Watch as a Stalled Nissan Altima On Foggy California Highway Creates Nightmarish Mayhem
Last month, a truly terrifying scene unfolded on a dark and foggy highway 110 in LA. A stranded Nissan Altima was stuck in the second to the left lane on the highway without its flashers on or any road flares, with cars flying by at highway speeds. The result was a catastrophic series of multiplier accidents that raise your heart rate with every next car that passes. *Trigger warning for anyone sensitive to car accidents*
Does California have good drivers?
Driving woes and California are like pizza and NYC; they just go together. The horrific scene on this foggy and dark stretch of the 110 outside LA is not helping with the association of scary driving scenarios and California.
As seen on Carscoops, the video starts with a disabled Nissan Altima sitting on the highway with (who we presume is) the owner walking around the car to survey the damage. He gets in and out a few times (maybe trying to move it) before it eventually gets slammed by another car that couldn’t see that stopped car before it was too late.
The good samaritan who filmed the event had pulled over, turned on his flashers, and even tried to alert other motorists with a spotlight on the busted Altima. Unfortunately, his efforts were mostly in vain. Once the first car hits the Nissan, things quickly devolve into a nightmarish hellscape of screeching tires, swerving cars, and many hard impacts.
“The highway is alive tonight…” with the Ghost of this Nissan Altima
Once the crashed cars began to pile up, a few surprisingly dynamic drivers managed to thread the junkyard needle and miss the cataclysm. However, many who saw the crash early still didn’t react quickly enough and succumbed to the same fate as the earlier drivers. The field eventually becomes too crowded to avoid the carnage.
Before emergency vehicles got there, six cars ended up crashing and all fairly violently. Thankfully, most of the drivers appeared to have escaped unharmed as only two people were taken to the hospital. Their condition remains unknown, but hopefully, their injuries were only minor.
When should you use your emergency flashers on your car?
This was an accident that got way out of hand. Placing blame or figuring out if it could have been prevented is a fool’s errand. However, every modern car comes with emergency flashers for just such an occasion. The Nissan Altima driver at the beginning probably should have tried to put on his emergency flashers.
This would have been an excellent time for anyone involved in the crash to use their hazards to convey to other drivers to slow down. Many drivers that passed the wreckage turned their emergency lights on as they swerved the mess.
Anytime you need to make a sudden stop or drastically slow down, you should always try and get your flashers on ASAP to alert other drivers of what you are doing. This is not only a courtesy to other drivers, but it also is a wise safety measure to avoid being rear-ended.
We don’t talk about emergency flashers often, but maybe we should. Flashers would have greatly improved this situation had they been used more consistently and earlier.
Always remember, keep your eyes downfield when you drive and always be prepared to react dynamically to the road and other cars around you. This will highly increase your chances of staying safe while driving.
