re: Dashcam footage released of Florida crash that killed 5 from Marksville in January

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That stretch of I-75 is terrible

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It really is. Thank goodness they're not all tragic like this one, but there are frequent accidents on that stretch just south of Gainesville.

If excessive speed is determined to be a major contribution to this type of crash, why not make a 60mph zone?

After the Payne's Prairie pileup that Vette mentioned, they installed warning message screens because that was caused by zero-visibilty wildfire smoke and fog, and you wouldn't have known about it until you drove into it.

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They’re designed to prevent vehicles from bouncing back into travel lanes as you see with concrete. They work exceptionally well in most cases but I’m not sure concrete would’ve even held at the angle the truck crossed the median.

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Cable barriers dont quite work that way. The truck just need to catch on to the cable and the resistance from the total cable line and posts will stop the vehicle pretty quickly.

I've seen tractor trailers wrapped up in them with 30-40 yards of cable posts pulled up, but the truck never made it to oncoming traffic lanes.

They now use the cables in parts of AL. They seem to work well. However, if an accident happens and they wait months and months to fix the cables, I don't think it works very well at all.
I've seen damaged sections go unrepaired I don't know how many times.

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. I see the trucker was killed as well... Hope he’s burning in hell...

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Even if he had a heart attack?

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The following might have already been posted, but The "NTSB says 3 victims thrown from van were seatbelted."

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The passenger area of the van was completely torn apart. Seatbelts were useless.

I had forgotten about this crash. We were about an hour ahead of it that day, and my in-laws were probably only 5 minutes ahead of it when it happened. There's no way I'm watching that video, I can't even imagine losing my kids like that. Those poor families.

Also, I agree with everyone who's commented on that section of interstate. It's one of the most stressful stretches of road I've ever driven. Finally getting off of it and onto more back roads is a huge relief.

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I-75 in Florida has strict rules about trucks staying in the right lane

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it it enforced? i know that when i drive to los angeles from phoenix via I-10, once i hit the CA state line there is a law that says trucks/trailers right lane only, speed limit 55mph.

the reality is a long line of trucks in the left lane doing at least 70mph, and that law doesn't seem to be enforced...

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I’m not ordinarily in favor of government regulations, but I don’t see why all semis aren’t governed to a top speed of 60. Given their weight, the risk to public safety when one is going any faster than that outweighs other considerations in my opinion.

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If the story is correct, the driver of the semi had some sort of medical emergency that caused him to lose control of the vehicle. Even regulating to 60mph wouldn't have helped much in this case. It might not have been the church van and/or other semi, but it certainly would have been someone b/c the driver of that semi had no control due to whatever the emergency was, and his 80,000lb load would have been coming across at 60mph.

There were at least three bodies flying to the right, an adult sized person in orange and two smaller individuals.
Even with all the accident footage I watch I am in disbelief how quickly that went from a van full of people to wreckage and things flying everywhere.

It looked to me like the oncoming truck may have blown a left front tire. We have wire devices in much of SC and I do believe it would have helped in this case. The barrier in place didn't slow the big rig down a bit...not even a percentage

What sucked as well was the trucker in the green truck with the video cam in right lane. Farthest lane from the oncoming semi and never stood a chance.

Life is precious folks....enjoy each moment of each day