How it All Happened

That bleak weather, combined with vehicles moving too fast for those conditions, was the main cause of this accident, according to state police investigators.

The accompanying diagram indicates the final resting position of each vehicle, but several of them moved from stopped positions as a result of collisions.

There were two separate incidents in the half hour preceding the big pileup. A Jeep (No. 4) had slid on the icy bridge spun and come to a rest on the left shoulder, facing in the wrong direction. It remained in that position throughout the ensuing chaos.

The second incident occurred a few minutes later when the MGM truck (No. 5) and the Dodge van (No. 2) had been involved in a minor fender bender. A State police car (No. 3) was dispatched to that scene. Prior to the massive pileup, the police car was where it is in the diagram. The van was parked on the right shoulder directly behind the police cart and the truck was parked on the right shoulder directly in front of the police car.

Then all hell broke loose.

The Cal-Ark truck (No. 1) came barreling through the fog too fast for prevailing road conditions. The truck hit the icy bridge pavement, and its driver, who died in the accident, lost control of his vehicle. The skidding truck hit the parked van (No. 2) from the rear, severely injuring several of its occupants and knocking it completely over the right guard rail to its final position in the diagram. With its trailer starting to slide to the left, the truck's cab sideswiped the state police car (No. 3), which contained a trooper, who was miraculously uninjured. The sliding trailer jack-knifed and grazed the Jeep (No. 4) in the left shoulder. The cab of No. 1 then hit truck No. 5 in the rear and side, pushing truck No. 5 violently forward and continued on, shearing off No. 5's wheels and knocking it over into the right shoulder. As No.1's cab made contact with No. 5, it was sheared off. The driver of No. l was ejected from his cab and was dead at the scene.

As the R.C. Moore truck (No. 6) tried to drive past the sliding Cal Ark vehicle (No. 1), it sideswiped No. 1. The truck was damaged, but was able to drive from the scene.

According to eyewitnesses the Ryder rental truck (No. 7) was able to come to a full stop in the right hand lane short of the wreckage to its north. The Lumina (No. 11) then came to a full stop straddling the emergency lane to the right of truck No. 7. The Flash Produce truck (No. 8) was also able to come to a full stop in the left hand lane.

The Celadon truck (No. 9) came through the fog and hit the rear of truck No. 8, causing it to overturn into the left shoulder. The cab from No.9 separated from its trailer and came to rest in the left shoulder. The trailer from No. 9 burst apart at its seams and continued to slide. The sliding trailer pushed the stopped truck No. 7 and stopped police car (No. 3) forward and pushed the stopped Lumina (No. 11) back from its stopping point.

Then, the Tahoe (No. 10) slid into trailer No.9 which had blocked the highway. After several seconds had passed, truck No. 12 then hit the icy bridge and jack-knifed, sliding into the rear of cars Nos.10 and 11, pinning them against trailer No.9, which was lifted on top of the two vehicles by the force of impact.

The green van (No. 13) then hit truck No. 12. The Ford pickup (No. 14) hit truck No. 12. Then, the Toyota (No. 15) made contact with cars No. 13 and 14. The chain reaction ended when truck No. 16 hit van No. 13.

At that point, troopers had stopped traffic on the other side of the bridge, preventing any further disaster.