Two women are dead as a result of a huge 64 vehicle accident on I-80 in Wyoming that started due at least in part to poor weather and bad road conditions.
The crash occurred at around 8:00am on Monday when two trucks crashed, causing one to jackknife to cover both westbound lanes. Due to the heavy fog, the vehicles behind them weren’t able to stop in time.
“I come out of the fog, and boom, there was the wreck,” said trucker Jeff Blair.
One of the trucks involved was a Hazmat tanker, but thankfully it appears that none of its cargo spilled. Another tanker carrying fuel was not so lucky. The fuel caught fire and poured a black plume of smoke into the sky, but there was no additional explosion.
By the time the accident was over, at least 64 vehicles had been caught up in it and two women, 58 year old Lynn Freeman and 23 year old Jeney Breden, were dead. An additional 20-25 people were taken to a nearby hospital.
A Canadian trucker involved in the crash was arrested and initially charged with vehicular homicide, but that was dropped on Tuesday after officials said “We did not feel that there was, from the investigation that was completed at this point, that we could proceed with the charge at this point.”
Instead of the felony charge, the trucker was cited for failure to use caution for hazardous conditions, issued a $60 fine, and released.
The accident remains under investigation.
Next Story: Driver Spent 4 Days In Jail For Overweight Load
Source: trib, weather, kota, startribune, torontosun, sacbee
Image Source: sacbee
Connor says
What will it take for people to actually drive according to conditions? If you can’t see, you can’t see.
Jim says
Drive according to conditions, stupidity will kill !
Robin says
Fined sixty bucks and released?? I hope he’s haunted by the two lives he took for the rest of his frickin’ life! I just don’t understand why the super truckers can’t show the fook down in bad conditions, and why they can’t turn on their CB’s…if they even think they need them. Disgusting. I know some accidents are exactly that, and cannot be avoided, but a heck of a lot more can be.
Robert says
What the article led you to believe either truck was speeding? You don’t have all the facts from the investigation to make even a half decent assumption as to what exactly happened in the heavy fog. Would you be saying the same thing if it was you who got the 60$ ticket?
mike says
To fast for road conditions.
John says
So I saw some video taken by a motorist. You know, not to point fingers here but many of those trucks did not appear to slow even after seeing stopped vehicles? The other thing that has gone away is the CB radio. A device that was once very valuable in notifying other drivers of issues ahead. I’ll bet most either did not have a CB or it was turned off. The real problem here, is a inability to adjust speed for conditions. In many cases the reasonable choice would be to stop until weather improves. But these days the pressure to deliver and make tight schedules is usually a primary reason for ignoring safety. You look at how many trucks are totaled and you have to ask yourself. Was it worth it?
Brad says
To hell with the trucks what about the 2 lives that were claimed? The trucks can be replaced. The people can not be replaced
Infosaur says
I finally got a CB again after going without for 6 years. All I ever here is “I aint got no panties on” & “shut up stupid”
Neither would have gotten me to slow down before the crash.
michelle mares says
Big compnsnies probably threatened their jobs if they didn’t roll and of course because of rlogs and HOS dome probably felt they didn’t have a choice then of course the driver training mill. FMCSA has sent so many good drivers home these big companies need a PULSE to fill that void and generate revenue. They care about $ not safety !! Everyone should lose their licens . Blame the weather all you wan . They were driving to fast (to beat that clock) & to close
michelle mares says
Yeah I kno . Typo
Douglas Kirk says
I have seen several wrecks like this. After watching a couple of videos that were shot as it happened, all I can do is blame the drivers. Bad weather by itself never made anybody crash, but bad decisions will. Why did I make it through worse weather than this when many others didnt? Maybe it was the luck of the draw, or maybe I did something right. I think the Fedex driver that went blasting into the middle of the pile-up should be given the ‘Idiot of the Year’ award.
Anthony Thomas says
Sadly, the video shows conditions to be better than they were. Visibility was horrible and due to the excessive speeds of all traffic there wasn’t enough time to even react when things got close. At best, people were able to miss the end of the line of cars only to hit one further down without being able to slow.
Everyone involved in this accident (drivers of ALL of the vehicles) are responsible. The conditions were bad, visibility worse, and there is plenty of time and parking to arrive anywhere safe. A company cannot fire you for refusing to drive in unsafe conditions without opening themselves to a huge class action. Period. There was no reason for anyone, including the passenger vehicles to be driving to begin with and even if they felt they had to, a prudent speed would have been in order. Luck got the best of 64 vehicles, and because of that, the men and women of emergency services and law enforcement had to risk their own lives to save the lives of what should be Darwin Award winners, not to mention the towing services folks.
People need to realize that just because YOU can drive safely in a situation doesn’t mean everyone else can or will. Park it. Watch out for the other guy. It’s still a preventable accident IMHO just being on the road with them. And even if they slide and kill themselves on your vehicle, do you honestly believe you will be willing to climb behind the wheel of ANYTHING again?
sam diveley says
Well said.
sam diveley says
They ALL were at fault. I am constantly amazed by the way some truckers want to immediately blame another trucker in an accident. Just like sharks in a feeding frenzy,they can’t wait to attack the next trucker who gets involved in an accident. The truth is the women would be alive if the one driving had been parked in a safe place. I was going to continue on with something thought provoking and insightful , but the people it was intended for are probably not here and would only give me the finger.( sigh ).
Dave Fleming says
I can be certain if it was white out they were going to fast. 35 Mph is the normal rate “when it’s ice and snow “. And some cb communication really would have prevented a pile up.