Report sheds light on July's deadly pileup

redline (anonymous) says...

Reckless driving is no different than drunk driving. Not only should this truck driver be arrested, but he should spend at least 10 years in jail to think about how his carelessness ended the lives of so many others.

Traffic will continue to get worse. Slow down, leave plenty of buffer space between you and other vehicles (especially in front of you), and focus on your surroundings. Distractions can be deadly. Please be safe.

November 17, 2007 at 8:33 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

poorboy (anonymous) says...

If you or I would have rear ended someone we would have been charged. Give these families some comfort and fault the person responsible. It's obvious this guy was traveling too fast and couldn't stop, KILLING innocent people.
What's up with these trucks flying up and down the road anyway? Travel the Don Holt bridge lately? Why isn't there more of a police presence there? Is the mentality that they're "working" trucks so turn your head and don't look at play here? Ticket them and their CDL license will be in jeapordy. They'll slow down then.

November 17, 2007 at 8:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

gil6002 (anonymous) says...

Just a terrible thing to happen that was avoidable. I moved here from out of state earlier this year, never before having been to South Carolina in my life and the first thing I noticed here in SC is the erractic driving on the highways and streets here. Bottom line is the people don't care about how their driving habbits are until its too late and their involved in an accident whether deadly or minor. People need to slow down and create some buffer space between them and the other vehicles on the road instead of rushing and tailgating others. I not only blame these irresponsible drivers, but also blame the police department for not enforcing any serious infractions caused by these drivers. I've seen many infractions committed by drivers in front of the police and the police turn a blind eye to it.

November 17, 2007 at 8:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

jrobinson (anonymous) says...

I travel this way regularly, and trucks still fly down the bridge like crazy. The biggest problem is people don't know how to merge onto, and off of the freeway. If you are entering the freeway, you are not supposed to come to a complete stop in the merge lane. Go with the flow, and get on. If you are already on the freeway, and you approach people trying to merge on, have the common courtesy to move over to the left, and let people enter. I see people that purposely stay in that lane, and refuse to let people merge. I'm surprised there haven't been more accidents.

November 17, 2007 at 9:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

lostinterestfast (anonymous) says...

That is one very dangerous area, especially any time after 3:30 PM on a weekday. My wife drives from Hanahan to Mt.P and back each day and the most dangerous part of the trip is coming off the Don Holt and exiting onto N. Rhett in the afternoons. I worry about her every day on that part of the trip.

There are several problems that lead to the congestion on this road. First of all, there are passenger cars that drive in the truck/slow vehicle lane on the 526 bridges trying to pass everyone else in the middle and left lanes who are driving as they should be. When the truck lane runs out, those drivers in the truck lane are being blocked by people like me who won't let passenger cars back into the middle lane (but I will let a big truck in since it is their lane and they are driving where they should be). This forces them to squeeze back into the traffic flow only to have to slam on brakes before eating the car in front of them since they've been driving faster than anyone else on the bridge. Keep in mind all of this is happening less than one mile in advance of the N. Rhett exit/Virginia Ave. on-ramp which is where this terrible accident occurred.

Secondly, is the problem with the on-ramp from Virginia Avenue sharing the off-ramp with N. Rhett. Slow vehicles & trucks (mostly trucks from Westvaco and the port) trying to get onto I-526 West from Virginia Ave. are merging between vehicles trying to get off I-526 West and onto N. Rhett & Virginia Ave which is usually backed up far in advance of the off ramp.

Finally, is the problem with the stupid design of both I-526's Westbound and Eastbound traffic trying to merge onto I-26 West at the same off-ramp while drivers on I-26 West are tring to exit onto Remount. This causes traffic on I-526 West to build up back to N. Rhett and even as far back as the Don Holt!

I'm not defending the truck driver, but just keep in mind that with the way some people drive at this dangerous section of Interstate that everyone must pay close attention to what is going on around them at all times.

And cars & pick-ups STAY OUT OF THE TRUCK LANE!!

November 17, 2007 at 9:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

ConcernedinCHS (anonymous) says...

There is almost no enforcement by police on that stretch of 526. Maybe North Charleston police think its Mt. Pleasant's job who knows.

The trucks need to be slowed down! Watch any of them and you will see road rage. I drive that road every day and almost everyday will be passed by a tractor trailer truck driving over 80 mph. Thanks also to all the truckers who try and teach me a "lesson" by swerving into my lane or coming within inches of my bumper when they want me to move.

Add to that the fact that people tailgate so closely. I see a stream of five to ten cars all following within a few feet of each other. Hello people what is going to happen when car number one runs over the ladder, chair, mattress, pallet or what ever else is on the road that day. Cars are going to fly off the edge in the pile up just like the ford explorer a month or so ago.

Especially with the high winds we have had lately there is much more road trash from all the stupid contractors who think that there is some magic blanket that will keep everything in the bed of their trucks.

Enforcement will stop most of this but we may have to up the fines for it to sink in.

ConcernedinCHS

November 17, 2007 at 9:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

JC (anonymous) says...

I would definitely believe that there was a black car who cut in front of the truck driver. Drivers in this area are just plain crazy and stupid - I SEE IT ALL THE TIME. I also see cars cutting in front of trucks in barely enough room for them to fit in - don't these idiots know it takes a lot longer for a truck to stop than a car? Maybe if the car hadn't cut in front, this accident wouldn't have happened, but it did so maybe it was the black car that caused this accident!

November 17, 2007 at 9:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

misfit (anonymous) says...

I'm sure Charleston does not win the award for having the nicest people anymore. The population here has been with diluted thousands of "me first" people. Please bear with us natives as we learn the "cut-throat" tactics being used on our roads now.

November 17, 2007 at 10:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

iopturbo (anonymous) says...

no JC, he still wasn't able to stop in time to avoid hitting the cars, the black car is irrelevant.

November 17, 2007 at 10:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

truthseeker (anonymous) says...

We need more law enforcement on this section of 526. In 2000, there was a HazMat study that showed the most trucks in the county were at the intersection of Long Point Road and 526 - with over 10,000 trucks in a 16 hour period. This section of 526 needs better law enforcement - Speed kills - especially if it is a semi-truck doing the speeding.

November 17, 2007 at 11:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

pacomarj (anonymous) says...

lostinterestfast - I felt the same way as you for a while about cars being in the truck lane on 526. Then I realized that people getting onto 526 from Clements Ferry Rd. sometimes have no choice. The on ramp leads to the truck lane. If traffic is at a stand still, the best thing for them to do is stay in the truck lane and try to merge later (which would be the correct way to merge). If they stopped at the end of the entrance ramp and merged as soon as they got onto 526, then it would cause backup on Clements Ferry.

November 17, 2007 at 11:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

MsBehavin (anonymous) says...

Everybody - both trucks and cars - needs to slow down on 526. No one has ever accused me of being a slow poke, but cars blow past me like I'm sitting still...easily doing 90 mph or greater. Without any kind of law enforcement on the 525 bridges, people think they're on the AutoBahn in Germany.

ConcernedinCHS - you brought out a good point about all the trash on the 525 bridges. It's horrible! The Don Holt Bridge and its emergency lanes look like junk yards. Hate to know I had to pull over into all that crap...you'd ruin a set of tires! Why can't the Hwy. Dept do some clean up? All that debris really is an extreme safety hazard.

November 17, 2007 at 11:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Nosynora (anonymous) says...

On a recent trip to my hometown, I was appaled at the increase of crazy traffic on all the surrounding roads. I tried to stay off the roads during the heaviest times and definitely after dark when I would be trying to find my way around new streets. But I still managed to get caught coming from Mt Pleasant during the peak of the afternoon traffic. I prayed a lot!!! It is far worse than some of the big cities up North. Slow down folks! Where is that Southern courtesy I grew up with?

November 17, 2007 at 11:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

CMLMADDOG (anonymous) says...

jrobinson...

I agree with you to a point, but if you are merging onto the highway, it is your responsibility to get your vehicle up to speed and safely merge into the traffic. If no one is in the left (passing) lane, then by all means, common courtesy dictates that you should switch lanes and give the lane to vehicles to merge onto the highway.

But too often I see people traveling highway speeds, brake suddenly to allow a vehicle traveling at 35-45 mph to merge into traffic and that is what causes accidents.

And tractor-trailers are supposed to get into the far right truck lane while traveling up the bridges. Why are they always in the left lanes?! You gotta keep control of your vehicles!

November 17, 2007 at 12:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

da9 (anonymous) says...

I remember talking about this when it first happened in this forum and I was given lots of mouth for thinking it was the tractor trailer driver-now there's some backbone to it I wonder where the people who slandered me for it are now. Who knows if there was this mysterious black car that cut out in front of him? Wasn't there traffic cams that caught everything? And why did no one else say anything about the black car? Just accept that the tractor trailer driver messed up big time (it's not ALWAYS regular motorists, they make mistakes too). I have been cut off and have seen other 18 wheelers be cut off and there was no wreck, this guy probably wasn't paying attention. Had he been traveling at a safe distance at a safe speed, this never would have happened-even if he was cut off. I think he should have known better.

November 17, 2007 at 2:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

majorjohnson (anonymous) says...

Safe speed for anyone in SC is 0 miles per hour. No matter how hard you try, the only way to keep a save buffer zone between you and the guy in front of you is to just turn your vehicle off, because there's always some jackass that sees it as in invitation to get in front of you. If I give a guy some space to merge in front of me when there's a merge lane, about 60% of the time he'll hit the gas and try to get ahead of the guy in front of me and force his way in.

About 90% of accidents in this state are in cars, and about 75% are caused by people who cannot stay on the road. They drive off the road into trees, or they drive off the road and then over-correct and roll, or they drive off the road and then over-correct and go into the oncoming lane and hit some poor schmuck that is in his own lane, or they drift into the emergency lane and hit someone sitting there with their hazards flashing. Most of the rest turn in front of you or just run into you from behind at stop lights. I've actually had my vehicle hit 4 times in this state when it was parked.

This accident was a tenth of a tenth of a percent of the accidents that happen in this state, most caused by people driving cars who just flat out can't drive. And people want to jump on every trucker because of this one accident. If I had a choice I'd much rather have a truck behind me or coming toward me than a car in this state.

November 17, 2007 at 4:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

majorjohnson (anonymous) says...

I remember your posts da9. You started at some truckers drive crazy and it was probably his fault but the road is designed really poorly, but the more people defended the trucker because the facts weren't all in the more adamant you became that it had to be the truckers fault.

I've driven over the road trucks, and I've been scared by the way some truckers drive, but I'm still far more worried about the guy in the 4 wheeler. I'm also a biker so I have that perspective too. Your odds of dying if you actually collide with a truck are better than the odds with a car, but considering the odds of a car hitting you, you're far more likely to die because of someone in a car than a truck. There are just lots more of them and the drivers are far less capable. If you're on a motorcycle you pretty much forget the truckers totally, it's the cars that you have to watch for. The simple fact is, if you die on the road in SC it is most likely your own car and your own fault, second most likely is in a car and the fault of someone else in a car, and least likely in a car because of a truck driver.

November 17, 2007 at 5:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

mybus8it (anonymous) says...

My hat's off to you MajorJ. Well spoken. I drive a school bus and have the point of view of dealing with all the dangers AND having to maintain discipline of up to 72 students and worry about their safety along with everything else. It burns my Behind to hear people automatically blame the guy in the biggest vehicle.

Everyone wants to blame a trucker. I ask all you who want to condem the trucker.. Do you eat? Drink? Drive a motor vehicle? How do you think that stuff got to the Store? Truckers do a thankless, danger riddled job on a daily basis. Professional drivers now have to attend Terrorism training to deal with the risks associated with hijacking and having their vehicles used as a means of distruction or fear.

They work hard, and sure as heck don't get paid enough for the hassles of dealing with traffic. In the military they'd probably consider it hazardous duty for the fear of terrorism and being intentionally set up as a moving BOMB. Did you ever think maybe some of these horrible accidents are CAUSED on PURPOSE? No, you want to believe he's just a screw up. Get over yourselves and quit playing judge and jury. Get over yourselves and Thank a trucker when you can. They look rough and unkempt sometimes, but they are a great bunch of people as a whole.

Every professional driver knows it's tough to stop fast, to deal with idiots who absolutely have to have a business meeting on their phone while eating lunch, and smoking a cigarette, all while flying down the road at 70 miles per hour! Idiot having his business meeting drops his cell phone, or needs to reach for a napkin and swerves. Trucker is left at their mercy as they cut him off.

It is a helpless feeling to have someone cut you off, or stop short in front of you, and you come to the realization that you have way too much weight of a vehicle to be agile and avoid the mishap. You are aware every second on the road that someone might take up the cushion you've given yourself for stopping distance, and then jam on their brakes. Been there. Done that.

Instead of ASSuming the trucker was at fault, why not think about what he says he did. He tried to get his vehicle OVER to the SIDE of the ROAD. Doesn't that speak to him trying to hit the least amount of vehicles as possible after being cut off?!!!

Heading to the grocery store, or gas station? Need a beer? Gotta get some dog food for the pooch? A trucker brought that stuff to your area. Condem them and cause them to have more insurance and fees to drive those trucks by your condemnation and you'll be the one paying those fees. Think gas is expensive now? Keep it up, and you will reap your attitude at the pumps.

November 17, 2007 at 5:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

ImplantedYankee (anonymous) says...

It's ridiculous how many people make nonsense statements about northern drivers. I've been coming here for nearly 20 years before moving here 10 years ago, and of all the many places I have been, the Charleston area has always had the worst drivers -- bar none. This was true long before growth. Let's not forget that the truck driver was from North Carolina, not New York or Massachusetts. The only way those high-speed north bound lanes on I95 are going to improve the situation is if the locals take them. The bottom line is that there is a lot of incompetence behind the wheel, and the two worst characteristics of Carolina drivers are inability to merge and total lack of lane discipline. I'm sure that when this all shakes out, those will be contributing factors to this tragedy.

The "black car" that no one else claims to have seen means nothing. Even if that story is true, the truck driver still has to be at fault for that number of cars to have been hit in so violent a fashion. That "black car" didn't cause the truck to be going at that high rate of speed -- its driver did. I don't condemn all truck drivers -- just this one.

It's good that some people driving around here did learn how in the north. Hopefully watching us will teach you locals something. Maybe lane discipline, merging, and use of turn signals might result.

Where do they sell those "NATIVE" stickers with the palmetto tree for the 'I'? I want one where the palmetto is for the 'I' in "implant".

November 17, 2007 at 10:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

JH09915 (anonymous) says...

Hey Implanted Yankee,
I just have to ask you this, Charleston has the worst drivers in the world according to you, what in the hell are you doing down here?
Ever considered packing up and taking your yankee, know it all ass back to wherever it is you came from??

November 18, 2007 at 7:20 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

majorjohnson (anonymous) says...

I just moved here to laugh at how the locals can't drive and say they would die without their air conditioners.

I think the only reason they act like they are testing you in this state is to justify charging you for a license. When I did the driving test it consisted of a 3 point turn in that deserted alley behind the drivers station on leeds, and parking on the side of the alley like I was parking pointed down an imaginary hill (they were checking to make sure my tires were turned toward the imaginary curb). That was the entire driving exam.

Here's a story about how easy it is to be a bad driver in this state. The company I worked for let a guy use the company pick-up to get his drivers license. When he did the driving test in that half block long empty alley behind the drivers testing station he hit a no parking sign doing his three point turn...didn't just graze it, he flattened it...they told him to come back the next day, he managed to miss the sign that day so they gave him a license. Within one month he had been fired from the taxi company where he was moonlighting because he had done a U turn on the perlman, been ticketed twice for driving the wrong way down one way streets and been in 3 accidents (all his fault). While the taxi company dumped him and the company we worked for never let him drive the company truck again the state did allow him to retain his license.

November 18, 2007 at 9:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

wishinew (anonymous) says...

Agree that we have plenty of bad drivers (both car and truck), and 526 is poorly layed out. However also consider that one of our state's initiatives to increase our quality of life is to increase our maritime shipping business. That truck was part of the maritime industry. For us today, more maritime shipping business equals more trucks on the road. For every 100 million miles traveled by trucks, at least 2 people are killed in accidents involving those trucks. http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ It's simple math and inevitable, more trucks on our roads equals more fatalities like this one. So the question is how do we expand our port without increasing truck traffic? Seems to me that SCSPA and SCDOT need to be more aggressive setting up the intermodal rail system and car or truck only roadways like other port cities do in response to problems like this.

November 18, 2007 at 10:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

majorjohnson (anonymous) says...

Golly gee....2 fatalities per 100 million miles. NASA doesn't have that good a record, and very few of their fatalities were caused by bad drivers in cars. You failed to mention the percent of those fatal accidents where the car was found to be at fault. I suspect that if you removed the cars rather than the trucks that would fall to a tenth of a point per 100 million miles. There are far more single car fatalities in this state than truck related fatalities regardless of causation.

Just the incredibly high number of single car accidents in this state is a clear indication of the lack of ability of our drivers to drive.

November 18, 2007 at 11:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

ImplantedYankee (anonymous) says...

JH -- I can't leave just yet. I'm not yet finished improving the local economy and showing you how to drive, just like so many others that have moved here.

November 18, 2007 at 2:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

PHiers (anonymous) says...

I fortunately chose not to use I-526 (westbound) to get home that day, otherwise I might have been right in the middle of that horrible accident. Almost everyday I take Virginia Ave from Remount Rd around 4:15pm. After glancing at the traffic flow on the Don Holt (westbound) ahead of me I make a decision as to whether to get on I-526 or take Virginia Ave on through the shipyard to Cosgrove Ave. That day, the traffic was very heavy, lots of trucks, and moving slowly. Thankfully I chose to stay on Virginia Ave that day. However, the times that the traffic appears to be lighter and moving the speed limit, I do use I-526. Most times when I do, I try to get over into the left-hand lane as quickly as possible because of the traffic build-up in the right-hand lane. I have personally witnessed a common practice by many drivers using the N.Rhett entrance ramp (west bound) of cutting in front of traffic and forcing vehicles to put on brakes to keep from hitting them. Apparently when these drivers cut in front of 18-wheelers they are unaware of the fact that these trucks cannot stop on a dime. No I did not witness this accident, but I have witnessed this type of behavior all along I-526 and particularly at this area and am not shocked that an accident of this magnitude occurred.

November 19, 2007 at 2:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )