why?

The notch was friggen scary late at night. After a few times driving over it at night I would either go befor it got too late or find someplace to crash and go in the AM. What scared me the most were the locals in their pickups going 90 on the 2 lane mountain roads because they had been doing it since they were 12 or something. If I had space I would usually pull over but sometimes there was no shoulder.

chookbillion: That stretch of road can get really foggy without much warning (it's in a shallow bowl, so the fog really hangs there). I've driven it early in the morning many times, and it doesn't look so bad from a distance, but once you're in it it gets thick fast. This happened in darkness, at least the first part of it did, so you wouldn't have been able to see the fog and smoke ahead. Then, if people start putting their hazard lights on and suddenly slowing down it can get really disorienting. And of course, people are going 75 or 80 mph when they hit that stuff, and they're following about 2 or 3 car lengths, if you're lucky, from the car ahead of them.
I drive on I-75 a lot, and it scares me sometimes.
One of the worst times was when a sudden very heavy downpour developed, and just about everyone put on their hazard lights, but they never pull over, so you don't know if the guy with hazards on are stopped or moving. I hate that. There were so many people around me with hazards flashing that I literally lost my bearings and my head felt like it was spinning.
I just went out to get some dinner and drove under the freeway,the southbound lanes are still moving at a crawl.

Middle or right lane (depends on situation), keep safe distance, keep speed with car in front of you, but don't follow it off the road.
/duh :-)

I've been down thru the section of road, scary situation for sure. Been lucky.