Wildfire smoke from nearby marsh fires and heavy fog mixed to produce a “superfog” event early Tuesday morning northeast of New Orleans near the Irish Bayou, creating near-zero visibility conditions for drivers on Interstate-10.
Multiple accidents occurred in the area, resulting in one death, the New Orleans Police Department said in an emailed statement. Several victims were taken to the hospital, and sections of I-10 were closed in both directions.
Conditions became undrivable within minutes, overwhelming motorists with severely limited visibility from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. local time. The National Weather Service warned drivers to stay off the roads and issued a dense fog advisory through 10 a.m. for eastern New Orleans and southeast St. Tammany parishes.
Idiots.
Even well intentioned people go from “visibility” to the edge of the “no visibility” and due to the fog can’t judge that there are stopped cars just within the “no visibility”. So they drive into the “no visibility” try to stop, and it’s too late. Thus the pileup has started, and as the fog expands/moves, it continues.
Yes, people should be ready to stop at any moment, but under certain conditions on the highway you can believe you are commuting normally then be compromised quickly. A bit of bad luck and when you realized you are compromised you’ve already hit someone.
Yes, drive safer. Yes yes. I hear you.