7 Injured in a Multi-Vehicle Crash
On Wednesday evening, sadly seven people were injured in a multi-vehicle crash. The driver of a Maserati was last heart to be in critical condition following the crash. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the crash involved multiple vehicles and pedestrians.
The chain-reaction crash happened around six, forty in the evening. The crash was on Challenger Way which is at the East Avenue J-8, according to the news release from the Sheriff’s Department.
Maserati Crash
The Maserati was traveling in the “northerly” direction on Challenger Way when there was a Chevy Impala who was making a left turn at the time, in front of the Maserati, collided with the Maserati. There was also a Ford Fusion in the crash, it struck the Chevy Impala after the initial collision. The impact sent the Maserati spinning and into a light pole which was on a nearby street corner. The Maserati sadly then struck four young pedestrians. The pedestrians were between the ages of two and fourteen years old, according to the release. There were a total of seven people injured involving this crash, and they all had to be hospitalized.
The driver of the Maserati was listed in critical conditions. Two of the pedestrians had suffered some moderate to serious injuries. Their conditions were not known at this tim.
There were four other people involved in this crash, two other drivers as well as two other pedestrians. They sustained minor injuries from the incident.
Multi-Vehicle Crash
Multi-Vehicle crashes are always occurring. Especially at rush hour or on the freeway. In case you’re wondering what a multi-vehicle crash is, its when a road traffic accident involves more than two vehicles. A multi-vehicle crash is sometimes called a pile-up or a chain-reaction crash. They use the term chain reaction because, the first two crash then the other’s follow suite.
Pile-ups usually happen if road conditions aren’t the best, like low visibility conditions. A lot of these happen on the freeways. Some even happen for something as simple as someone driving too close and not having enough time to stop or adjust to the road conditions.
Chain-reaction crashes are also sometimes due to the fact of road conditions. Just because you have good visibility doesn’t mean you can’t crash. Black ice proves that to unsuspecting travelers all the time. There are also other road hazards that could cause a pile up, like an unexpected stop as drivers round a curve or crest a hill. If you’re one of the first people there and the car is suddenly stopped on a busy road way, there’s a good chance of a chain reaction crash.
Examples of Chain Reaction Crashes
Cars travel pretty fast these days. Even on secondary roads most people are always in a hurry and trying to get wherever they are going just a few moments faster. Here’s a hint people, leave a little earlier. It’s not worth risking your life or someone elses. Anyways, due to the high traffic speeds on the roads, if one of the cars develope a problem and has to suddenly slam on the brakes then those care behind that person can’t stop in time either. It’s not anyone’s fault really, just sometimes vehicles do that and there’s nothing anyone can do.
Since you’re on the freeway or a busy road, there’s vehicles all around you. With the high volume of vehicles more of the cars are forced to brake suddenly, some can skid, some might not stop in time, and some might even dart into another lane whether there’s traffic coming or not. You never know how someone is going to react and that is how Chain Reaction Crashes happen. When someone stops then a chain of events happen from that, that usually ends in more crashes.
Since there are so many vehicle involved in these time of crashes, it’s hard to pinpoint a cause or a who is at fault. Investigators try, but often it’s impossible to tell if there was a negligent driver that caused the crash. Unless there’s enough witnesses who all say the same thing, or close to the same thing. In fact, despite the number of chain reaction crashes, there’s little formal investigation going on for these crashes in the United States in regards to the cause of the crash.
Effects of Multi-Vehicle Crashes
A lot of times, a multi-vehicle crash doesn’t end well for one or more people. Usually it’s on a busy road and everyone was driving fast. Multi-vehicle collisions are pretty deadly. The number of crumpled up vehicles make it hard for the survivors to escape the entrapment. Some people might make it out of the vehicle okay, but there’s always that chance that an on coming vehicle will strike the injured person.
It’s sad to say, but most individual vehicles that are involved in a multi-vehicle crash are often hit several times from different angles at high speeds. If there’s passengers inside, of course it makes the risk of injury even greater for them. Plus, let’s not forget the airbags. They might save your life, but if you’ve ever been hit with one, you know the smell is horrible and it hurts so bad. After a collision the passenger compartment is more vulnerable, making it easier for the passenger to become injured after the crash even if they weren’t injured during the initial crash.
After Crash Dangers
Just because the wreck is over, doesn’t mean you’re out of danger yet. If you’re stuck in a vehicle, that can be the scariest thing. There’s a ton of things that could go wrong with being stuck in a vehicle after a crash. Such as a fire could start at any time. Most cars actually do get a little fire in them after a crash.
A fire can quickly spread due to the gas spilled all over the road and crash site. Just because your vehicle isn’t on fire, doesn’t mean someone’s in the crash isn’t.
When there’s a multi-vehicle crash the emergency workers gets a dozen or more calls about it. This makes it hard to sort through calls. Is it about the same crash or is it about a new one? This actually can slow down the speedy rescue process. Of course, if an accident happens in a rural or remote area, it could take a while or be hard to even get to the crash.
Multi-vehicle pile ups do not only hurt the vehicles or the people involved, but it can damage roadways and bridges as well. The heat from fires can melt/ burn the asphalt. Bridges can become weak due to impact from the collision or the fire.
The most serious multi-vehicle crash would be a fiery multi-vehicle crash in a tunnel. It’s hard for workers to get to the scene, there’s little to no escape for the fumes from the fire, and the fire/heat could damage the structure supports. So be extra careful while traveling. You never really think about this stuff until it happens to you.
So far in 2015, almost 200 vehicles have been involved in a pileup on Interstate 94 close to Galesburg, Michigan. I haven’t been there myself, but if I plan on driving I’ll definitley be extra careful in that area.
Daniel A. Gibalevich
Law Offices of Daniel A. Gibalevich
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