Massive Fiery Pileup Involves At Least 5 Big Rigs: "It Looked Like A Bomb Went Off"

AP   |  NOAKI SCHWARTZ   |   October 14, 2007 08:55 AM


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Firefighters and highway workers Sunday searched for bodies and worked to remove charred debris from a freeway tunnel north of Los Angeles after a fiery pileup that killed three people and could keep the major interstate highway shut down for days.

The crash late Friday involved five to six big rigs and several passenger cars and sent people fleeing for their lives from the flaming tunnel. At least five of the trucks burst into flames, and the fire spread to the other vehicles. Ten people were injured.

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- realitytrumpsbull See Profile I'm a Fan of realitytrumpsbull permalink

More people on american highways die EVERY year
despite all the safety talk, speeding, tailgating, driving long after you're safe to
be behind the wheel, road problems, car problems, weather, all these things are
contributing factors to the transportation
death toll...nevermind Osama, Christine's out there....look up the stats yourself.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:27 PM on 10/15/2007
- WilliamWallace See Profile I'm a Fan of WilliamWallace permalink

Driving in the states is getting more and more dangerous each year. My thoughts are with the injured and the families of those lost. A tragic situation.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:41 PM on 10/14/2007
- snideelf See Profile I'm a Fan of snideelf permalink

The big rigs should just be banned from using that tunnel.
An alternate route should be given to the operators.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:17 AM on 10/15/2007
- lonesometx See Profile I'm a Fan of lonesometx permalink

The speed limit for big trucks should be lowered to 50 mph. They should be restricted at all times to the left lane.

Oh, and one more thing. Truck drivers should have to have an IQ of at least 25

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:53 PM on 10/14/2007
- VungTauVet See Profile I'm a Fan of VungTauVet permalink

Restricted to the 'fast lane' Yeah, that'll work.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:55 AM on 10/15/2007
- Tr0uBle See Profile I'm a Fan of Tr0uBle permalink

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Let Congress know targeting Smokers with a $6.10 a Carton Tax Hike is going too Far!

SAY NO to Higher Cigarette Taxes

www.stoptheFETincrease.com
Or
Call 1-866-527-4494

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:01 PM on 10/14/2007
- snideelf See Profile I'm a Fan of snideelf permalink

OR you could just stop smoking.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:22 AM on 10/15/2007
- rst1231 See Profile I'm a Fan of rst1231 permalink

This is why we as a society needs to buy green (locally). We are spending too much money and wasting too much energy (and now lives) by trucking our produce all over the country.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:38 PM on 10/14/2007
- TJTelecaster See Profile I'm a Fan of TJTelecaster permalink

How often do you see Trucks pulled over for speeding..?

These fucking trucks are pushing 80 mph all the time and tailgating and running drivers off the road constantly..

They'll take often both lanes and force people to drive 80-85 on the NY Thruway, and in NJ too RT.287 is famous for speeding truck in both lanes..

California it's nuts and wait till all those safe Mexican truckers start up in their inferior vehicles..

There was a huge scandal of rouge often criminal truckers out of Texas whipping out whole families recently..

Commerce and money over Public Safety is all part of the fascist neo-con creed..

I know Michael Chertoff agrees..

Go ahead ask Him, he'll never lie..

LOL...!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:45 PM on 10/14/2007
- Meah See Profile I'm a Fan of Meah permalink


California does not have that many problems with truckers. That's because they have to be careful because of sooo many cars. I-5 has very steep grades, especially coming south from north of L.A. where the accident was. It is the grade that is the problem. And the rain. And the darkness. And the tunnel. Capiche?

Do not generalize from N.J./N.Y. Apples and oranges.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:52 PM on 10/14/2007
- consrevil See Profile I'm a Fan of consrevil permalink

and the Mexican truck drivers????

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:58 PM on 10/15/2007
- shaman See Profile I'm a Fan of shaman permalink

Hiding behind sarcasm doesn't seem to work, does it?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:22 PM on 10/14/2007
- sarcasticennui See Profile I'm a Fan of sarcasticennui permalink

My, my. My name troll seems to be in full meltdown mode.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/users/profile/sarcastcennui

Probably raise. She had to use a four-month-old sock last night.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:49 PM on 10/14/2007
- shaman See Profile I'm a Fan of shaman permalink

Damn sarcastcennui, that comment is just plain nasty. Take your dark and dreary soul somewhere else.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:40 PM on 10/14/2007
- getoffmedz See Profile I'm a Fan of getoffmedz permalink

Most of these Comments come from those who do not drive in Southern California on a daily basis. Millions of trucks pass through these truck lanes, rain or shine, every year without incident. U.S. truckers are very competent and to state otherwise is simply a fabrication.

It may be no coincidence that Mexican big rigs have just this week ventured beyond the 25 mile "no drive" zone previously enforced. How many of you have actually driven in Mexico beyond a border town? Mexican road culture is very different than in the U.S. And that's a fact.

Those idiots crying RACIST are shit and should reassess their position in society? They are clearly trouble makers of the lowest form.

NOTHING can be known for certain until the CHP completes their investigation.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:27 PM on 10/14/2007
- Meah See Profile I'm a Fan of Meah permalink

It was raining Friday night, and that tunnel gets slippery when it rains. If you are new to Calif, you have to change your driving habits in order to survive. People who are used to driving here are usually really good drivers. Accidents on I-5 are not uncommon. Thousands of trucks drive it weekly, north and south. I try to avoid it if I can just because of that. But most truckers are good drivers, in my experience. It is just very congested, and the road is not marked well. Very sad. And amazing that more people were not killed.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:56 PM on 10/14/2007
- kellygrrrl See Profile I'm a Fan of kellygrrrl permalink

you absolutely cannot avoid the 5 405 101 and many other highways.
if by "good drivers" you mean that most LA drivers know how to put the peddle to the metal and weave from lane 1 to 4 in 13 seconds, sure, lots of those "good drivers" here. Many also possess the talent of doing this while talking on the phone, drinking a Frappucino and applying hair product.
It's extremely rough terrain through Santa Monica, but your low-pro tires and spinners will get you through

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:24 PM on 10/14/2007
- shaman See Profile I'm a Fan of shaman permalink

It was not the first rain of the year, it rained about 2 weeks ago. But that is neither here nor there. The Colinga Tunnel in Northern Cal had a bad chain reaction years ago. I5 from Anaheim to Irvine has slam dances every day and many if not most of the cars are expensive (brains and money do not always go together). Families get killed by stupid drivers racing on surface streets. I don't think Nafta had anything to do with any of those. If you are too paranoid (either right or left) to see that, well that is what straight jackets are for.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:49 PM on 10/14/2007
- baghdadjoe See Profile I'm a Fan of baghdadjoe permalink

Who needs "terrorists"? Americans seem to be able to bring the fruits of terrorism to themselves now.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:06 PM on 10/14/2007
- citizenofmars See Profile I'm a Fan of citizenofmars permalink

IT WAS THE FIRST RAIN OF THE YEAR. The roads were very wet & oily at the time in that area. Angelinos don't know how to drive in the rain, period. Weather had a LOT to do with this.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:20 PM on 10/14/2007
- Meah See Profile I'm a Fan of Meah permalink

It WAS NOT the first rain of the year. It rained heavily a week and a half ago. I am a native of Los Angeles, and I have never had an accident in the rain. I do not think you can generalize like that. There are just a lot of cars here.
You need to learn your facts. But I guess you are from mars, aren't you?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:59 PM on 10/14/2007
- lunaoscura See Profile I'm a Fan of lunaoscura permalink

So now the comments are in chronogical order, the top comment being the first? It's getting damn hard to tell anymore.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:22 PM on 10/14/2007
- lunaoscura See Profile I'm a Fan of lunaoscura permalink

I see. It's the newest at the top. Damn confusing! Replies go down, new comments go up. Got it!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:25 PM on 10/14/2007
- coyote4 See Profile I'm a Fan of coyote4 permalink

.
works well when replies are constant. They flow down while comments posted at bottom of page form new layers on top.

It's slick

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:23 PM on 10/14/2007
- BOBONDE See Profile I'm a Fan of BOBONDE permalink

NAFTA WAS STARTED BY REAGAN, ALSO I WONDER HOW MANY MEXICAN TRUCKS ARE NOW RUNNING AROUND L.A. AND WHAT THE HECK WILL HAPPEN WHEN IT SNOWS, IN PLACES WHERE IT SNOWS THINGS GET BAD ENOUGH ALLREADY, WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN MEXICAN DRIVERS FROM DOWN SOUTH NOT USED TO SNOW COME UP NORTH AND ARE NOT USED TO IT, ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:01 PM on 10/14/2007
- Meah See Profile I'm a Fan of Meah permalink

What an idiot. Watch out for those Mexican drivers if you are in the snow! Thank goodness it rarely snows in L.A.
Do us all a favor and don't drive down to L.A. A Mexican truck driver might get you! Bigot!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:01 PM on 10/14/2007
- ownsthepodium See Profile I'm a Fan of ownsthepodium permalink

BUSHHITLERCHENEYHALIBURTON NAFTA IS RESPONSIBLE FOR STUCK CAPS KEYS.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:49 PM on 10/14/2007
- citizenofmars See Profile I'm a Fan of citizenofmars permalink

How convenient! Now we're going to blame every wreck on Mexicans too. Geeeeeziz...

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:21 PM on 10/14/2007
- VungTauVet See Profile I'm a Fan of VungTauVet permalink

My sympathies lie with the truckers. A seriously thankless job for people that bring all of your precious commodities to market. As for the trolls, you can take politics and shove them up your giant asses, bipartisanally.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:42 AM on 10/14/2007
- JScott See Profile I'm a Fan of JScott permalink

Unfortunately I got stuck in the resulting traffic jam, a trip to the grocery store took me 4 hours,
I had to detour via Little Tujunga Canyon Rd. (google map it folks!) and even that was a busy road.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:38 AM on 10/14/2007
- JScott See Profile I'm a Fan of JScott permalink

Well I see the trolls have visited and I'll bet don't even live in Southern California.
BTW I do not own an SUV-Escalade so quit trying to lay crap on me when it's totally false that's the problem with you trolls you can substantiate anything so you make stuff up.
Thanks to the internet their lies can quickly be exposed.
And least someone corrected them about Little Tujunga Canyon.
Currently all the freeways thru there are now open except for the southbound truck bypass lane/tunnel (which I didn't even know existed).
And ya gotta give most truckers credit at least they drive decently and don't tailgate unlike some trolls in their SUVS obliviously chatting away on their cellphones or texting while they drive like an asshole, we've all encountered those.


    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:36 AM on 10/15/2007
- citizenofmars See Profile I'm a Fan of citizenofmars permalink

I'm no troll!! It was just a joke. But it IS the hot car of the moment on the 405.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:51 PM on 10/15/2007
- Meah See Profile I'm a Fan of Meah permalink

Little Tujunga Road is quite a detour. I have driven that when there are big tieups. It is also treachorous. Not unlike ownsthepodium.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:04 PM on 10/14/2007
- ownsthepodium See Profile I'm a Fan of ownsthepodium permalink

LOL
There's a lib for you. The little people and their bothersome fiery pileups.
The lib has to get to the grocery store and was delayed. The Horror!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:51 PM on 10/14/2007
- Meah See Profile I'm a Fan of Meah permalink

From now on, everybody should refer to ownsthepodium as LEONA. He does so have compassion for the little people. Doncha, LEONA!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:56 PM on 10/14/2007
- coyote4 See Profile I'm a Fan of coyote4 permalink

.
ownsthepodium:

WTF?
Is this your best? or are you just hungover? Have you a soul? Did your mother diddle you?

What's wrong with you, jerk?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:27 PM on 10/14/2007
- citizenofmars See Profile I'm a Fan of citizenofmars permalink

Those Escalades get uncomfy too!