Idiot Drivers

This afternoon around 3:00 PM, I was on 57. The visibility was absolutely horrible due to the dense fog.

It was impossible to see more than 100 ft. ahead, sometimes less.

In those conditions, you'd think people would TURN ON THEIR LIGHTS and SLOW DOWN.

Unfortunately, too many people are idiots.

The cars without headlights on were too many to count. UNBELIEVABLE. The speeders, going at least ten to fifteen miles over the limit, were also the norm. It was frightening.

Let me clarify what the travel conditions were like: YOU COULD NOT SEE.

It was an extremely dangerous situation.

Thankfully, we made it to our destination safely and, thankfully, on our way back conditions had improved greatly.

After getting home, I hear about the two pileups at Madison. It made me sick.

Two people were killed in a series of multi-vehicle crashes in dense fog that started at about 2:30 p.m. on I-90 near Siggelkow Road, just south of Highway 12-18 on Madison's East Side.

In addition to the deaths, three other people were taken to Madison hospitals with life-threatening injuries. According to a release from the Dane County Department of Emergency Management, about 50 people were taken to hospitals.

The pileup apparently began with a crash involving at least 20 vehicles on the eastbound side of the Interstate. Another 15 vehicles were then involved in a crash on the westbound side.

Cars began braking when they hit a wall of fog near Interstate 90's intersection with Highway 12-18, State Patrol Lt. Laurie 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.

"One of my sergeants described it as a war scene," Steeber said.

She estimated three dozen vehicles were involved in the two pileups but said the count continued Sunday evening.

Additional crashes were occurring further up the Interstate as emergency responders were trying to clean up the crashes that already had already occurred, said Eric Dahl, public information officer for the Madison Fire Department.

There's no excuse for a pileup accident.

The semi was going too fast and not leaving a safe following distance. End of story.

You don't rear end cars if you're driving properly.

If conditions were anything like they were on 57, drivers should have been crawling along.

...The crash site was a chaotic mess of cars scattered in all directions -- one car on its side in a ditch and several jack-knifed semi trucks included -- with emergency vehicles on the scene. One person's body could be seen, wrapped in a white sheet, still in a crashed PT Cruiser. A Metro Transit bus was brought to the scene to keep injured people warm.

On the Interstate southeast of the crash scene, people were getting out of their cars and walking toward the crash. Zach Cramer, 17, from Janesville, put on rollerblades and was heading toward the crash with a video camera.

Flares lining the interstate's lanes cut through the fog as traffic crawled north of the scene. Squad cars and tow trucks streamed toward the crashes as law enforcement directed drivers off the interstate.

Samantha Kohnert, of Baraboo, was near the front of the first set of crashes in the eastbound lane. She said her red Grand Am was rear-ended by a pickup truck and both vehicles ended up in the median ditch. As the driver of the pickup began to get out of her vehicle, she nearly was hit by a semi barreling into the ditch on the other side.

"It was almost like something out of a movie," Kohnert said.

Erik Kispert, 23, and his brother, Isak Kispert, 16, of Valparaiso, Ind., were returning with Lizet Zuniga, 21, of Hammond, Ind., from a weekend of skiing at Rib Mountain in 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."

Who the hell drives between 65 and 75 mph in thick fog?

Of course, Kispert put himself in the position of there being "absolutely nothing we can do" other than slam into the car in front of them. He was driving too fast.

What makes people think they can drive blind at such high speeds and without headlights?

The fog-related accidents could have should have been avoided.

I have sympathy for the individuals who were driving properly, considering the conditions, but were involved in the crashes caused by the idiot drivers.

And the idiot drivers were out in force this afternoon. Two people are dead.