You're in a big rig and you see stopped cars all of a sudden and you hit the brakes and nothing...that's got to be a terrible feeling because you know they had time to realize what was going to happen and not a damn thing they could do about it.

We got about 6" of snow in Portland today. Our roads just turn to sheets of ice for one or two days a year.

Its all over the news... STAY HOME.

Frightening pics of that FJ.

I've lived in the DFW area since 1989, have spent a lot of time on the highways between and around the two cities, and am still amazed by that; I refer to it as rolling traffic jambs (big knots of cars hauling ass in tight masses) - crazy to see. I try to stay out of those as much as possible - one thing having a highly maneuverable, gas guzzling car with ohhhhhh shiiiiitttt acceleration and wicked brakes is good for. :)

I can't get the picture of those trucks out of my head.

Minor side story...

Driving on I76 between Akron and Kent about ten years ago. Weather was bad so everybody was going slow.

I crept up on this 1/4 mile stretch of over 50 cars that were positioned in all different directions from the center barrier to off of the shoulder. Nearly a squillion scattered small wrecks. People out walking around their cars. Black ice.

No police yet and a single line of cars was crawling through the debris as slow as cars could go. I went through with them. Not the safest thing, but like me, everybody is selfishly thinking "I'll be stuck here for four hours".

No fatalities but the story made the NYT, IIRC.

It looks as if the icy part of the freeway was an elevated section, or bridge. Those overpass sections or bridges are the first to freeze because they are exposed to cold air both above and below the pavement.

Seeing that video footage is frightening, amazing speed by the big rigs just plowing into other vehicles. Started me thinking of prevention possibilities. If Rusnak is correct (elevated section) then these areas need roadway condition monitoring systems that could sent out alerts to cars in the area of problems. Here is more info:

https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/weather/mitigating_impacts/surveillance.htm


https://www.vaisala.com/en/products/weather-environmental-sensors/remote-road-surface-temperature-sensor-dst111

We have these before any bridge that crosses water....they are prone to ice faster because of the water below.
Do people pay attention to them?...

https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.2...=0&w=300&h=300

The bridge doesn't freeze because of the water below. It freezes because cold air under the bridge surface removes any heat faster than regular road surface.

I had my one big accident in my first encounter with freezing rain in January 1974. I wasn't going very fast, but when I saw a hazard and abruptly lifted off the throttle, the rear tires lost traction. I tried to steer into the skid, but I was a passenger as the vehicle rotated through 270 degrees and was sliding sideways along the shoulder on the opposite side of the road until the left rear tire caught a frozen bit of snow and the car then rolled over onto the driver's door then onto the roof. When I crawled out the front wheel was still rotating. Funny what you remember. A neighbour who witnessed my mistake said it looked like a movie in slow motion.

Riding with one of our tanker drivers one afternoon, he advised me to watch for spray from the tires in freezing conditions. When there is no spray, that means the water is frozen to the road and you are driving on ice. Pucker time.

Stay safe out there guys.
Les

This^^

Exactly how I damaged my spinal cord. Going down the road at 30 mph thinking it was ALL dry, then came to curve with refrozen melt and I was spinning like a top...in less than a heartbeat.

Almost same story. A group of us in two cars were returning from skiing in Utah. It was night and we were on I 40 between the Tex/NM boarder and Amarillo. The guy in front of us in the second car started wobbling, turned on his flashers and slowed to a stop on the shoulder. We were way back and pulled off gradually too. The guy in front got out of his car and immediately fell on his butt. He though his car was having mechanical problems. We were stupid college kids and decided to push on toward Ft. Worth. On US 287 just east of Wichita Falls we gave up and turned south toward Jacksboro because the local radio stations said it was below the freeze line. Almost did not make it because I lost it on a two lane farm road, sliding back and fort between the two muddy shoulders. I was over corrected each way. When I hit the mud it would flip be back the other way. But I think I learned from that because every time since when I loose traction I don't make the same mistake. I think skid pad training should be mandatory in all drivers ed programs.

It is elevated.

Sections of that highway are elevated for miles.

The exchanges are the worst, 100 ft in the air with dinky maybe 3 ft high walls.

We’ve had motorcycle fatalities were riders end up getting tossed over the side.

I hate driving on them.

My son is leaving NC Tuesday to drive across the country to his new job at JB Lewis-McChord. He's driving his Excursion 7.3 towing his wife's SUV with his two babies and their dog. I asked him what route they are planning on. He said they are staying north where people know how to drive in bad weather and they know how to clear snow and de ice roads. Seems smart. I'll be on the edge of my seat until they are safely to their new home.

Comments under the OP's YouTube video and a separate newscast indicate there was a slight downhill grade in the direction of the crashes.

Lot's of valuables in that rig. They'll be fine but I hear what you are saying.

When I'm carrying precious cargo when we arrive at our destination I exclaim, "We made it!' with high fives all around.

Once in awhile, one of 'em will beat me to it.

Except when the road is just dry and frozen and perfectly fine
But black ice will glimmer in the dark , sometimes in the day as well, but it's much harder to spot because cars lights aren't as bright..

so no spray + shiny road surface = test tap yer brakes from time to time to see if you get response or not.