Foggy pileups kill 2, involve more than 100 vehicles near Madison
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Emergency crews arrive at the scene of a multi-car crash on Interstate 90/39 near Madison on Sunday. Dozens of cars were involved in a pileup on a foggy stretch of highway that killed at least two people. The interstate was closed for hours in both directions.
MADISON — When Byron Robertson finished preaching at church and left Beloit on Sunday morning, the sun was shining.
But as he drove north, the mist set in. As he drew near Madison on Interstate 90 he could barely see. Suddenly, a semi-trailer materialized out of the fog, 20 feet ahead of him.
“Oh my god!” Robertson cried out. He slammed on his brakes and swerved into a ditch.
He was about to be rear-ended by speeding cars so he bailed out and fled down the embankment. From there he watched as another semi-trailer slid by and jack-knifed into a car.
Robertson was among scores of people who endured a murky nightmare on I-90 Sunday, when more than 100 cars and semi-trailers plowed into each other. The string of crashes left two dead and at least 50 injured, including three with life-threatening injuries.
The Wisconsin State Patrol shut down Interstate 90 in both directions, causing a traffic backup for miles. The interstate reopened early Monday.
The preliminary investigation shows that some motorists were traveling at least 70 mph – above the 65 mph speed limit, said Wisconsin State Patrol Lt. Laurie Steeber said. Steeber said with the conditions, people should have slowed down.
“When there’s snow, there’s ice, there’s fog. The speed limit is too fast,” Steeber said.
She said it was too early to say whether any charges or citations would be filed.
The accidents happened on a five-mile stretch of Interstate 90 in both directions just southeast of Madison.
Around 2:30 p.m., cars began braking when they hit a wall of fog near Interstate 90’s intersection with U.S. Highway 12/18, Steeber said. A semi-truck came up behind them and began plowing into vehicles, she said. One person was killed.
A similar pileup happened three miles away when another group of vehicles on the interstate also began braking in fog, Steeber said. A second person was killed in that pileup.
Motorists described pieces of cars all over the interstate and demolished vehicles on the shoulders and in ditches.
“One of my sergeants described it as a war scene,” Steeber said.
In all there were at least seven pileups, with the two biggest involving 25 and 26 vehicles.
Authorities transported 150 people, including Robertson, to the nearby Wingate Inn. Motorists filed into the hotel off city buses, clutching their children and belongings, looks of astonishment on their faces.
“There were some major blessings out there,” said Robertson, 41, of Mt. Horeb. “It could have been much worse.”
Among the lucky were Erik Kispert, 23, his brother, Isak Kispert, 16, of Valparaiso, Ind., and Lizet Zuniga, 21, of Hammond, Ind. They were returning from a weekend of skiing at Rib Mountain near Wausau.
Erik Kispert estimated he was going between 65 and 75 mph when he saw brake lights ahead in the fog.
He said he stepped on the brakes but there was “absolutely nothing we can do.”
He rear-ended the car ahead. Then his vehicle was promptly hit from behind, sending it spinning. Isak Kispert suffered a gash to his scalp and Zuniga hurt her back.
Fearing they would be hit again, the trio fled the car and headed into a field off the interstate. The fog blocked their view but they could hear more crashes.
“It just sounded like a sickening, dull thud,” Erik Kispert said. “We were terrified. Worst thing I’ve ever been a part of.”
Sharon Hatch, 46, of Lodi, planned to stay at the hotel Sunday with her 12-year-old son John, and her 10-year-old daughter, Faith. The family was not hit in the accidents, but they saw pieces of cars littered the interstate and demolished vehicles sat in the ditches. Hatch said while driving she saw a semi trailer “just barreling through the ditch” on her left and to her right, another semi trailer began to crowd her in. Behind her, she said, was a 20-car pileup.
The family got out of their car and went inside a charter bus behind them, where they watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and used the bathroom.
Hatch said her children hoped they’d miss school on Monday because of the crashes, but Faith said, “there wasn’t anything cool about it.”
“People were getting hurt all around us,” she said.
The Madison area was fogged in all day, with visibility of one-eighth of a mile or less when the pileup started, said Chris Franks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sullivan. The snow on the ground combined with a warm wind from the south to create the fog, Franks said. The fog continued to linger over parts of Wisconsin Monday.
Jan 9, 2008 at 9:10 p.m.
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It's great that all the comments have been in agreement with slowing down in fog and paying attention to driving/speed/etc. I'm with good probability that the people who should be reading these comments and learning to drive better are the ones who may not even care to read a newspaper or pay attention to events around them! Honestly, with drivers today it'd be beneficial to all of us to have the state mandate drivers' education tests every 8 years with license renewals. That's opening up other discussion...having to pay an extra dollar for safety versus having huge tolls/taxes to pay for road repair (because of unsafe drivers) would be more intelligent I think. But I'm not versed in everything on the Department of Transportation either!
Jan 9, 2008 at 11:59 a.m.
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i belive it's state law if you have your windshield wipers on, your headlights need to be on also . the best thing is JUST SLOW DOWN !!
Jan 9, 2008 at 11:30 a.m.
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NO ONE SHOULD BE SLAMMING ON THEIR BRAKES ON THE INTERESTATE. THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC IS TOO FAST. DIDN'T ANYONE EVER TEACH THESE PEOPLE THAT? IF YOU ARE COMING INTO A WALL OF FOG...EVERYONE SHOULD BE SLOWING DOWN....NOT SLAMMING ON THEIR BRAKES. THAT IS HOW YOU WILL GET A SEMI IN YOUR BACKSEAT. THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO STOP NO MATTER HOW SLOW THEY ARE GOING. IF YOU ARE THAT SCARED TO DRIVE ON THE INTERSTATE..STAY HOME. YOU CAN ANTICIPATE THESE HAZARDS AND PREPARE YOURSELF WITHOUT PANICKING AND CAUSING AN ACCIDENT BY STOPPING YOUR VEHICLE ON A FAST MOVING HIGHWAY. The same thing happens when people slam on their brakes as they are exiting the interstate ramps. You should never have your brakes on until you are OFF the interstate. You should be slowing down gradually leading up to the ramp. When your tires enter the ramp, then brake. NOT BEFORE!!!
Jan 9, 2008 at 10:26 a.m.
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it doesnt even have to be nasty weather and people still forget their headlights. how many times around 4 or 5 in the afternoon especially on a gloomey day have we driven somewhere and their are lots of cars without their lites on.
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:34 p.m.
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jly .....You pegged it.
CRIMINALLY IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR is what causes MOST(not all) of these tragedies.
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:29 p.m.
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Why is it there has to be an accident for the police to issue A ticket for driving to fast for conditions? If your going 65mph in that kind of fog YOUR DRIVING TO FAST FOR CONDITIONS!!!!!! I think state patrol should be able to use discreation in these cases, after all there just trying to make our roads safe right?
Jan 7, 2008 at 9:38 p.m.
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It is sad that so many drivers FORGOT about the MAJOR accident near Kenosha several years ago. That too happened on a foggy day, I drove past that spot 2 days after the tragedy, and I will never forget the scorched road, or all the crosses at the roadside for those who lost there lives that day. FOG is just as deadly as ice, and should be all the reason you need to slow down. Better to arrive late, than NOT at all.
Jan 7, 2008 at 9:31 p.m.
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People drive too fast in the fog. They underestimate the amount of time they have to react to an obstacle by an incredible amount. You might think that you are safe if you can see the car ahead of you, but in only a second you can be smashing into that car and there is nothing that you can do to prevent it. Unfortunately, if you drive slow enough to be able to stop in time you could very well be overtaken by another vehicle traveling at an unsafe speed. The best thing you can do is to stay home if you do not need to travel. I saw many cars traveling to church on Sunday morning and it made me sad to think that some of them might lose their lives and endanger the lives of others needlessly. Everyone that I see has a head attached to their bodies. Please use it.
Jan 7, 2008 at 8:11 p.m.
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This morning, I drove I90 Northwest bound, from Newville to Madison. I'm sad to say that there were plenty of drivers who didn't learn anything from yesterday's catastrophe. They were using a method I've labeled, "Faith Based Driving." Barreling blindly into what they could not see based on their faith that there was nothing in front of them.
I was a bit uncomfortable at the speed I was going, but many folks blew past me, hurtling down what that they could only hope was an open road free of obstacles. Thankfully there were no obstacles. We passed skid marks on the road, huge divots in the median, and the debris of broken cars. But people kept on zooming down the highway.
This was the same kind of ridiculously, criminally, irresponsible behavior that caused yesterday's disaster.
Just because it works 98% of the time, is no reason to behave this way--just ask the people involved in the other 2% of the time.
Jan 7, 2008 at 6:23 p.m.
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wisconsinheat- I did not think about the tail lights part. Excellent point there. And for the record, my car is too old to have the driving lights feature, so it is manually "lights on" when I am driving.
Jan 7, 2008 at 5:42 p.m.
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If you visibility is compromised, so is everyone elses. Turn on your headlights!
As soon as you put your seatbelt on, turn your lights on. Its not rocket science, people,
Jan 7, 2008 at 4:47 p.m.
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Many people don't realize that with the newer vehicles just because your "driving lights" automatically come on when you start your car and put it in gear, your tail lights do not.Therefore you have no lights to the rear unless either you manually turn on your headlights/taillights or it is dark enough for your headlights to turn on automatically.
Jan 7, 2008 at 3:34 p.m.
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My spouse and I came home from Ho Chunk that Sunday morning. We were complaining the whole way about all of the idiots who didn't have their headlights on (which, of course, meant no TAILLIGHTS unless they were braking!) Who teaches these people how to drive? We must have counted 40 cars in the 1 1/2 hour drive home. Our thoughts go out to those who were driving safely and cautiously and got caught in the mess created by others.
Jan 7, 2008 at 3:01 p.m.
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SarahB-I am glad that you were not seriously hurt. My thoughts go out to all the people involved. It must of been very scary. Everyone please slow down and drive carefully.
Jan 7, 2008 at 2:28 p.m.
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nenni68- I agree with you on the headlights! I remember a line from my driver's ed course, if you need wipers to see others, you need headlights for others to see you. Additionally, there is a reason most modern cars have "driving" lights now.
Jan 7, 2008 at 2:14 p.m.
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Sarah B: A very interesting (and scary) perspective.
Jan 7, 2008 at 1:54 p.m.
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I was among those injured in the pile-up at marker 146 (just north of Highway N) yesterday afternoon. I was at a complete standstill when rear-ended. I'd seen the slow-moving traffic ahead and was able to stop. However, immediately after that two semi-trailers went streaking by on my left (I was in the left lane already). The first semi put himself into the ditch, jack-knifing his truck before coming to a stop just short of entering the southbound lanes on the other side of the interstate. The second semi slid past but remained on the gravel. I have no idea what happened to him after that; it was then that I heard squealing tires and was rear-ended. I think I was struck by a second vehicle and then came to rest against a white trailer truck with the right side of my car elevated a couple of feet off the ground. I was pinned in my car until firefighters could cut me out. I was taken by rescue squad to the UW Hospital and released from the emergency department after three or four hours and lots of excellent attention. My final diagnosis? Bruises ... lots of them ... and many cuts from broken glass. I consider myself extremely lucky! I also cannot express in words how competent and caring all those responding to the incident were. I am speaking of firefighters, State Patrol officers, rescue squad personnel, nurses, radiology personnel, physicians, ER unit clerks, hospital social workers and others. And the public! I had so many angels looking after me, especially during the time I spent trapped in my car and, later, strapped to a back board resting on I-90's surface. I do not know most of these people's names but will never forget their voices and/or faces. They were included in my gratitude prayers last night and will remain so always.
Jan 7, 2008 at 1:04 p.m.
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I agree it's a horrible thing that happened; a real nightmare. As jviers77 said, slow down, and I'd like to add... turn on your headlights! I can't tell you how many times I've seen folks driving in bad weather with their lights off.
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:31 a.m.
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It's sad that people had to be hurt and killed in this pileup. Folks, slow down when the weather is bad. It's better to be late than dead.
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