The low visibility conditions caused by fog regularly lead to multi-vehicle pileups. When drivers can’t see well but are driving at highway speeds anyway, once a crash occurs, other vehicles inevitably end up caught in the wreck because they can’t see what’s going on in time to avoid it. Add a drunken driver to the mix, and you have the recipe for a costly disaster involving serious car accident injuries.
That’s what happened on Friday morning before dawn on I-30 over Lake Ray Hubbard in Dallas. Higher temperatures, misting in the air, and converging dewpoints had led to foggy conditions throughout the area when the crash occurred.
Dallas police said that 23-year-old Christopher Anthony Sosa had been speeding down I-30 through the dense fog when he lost control of his vehicle and smashed into a tractor-trailer truck. The 18-wheeler then wrecked into the concrete highway barriers of the median while Sosa crossed over 3 highway lanes before ramming into a different highway barrier. The wreck ultimately entangled 14 vehicles, many of which crashed after swerving to try and avoid the broken concrete now scattered in the interstate.
Wreckage from the multi-vehicle crash ended up strewn across every lane of I-30. HAZMAT crews were kept busy cleaning up the fuel and oil spills. And about 500 feet of concrete highway barrier were badly damaged in the pileup.
Six 18-wheelers were involved in the pileup, along with 8 other vehicles. 7 people were hospitalized with serious injuries that were reported as non-life threatening. Sosa was arrested and charged with intoxication assault.
About 7 hours after the 14-vehicle pileup, another crash occurred in the gridlock on I-30 near Royse City, which was still backed up due to the first crash. Crews had to right two 18-wheelers that had rolled over, as well as repair damaged highway barriers. Westbound lanes into Royse City were going to remain closed until into Saturday. (Tasha Tsiaperas, Dallas Morning News, 1/11/14)
Ultimately, one drunken driver combined with dense fog resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs (all of which might have been avoided by safer, sober driving) including emergency response, HAZMAT cleanup, medical bills, lost wages, highway barrier damage repairs, and vehicle repairs and replacements, among other expenses. The thoughts and prayers of our I-30 crash injury attorneys are with all of the victims currently suffering because of this needless crash.
Drive Safely in Low Visibility Conditions
The 14-vehicle pileup on the I-30 bridge over Lake Ray Hubbard has a few valuable lessons for other drivers:
Sosa was hospitalized after his crash. When he’s released from the hospital, he may only have jail to look forward to. And numerous innocent people were also hospitalized with serious injuries because Sosa decided to take foolish chances with other people’s lives by drinking, driving, and speeding through dense fog.
Learn what You can do if You or Your Loved Ones are Injured in a Serious Wreck
Download your free guide from the I-30 crash injury attorneys at Denena Points, PC. All accidents are avoidable. Learn how to hold negligent drivers financially accountable for the needless harm they cause you and your loved ones.