We seem to enjoy blaming freeway accident problems on bad drivers. They drive too fast. They drive recklessly. They don't pay attention to hazards. Interestingly, it's always the "other driver" that is terrible on the road, and not the person complaining. So I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to the backlash to our fog editorial which suggest that Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol could do more to prevent fog accidents.
Much of the reader reaction was to blame the drivers for the massive pileups on Highway 99 during fog season. The editorial board puts part of the blame on drivers, but we also believe that Caltrans and the CHP could do more to solve the problem. They say nothing more can be done. Let the cars crash in the fog, then clean up the mess. You can't force big rigs off the freeway during peak fog hours. It wouldn't be fair. You can't pace traffic more than they do now because of a lack of resources.
So what can you do? Why is Caltrans and the CHP out of ideas on this problem?
If our reader reaction to the problem is correct, every driver of the 85 cars in last November's 85-car pileup on Highway 99 were either driving too fast or with their lights off. I just can't believe that all 85 drivers were doing something wrong when they got caught up in the pileup. Most were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
My problem with Caltrans and the CHP is they think nothing can be done. They have no more ideas on the subject, and they reject the ideas from others. You can't shut down the freeway for a few hours in terrible fog (Why not? They end up having to shut down the freeway when there's an 85-car pileup to clean up the carnage).
Here are some other suggestions from our editorial:
-- Require semi-trucks and other big rigs to get off Highway 99 during the worst hours. Let the drivers take breaks at truck stops when the roads are most perilous.
-- Technology tells aviation officials when it's too foggy to land or take off from an airport. Use technology to alert Caltrans and the CHP when it's too foggy to drive.
-- Enact seasonal speed limits -- which are actually posted digitally on the freeway -- during the deadliest hours of fog or other treacherous weather conditions.
--Fine the heck out of hazardous drivers. Take their cars. Put them in holding tanks until the weather clears.
But the idea that you can't do anything to reduce fog accidents is just plain stupid.
I agree Jim. They close the freeways for snow so why not fog. Yes people may have to be late for work but at least they would arrive at some point albeit late.
So many of these pileups happen in the Selma area that there might just be a design flaw they could look at as well. Some employers have an inclement weather policy so people can arrive late without penalty. I am all for just closing the freeway though.
The Daily Death toll in the Bee local section as far as traffic fatalities go is staggering to this SoCal transplant.It must be geography.You'd get a fatal accident on the highway every one to two weeks but not the constant carnage that goes on in the central valley.Drivers are bad wherever you go and things would probably be even worse without the aggressive stance by the Fresno P.D. Fog, rural roads, canals and such seem to be a deadly combo.When folks talk about shutting down the highway for fog they compare it to shutting down the grapevine or Tehachapi for snow.Those are sections.By that standard, on my last trip to San Diego the highway would have been shut down from Selma to the Grapevine.After the first 200 trucks pull off at the highway for coffee where are the next ten thousand gonna pull off? Maybe intense pacing of traffic would work.An article of the official stance by the CHP and Cal-Trans on the subject would qualify as good journalism.