3 killed in 75-vehicle pileup at Virginia-NC line

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

GALAX, Va. (AP) - Virginia State Police say three people have been killed and more than 20 are injured following a 75-vehicle pileup on Interstate 77 near the Virginia-North Carolina border.

The Virginia Department of Transportation says traffic is backed up about 8 miles.

State police say a series of wrecks began around 1:15 p.m. Sunday in the southbound lanes in the area of Fancy Gap Mountain in southwest Virginia. There was heavy fog at the time.

FULL short breaking story at link.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130331/DA5C9MA82.html

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This image provided by WXII Channel 12 news, shows the scene following a 75-vehicle pileup on Interstate 77 near the Virginia-North Carolina border in Galax, Va., on Sunday, March 31, 2013. Virginia State Police say three people have been killed and more than 20 are injured and traffic is backed up about 8 miles. (AP Photo/WXII, William Bottomley) MANDAORY CREDIT: WXII,WILLIAM BOTTOMLEY

[Flaxbee]

1. I have driven that many times -- breathtaking scenery when clear, but very scary when foggy

or raining.

Very sorry to hear of the fatalities. But people get going way, way, wayyyyy too fast, especially south (downhill). There is a very rapid drop from Virginia elevation into NC; if you're heading north it wouldn't be hard to fly right off the cliff...

Cars try like crazy to get around the semis (since 77 is a major thoroughfare from I-40 to I-81) and even without fog it's dangerous.

Last time we drove that pass was in August of last year; there was another crash heading north and we had to go around it -- about 2 hours out of the way. 77 is almost a straight shot; every other road is winding and mountainous.

[phylny]

5. I recall traveling on that road a few years ago, and sitting in traffic for

about two hours due to an accident farther down the road.

Seeing the crushed car that came at us on a flatbed made me cringe.

[Blue_Tires]

21. I've driven it before, too

You get a lot of tourists/road travelers who can be notoriously impatient when they're used to long, flat highway straights at 80+ mph...

[valerief]

2. Sad. Recently, I drove in heavy fog and the assholes behind beeped for me

to move faster, but I wouldn't. I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me, and if I could have pulled over, I would have. I didn't want to end up in a gulley. Stupid asshole tailgaters. Moron drivers kill.

[Butterbean]

6. People like that will soon win a Darwin award. n/t

[valerief]

8. Trouble is, they take responsible people with them. nt

[Butterbean]

11. Very true. So sad, they don't seem to think but 10 seconds ahead.

Never caring about other people's lives, just about GETTING WHERE THEY'RE GOING, FAST. I grow weary of the tailgaiting and road raging. Riding my butt will not make me go faster, I'm too old to respond to that kind of crap.

[ileus]

3. A number of times I've hauled ass down that Mt in the fog.

fog, rain....both are pretty scary, but neither keep me from moving on.


Last year we went down during a huge windstorm, trees were down everywhere and we had to pull over twice for Hail.

[olddots]

4. Hope nobody was texting about how foggy it was .

What I hate is some shmuck tailgating in a 4by 4 with 30 $ fog lights thinking they are impervious to getting in a wreck.

It sucks that people get hurt and die trying to out do nature .

[byeya]

7. This is where I lived for 35 years - I-77 goes under the Blue Ridge Parkway here

and the visibility often is 50 feet or less. The signing and embedded reflectors in the road are
inadequate, imo, and there are often wrecks like this. I've been called many times to assist
the VASP here and on Rte 52 and it is rough.
I feel really bad for the people who were killed and injured and I wish Fancy Gap mountain had
the warning devices the less foggy I-64, where it crossed the mountains between the Blue Ridge and
Shenandoah, has had for decades.

[liberal N proud]

9. That is a long, long decline from Galax into North Carolina.

It is a beautiful and incredible drive on a clear day or night but treacherous in foul weather. I would be impossible for those coming down that road to be able to stop once there was an incident.

I always hate when I get to the bottom of that incline because it means the drive through the mountains is nearly over but it means that a major portion of the trip to Florida is complete.

[byeya]

10. I-77 goes from approx 3100 feet down to 1100 feet in less than five miles

The road, Rte 89, from Galax off the mountain to Low Gap is less steep but still demands full attention from the driver.

[liberal N proud]

12. Rt 89 sounds like an interesting drive.

My scariest drive in that area was North of Wytheville when I hit ice on a bridge at night. Some one else took over driving that night, because I did not hit anything and I did not go over the edge.

[byeya]

14. Sunday a week ago there were a couple of dozen minor accidents between the tunnels on I-77

just north of Wytheville because of an ice storm that was local. Areas that remain sheltered from the sun all winter are
prone to unexpected icing and this was a case of that.
I always put on studded snow tires each winter because of the ice.
Night is the worst, isn't it? You're on ice without being able to see it.

[liberal N proud]

16. Can't see the ice at night is correct.

As I recall, the little spin I had was on a bridge on a curve and I knew trucks were moving faster than cars and I was sitting across the fast lane with my nose looking out into the dark. I was thinking, that someone else must have had control of that car to keep it from going over the edge.

That trip was on New Years night. I remember driving the route later that spring and just how lucky we were because no one would have ever seen us at the bottom of that canyon.

I love driving mountain roads, but I only love it when the weather is good and I am not pressed for time. I have made too many trips over those mountains where time was important to enjoy the trip. Last fall we actually took our time and really enjoyed the trip through Virginia, getting off and driving some of the back roads. Some of those drives in Virgina and West Virgina rate up with some roads in the Alps.

[byeya]

18. It's nice to drive the little used mountain roads in April because of all the Appalachian spring

wildflowers that bloom before the leaves come out.
If you start in VA, you can drive up to Hurley and then take a gravel road into WV.
Burkes Garden is a very interesting area and March is a good time to see Golden eagles
which stop off there.
On the east side of I-77 in WV, Cranberry Glades, a US Forest Service natural area, features a large mountain
bog with a boardwalk that allows you to walk through it. There are insectivorous plants and orchids and wild
cranberry vines.
Of course the town of Matewan is worth a visit. It's near the KY border.

[sofa king]

22. I almost launched a Mazda over the Valley doing that.

One year I got the bright idea to take the Blue Ridge Parkway down the Valley (which is roughly North) from Floyd to Afton. It was early fall, but it had been summer-like on the Valley floor for a couple of weeks, and I made the mistake of assuming it would be safe on the Parkway.

I made it about four miles before I swept around a turn to find a permanently-shadowed section of road still covered in four inches of ice that I never expected to see. The little car lost traction instantly and spun like one of Speed Racer's opponents.

After a few minutes of trying to inch it out, I took a book about 150 feet over to the summer-side of the mountain, and eventually a couple of locals came by. The next curve in the road, they told me, was a 500 ft drop with no guard rail. Just a few steps past where I spun I could see that before that turn was a reverse-bank meander partly covered in ice. The car would have gone over with a one-finger push, before I even got to the truly dangerous turn.

So be careful with that!

You can add me to the list of people who have avoided Fancy Gap since I learned to drive. The runaway truck ramps alone are so imposing that it's hard to imagine surviving the use of that safety feature:

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTmsHJZ9fP-CyFCErkE2Wjzl8ADYAPzXUTUstgXOGjo15mGp-fu

[liberal N proud]

23. I am going to have make note of those for the next time we go through there.

We used to go down every spring, but have changed it to the fall. Less people and traffic.

[byeya]

19. You were indeed fortunate not to have ended up down in the canyon. Black ice is treacherous

and invisible at night.

[virginia mountainman]

13. This is near where I live...

I love 89... But the fog on Fancy Gap is well known, I avoid this road in inclement weather. I actually live about 10 or 15 min away from where today's crash happened. Most people utterly refuse to slow down in the fog.... So when someone actually DOES slow down for the fog, pile ups happen. I always take US 52, or NC 89 when I must go into North Carolina during bad weather. Heck for that matter most of us locals do.

[byeya]

15. Rte 89 is nice and Cumberland Knob park of the Parkway is on your left as you go into NC.

89 is also convenient to getting to either Mt Airy or I-77 and is much safer than I-77 at Fancy Gap.
/Rte 52 is OK now with the trucks prohibited and is very pretty. Last night 52 was a 14 mile long traffic jam because
the I-77 traffic was shunted onto 52...Apparently it was a traffic nightmare for hours.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

17. There are pictures posted at Jalopnik.

http://jalopnik.com/massive-95-car-crash-in-virginia-kills-3-injures-25-u-464782095

[byeya]

20. Thanks. Good pictures, awful accidents.