What the heck???????

Why would the powers that be poof a thread about me getting caught in the middle of a multi-car pileup on the Interstate this morning?

must know something you don,t. maybee it was them that caused it.

What happened Goose everyone OK?

I missed the thread Goose. Be careful on I-80, I had a nephew from Denton get killed last winter by the Pleasantdale on-ramp. We drove I-80 through Omaha this July and there was a major accident just before the 13th St. turnoff. Traffic was backed up beyond 50 something street and it took forever to get to 24th steet where we got off the Interstate.

Nobody was hurt, about six vehicles involved. One burnt. My car got the right front fender bent, right front tire busted and wheel bent, and the driver's side mirror.

I was eastbound near Emerald, cruise set on 75, (the speed limit), where the road curves a bit and approaches a bridge. I was in some traffic, and I'd checked my mirrors to see where the other traffic was. When I focused to the front again, there were about five vehicles already stopped, or stopping across both traffic lanes on the bridge. One was a State of Nebraska Motorist Assist mini van.

To those outside of Nebraska, the State supplies a bunch of Motorist Assist mini vans, manned by retired volunteers, to cruise the Interstate and assist anyone who needs help.

From what others said at the scene, and from replaying it in my mind today, here's what I think happened.

A car was stalled against the right hand railing on the bridge. The driver of the Motorist Assist van stopped the van in the right hand driving lane, got out, and attempted to wave all the traffic over to the passing lane. It's a wonder someone didn't nail him. There was just too much traffic, moving too fast, to instantly funnel into one lane.

When I came sailing into the mess with my ABS locked up, a Wisconsin car that had just passed me and a 2011 Prius were in front of me and stopped with about a five foot gap between them. I couldn't stop, so I aimed for the gap between them rather then make a solid hit on either one. I took the Prius on the left rear corner with my right front, and the passenger mirror on the Wisconsin car got my left side mirror.

The only damage to the Wisconsin car was paint scratched on the side mirror. The Prius got mostly the rear bumper cover torn up and the left rear tire flattened.

On my car, the RF fender is bent, RF tire and wheel busted, the RF wheel pushed back an inch or two, and the drivers side mirror busted. I put the donut spare on and drove it home.

Don't know yet how the insurance companies will sort it out. I thought it was kind of a boneheaded decision for the driver of the Motoist Assist van to stop in a traffic lane on a 75 mph Interstate. Maybe the state will get stuck for the whole bill.

Then, a Nebraska State Trooper told the driver of the Prius and I that if we got our spare tires and jacks out, someone would change the tires. Nobody showed up, so I started changing the tire myself. About then, a member of the Malcolm rescue unit walked up and said he'd change my tire for $40. He was lucky he didn't get belted with the jack handle.

Anyhow, no one was injured, and cars can be fixed and replaced. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

Wow! Sounds scary.

Just a question; could you have pulled off the road and gone in the ditch to avoid the collisions? Or were you too close to the bridge? I'd rather dump it into a ditch than hit someone.

That can make you to think about what can happen if you would have been driving one of the new fuel saving small cars.

Too close to the bridge. I'd have gone into a creek.

At least it was a creek and you knew it was there. This past winter there was a guy from Ohio drive'n up I24 here one night when it was about 2 degrees and we had freeze'n fog. He went up a hill and it got slick on top, the car bounced off the gaurd rails on both sides. Car wasn't hurt too bad but he got out to see how bad it was on top of the "hill". He was stand'n tween the rail and the car when a big truck came out of the fog and hit the car set'n in the middle of the road. Driver said all he seen was feet go'n over the rail to get out of the way. The "hill" was a bridge over the Cumberland river, bout a 300' drop to ice cold water, last I heard they never found him even after all the flood'n this spring.

This all happened in about two seconds. It wasn't like I had time to set back and mull over options.

Instincts take over and in hindsight they're usually right.

Glad you and the others were't hurt. Let us know how the cops sort out blame.

$40 to change a tire, huh? You must really look old, feeble and rich. I've never charged anyone for changing a tire, I figure some day I'll be the one needing help.

KEH

Most of the time they are, but I sure felt sorry for the guy who hopped the rail this winter.