N1cky

It's beginning to sound like smoke from a nearby bonfire had drifted onto the motorway. Drivers who went through just before the crash are saying they were suddenly hit by a blanket of white smoke, visibility went from clear to 3meters for 200 meters then clear again.

martyc

Yes, thanks for that Charismatic.
I had an anxious wait for my husband to ring as this is his route home from work. We are now waiting to hear from work colleagues.

positive pam

I cannot believe some of the things I have read on this thread Yes there were at least seven dead and fifty one injured. I am sorry if this wasn't enough for some of you, but if you haven't got any sympathy or empathy, could you not just keep quiet and just hope and pray that this never happens to you or yours!! And they do not know the cause at present.

sheene

The cause was bad driving. If you run into something, then it is your fault.

Charismatic

It would be ridiculous is every time multiple people died we had a new thread and if every time we heard about a car accident near someone we worried it was one of our own. What king of life of perpetual self-torment and fear would you lead?
I can’t believe anyone could compare an event with 7 people who died to 181, the scales are totally different. It’s actually insensitive even to suggest it, akin to someone from Christchurch complaining to someone from East Africa about their “situation”.
It’s not a personal disaster for any of us that have posted yet AFAIK and nor is it likely to be. More likely to be through a second or third degree of separation and for most of us not at all.

I’ve never seen some of BE be such massive oversensitive babies about something so small. Especially when all I did in the first post was correct an important factual error .

positive pam

Depends I think what the initial cause was, could be slippery road surface etc etc. And yes it probably could have been caused by just one persons bad driving, but who are we to judge ay? Have you seen the actual footage , it was absolute carnage and they are still not sure how many are deceased. My thoughts are with all the families affected and the emergency services that dealt with it at the moment, not to make clever or snide comments as some on these threads seem to enjoy doing. And this does not detract from any other disaster that is happening to anyone else in any other part of the world. It is about caring for your fellow man.

sheene

Perhaps we need to start some sort of grief rating system, just to cleanse our souls.

Sympathy, empathy, of course - but this was not an 'accident', and beyond the grief, we should be annoyed if anything - yes it could have been someone we knew, and that life would have been lost because someone was driving too close for the conditions. If you really want to 'care for your fellow man' -make a difference - drive safely, that is all we can do.

Charismatic

Really? Where is the thread about the 63 people killed in Nigeria or 6 in Italy then? I'm not having a go at you pet but that isn't a plausible defense of this thread either.
Only if we also apply a grief quota or we’ll end up swamped in grief.

sheene

You don't seem to get what I am saying - one bad driver can not cause a multiple pile-up. If you run into something - it is your fault, if someone then runs into the back of you - that is their fault etc. You should leave enough distance in front to be able to stop. Basic highway rules, and every time the Police and fire crews have to deal with the carnage - what about some empathy for them?

Sally Redux

Are we allowed to feel sorry for passengers, or are they also guilty?

sheene

Paradoxically, as cars become safer, this sort of scenario will become more prevalent. People sit there in their 4x4, 7 airbags, quiet - it's just like being safe at home. Riding a motorcycle on the motorway tends to focus your mind on the reality.

Margaret Parkinson

I don't usually join in an argument but I always leave enough distance for me to stop then some idiot maybe 2 will overtake and jump in in front of me. I try to drop behind and leave the distance again and then here we go it happens again. Then if I hit them its my fault sorry but I can't agree on this point. I find it so annoying it not only happens on motorways.

June

sheene

Of course you are, and tomorrow? Your sorrow will not project much beyond that, but at least you will feel good about having that sorrow today and giving someone a hard time for apparently not being sorry enough.

Sally Redux

How am I giving someone a hard time?

sheene

And so it will continue to happen. Drop back, drop back again, and again, and again.