A huge winter pileup in New York involved over 75 different vehicles, according to reports and videos from the scene.
It appears that there was one initial car accident at the front of the major wreck. This crash caused the drivers behind it to slam on their brakes, but they were all driving in whiteout conditions. Drivers coming up on the back of the pileup had no idea it was there until they were driving and sliding right into it.
Throw into that the effects of snow and ice, which make stopping on a dime impossible even when you can see what’s coming, and it makes sense why the wreck just kept growing and growing.
One report claimed that the initial tangle of cars included 22 vehicles. However, that mess of crashed cars and vehicles buried in the ditch then caused more than 50 more vehicles to be involved in secondary accidents well behind the first crash.
One person going the opposite way on the interstate filmed a video of the crash. It shows pickup trucks smashed against the guardrails, cars turned sideways on the pavement and huge semitrucks mixed in where they slammed into the back of the pileup. Many of the vehicles are covered in new snow, a testament both to how long they were stuck there and how hard the snow was falling at the time.
Accidents like this can have catastrophic results as countless people are facing medical bills and property damage costs. It’s important for anyone involved in a wreck to know what rights he or she may have to financial compensation.
Source: Mashable, “Intense video shows snowy pileup involving more than 75 vehicles,” Brian Koerber, Jan. 02, 2018