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95 Vehicles Involved in Crashes on Interstate in Southwest Virginia, Three Dead

Nearly one-hundred vehicles were involved in a massive line of crashes along a foggy, mountainous stretch of Interstate 77 near the Virginia-North Carolina border early Sunday afternoon. Three people were killed and twenty-five were injured in the accidents. Traffic on Interstate 77 in southwest Virginia was backed up for nearly eight miles in the southbound lanes and authorities closed the northbound lanes so that emergency personnel could reach the injured and deceased.

According to Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller, there were seventeen crashes involving ninety-five vehicles within a one mile stretch near the base of the Fancy Gap Mountain. The area was covered in a coat of heavy fog when the crashes began around 1:15 p.m. According to a representative from the American Red Cross, this area is known for “fog banks” and there are signs in advance warning people of the dangerous conditions. However, the problem is that people are seeing clearly and then, seemingly out of nowhere, they are surrounded by fog. Although there have been at least six pileups since 1997 similar to the one on Sunday, none of those resulted in as many deaths.

Since about 6 a.m. Sunday, there were message boards along the highway alerting drivers to the severe fog. Most of the crashes resulted from drivers going too fast for the conditions. At the middle of it all was a crash that involved up to eight vehicles, some of which caught fire. One of those burned motor vehicles was a tractor-trailer. Several other vehicles were crumpled and badly charred. Motorists stuck in the backed-up traffic commented on how the fog made it impossible to see anything nearby. One of the motorists said that one of the vehicles just looked like “a chunk of metal.”

3 Killed in 95-vehicle pileup at Virginia-NC line, www.palmbeachpost.com March 31, 2013


Fog and similar weather conditions create a very dangerous condition for drivers on highways. These motorists are often operating their vehicles at a very high speed and do not or cannot decrease their speed as is necessary to handle the reduced visibility conditions. The Broward automobile accident attorneys at the Friedland | Carmona understand how devastating and tragic massive highway pileup accidents can be. The motor vehicle accident attorneys have over two decades of experience helping individuals injured and families who have lost a loved one in these accidents. The Coral Gables wrongful death attorneys want to help you pick up the pieces after a tragic accident, so call (305) 661-2008 today for your free consultation!

The Miami personal injury attorneys at the Friedland | Carmona handle all types of car accident cases throughout the state of Florida, including Boca Raton, Homestead, North Miami, South Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Pembroke Pines, Hialeah, Kendall, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach. The Friedland | Carmona handles all types of personal injury cases, including wrongful death, defective products, medical malpractice, slip and falls, and construction site injuries. Call the Miami personal injury attorneys today and let our family take care of your family!

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