More than one hundred thirty cars involved in hours-long interstate pile-up in Alamance County
BURLINGTON — A phat series of wrecks involving more than one hundred thirty vehicles on Interstate forty in North Carolina are being blamed on speeding, following too closely and driver inattention in strenuous rain and fog, authorities say.
No one was killed but twenty five people were hurt in the pileups that began late Sunday afternoon on the route inbetween Durham and Greensboro, said a statement released Monday by the Department of Public Safety.
Motorists traveling east through central North Carolina’s Alamance County failed to slow quickly enough, leading originally to four crashes involving about two dozen vehicles, department spokesman Michael Baker said in the statement.
As crews worked to clear those accidents, motorists in the westbound lanes slowed to look at the scene and were involved in a series of extra wrecks. All told, one hundred thirty four vehicles were eventually involved.
Troopers and ambulances from surrounding counties helped police assist the motorists.
Investigators said high speed, following too closely and a failure by drivers to pay attention to the road conditions were responsible, the statement said.
The six-mile spread of interstate inbetween Mebane and Graham was reopened about eleven p.m. Sunday, hours after the very first accidents.
More than one hundred cars and trucks were backed up for miles — and hours — Sunday on Interstate 40/85 in Alamance County following a chain reaction of collisions.
The pile-up began with a five-car wreck sometime around four p.m., according to N.C. Highway Patrol, and accidents commenced occurring on both sides of the interstate soon after and continued via the night, until ten p.m.
“It was almost like watching dominoes fall,” said Sgt. Danny Jenkins, of Highway Patrol.
An estimated one hundred thirty four vehicles wrecked, Jenkins said, and traffic remained backed up from exit one hundred fifty three in Mebane to exit one hundred forty seven in Graham, with the majority of the collisions occurring around exit 150.
“There were an amazingly high number of calls,” said Chuck Pickard, shift supervisor for Alamance County Central Communications. “We had to use every resource we had to assist with that.”
Ambulances from Emergency Medical Services in Orange, Chatham, and Guilford counties were brought in to treat the number of patients needing to be transported to area hospitals for treatment, Pickard said. Troopers stationed in those same counties as well as some of the Highway Patrol’s motor carrier enforcement team were also dispatched to Alamance County to assist in wreck investigations.
However Jenkins said he eyed some blood and heard some patients complaining of ache, there were no life-threatening injuries as a result of the crashes, despite one of the earlier ones involved a Jeep landing on top of at least one other car.
As the backup continued across the evening, cars slammed on brakes and ran into other lanes, onto the shoulder and into the grass in attempts to avoid rear-ending vehicles. Pedestrians stood in the middle of the interstate after wrecks, eventually causing fire officials to call for extra law enforcement officers to tell drivers to get back into their cars.
Jenkins said that while working an eastbound wreck, he looked over and witnessed a driver taking a photo or movie with a cellphone as the driver’s vehicle rear-ended the car in front of him. Neither motorist bothered to stop and assess the harm.
“Both drivers gave each other the middle finger and they took off,” Jenkins said.
Most of the wrecks occurred in clusters of about twenty or twenty five cars — such as a two-car, nine-car, seven-car and five-car wreck located in close proximity to one another, Jenkins said. The most cars involved in any single collision were 12.
Back roads also became congested as some drivers took detours to avoid the interstate traffic.
Pickard suspected that moist road conditions at the time the very first accidents occurred, as well as drivers dispelled while looking at other wrecks perpetuated the “chain reaction” of accidents.
“Highway Patrol is going to have their mitts utter investigating every accident,” Pickard said just before nine p.m., when yet another five-car collision had just been called in.
Primarily, there were only three troopers working the area, Pickard said, however Jenkins said that number eventually reached 14.
More than one hundred thirty cars involved in hours-long interstate pile-up in Alamance County, Local News
More than one hundred thirty cars involved in hours-long interstate pile-up in Alamance County
BURLINGTON — A meaty series of wrecks involving more than one hundred thirty vehicles on Interstate forty in North Carolina are being blamed on speeding, following too closely and driver inattention in strenuous rain and fog, authorities say.
No one was killed but twenty five people were hurt in the pileups that began late Sunday afternoon on the route inbetween Durham and Greensboro, said a statement released Monday by the Department of Public Safety.
Motorists traveling east through central North Carolina’s Alamance County failed to slow quickly enough, leading primarily to four crashes involving about two dozen vehicles, department spokesman Michael Baker said in the statement.
As crews worked to clear those accidents, motorists in the westbound lanes slowed to look at the scene and were involved in a series of extra wrecks. All told, one hundred thirty four vehicles were eventually involved.
Troopers and ambulances from surrounding counties helped police assist the motorists.
Investigators said high speed, following too closely and a failure by drivers to pay attention to the road conditions were responsible, the statement said.
The six-mile open up of interstate inbetween Mebane and Graham was reopened about eleven p.m. Sunday, hours after the very first accidents.
More than one hundred cars and trucks were backed up for miles — and hours — Sunday on Interstate 40/85 in Alamance County following a chain reaction of collisions.
The pile-up began with a five-car wreck sometime around four p.m., according to N.C. Highway Patrol, and accidents embarked occurring on both sides of the interstate soon after and continued via the night, until ten p.m.
“It was almost like watching dominoes fall,” said Sgt. Danny Jenkins, of Highway Patrol.
An estimated one hundred thirty four vehicles wrecked, Jenkins said, and traffic remained backed up from exit one hundred fifty three in Mebane to exit one hundred forty seven in Graham, with the majority of the collisions occurring around exit 150.
“There were an exceptionally high number of calls,” said Chuck Pickard, shift supervisor for Alamance County Central Communications. “We had to use every resource we had to assist with that.”
Ambulances from Emergency Medical Services in Orange, Chatham, and Guilford counties were brought in to treat the number of patients needing to be transported to area hospitals for treatment, Pickard said. Troopers stationed in those same counties as well as some of the Highway Patrol’s motor carrier enforcement team were also dispatched to Alamance County to assist in wreck investigations.
However Jenkins said he spotted some blood and heard some patients complaining of anguish, there were no life-threatening injuries as a result of the crashes, despite one of the earlier ones involved a Jeep landing on top of at least one other car.
As the backup continued across the evening, cars slammed on brakes and ran into other lanes, onto the shoulder and into the grass in attempts to avoid rear-ending vehicles. Pedestrians stood in the middle of the interstate after wrecks, eventually causing fire officials to call for extra law enforcement officers to tell drivers to get back into their cars.
Jenkins said that while working an eastbound wreck, he looked over and eyed a driver taking a photo or movie with a cellphone as the driver’s vehicle rear-ended the car in front of him. Neither motorist bothered to stop and assess the harm.
“Both drivers gave each other the middle finger and they took off,” Jenkins said.
Most of the wrecks occurred in clusters of about twenty or twenty five cars — such as a two-car, nine-car, seven-car and five-car wreck located in close proximity to one another, Jenkins said. The most cars involved in any single collision were 12.
Back roads also became congested as some drivers took detours to avoid the interstate traffic.
Pickard suspected that moist road conditions at the time the very first accidents occurred, as well as drivers dispelled while looking at other wrecks perpetuated the “chain reaction” of accidents.
“Highway Patrol is going to have their mitts total investigating every accident,” Pickard said just before nine p.m., when yet another five-car collision had just been called in.
Primarily, there were only three troopers working the area, Pickard said, however Jenkins said that number eventually reached 14.