Video - The joys of winter. Crash after crash.

[MichaelRW]

http://www.king5.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/makeASX.php?title=www.king5.com/kiraw_011607portlandhomevid.wmv

[472 R/T SE]

Proof of why everything is shut down when there's any kind of snow up here in the Valley.  People DO NOT know how to drive in the stuff.  You would think with the driving skills of some, they would at least have a set of chains or cables installed before venturing out.

Thanks for video, at first I thought the audio was gun shots versus metal.

[Brock Samson]

ho ly smokes! 

[Drache]

I dont think the ice was what was causing the accident although Im sure it helped. It looks like the throttle was sticking on the car or something since it stays a constant speed the entire time without even trying to swerve. 

[Troy]

Looks like a rather steep hill. I don't think I'd park on the street if I lived there.

Troy

[bill440rt]

Damn, I'd move somewhere warmer.

[Mike DC]

Man, that's messed up!

From the high-angle video the whole thing looks pretty flat, but I'm sure it's not.  It has to be pretty slanted if the cars are sliding like that even after the impacts.

[69bronzeT5]

It looks like the first guy floored it into that wall. Its funny watching though

[2Gunz]

I grew up in NY near Buffalo.

I have been on ice that is so slick you cant stand on it, on even ground.

Add a slight hill and tires that are fixed and cant try to adjust to get traction like your feet

and you get what you just saw.

[ChargerSG]

Looks like the first guy put the pedal to the metal

[BigBlockSam]

wow! that was pretty wild

[Charger_Fan]

You know...there wouldn't be that problem in the summer.

[Steve P.]

I grew up in NY near Buffalo.

I have been on ice that is so slick you cant stand on it, on even ground.

Add a slight hill and tires that are fixed and cant try to adjust to get traction like your feet

and you get what you just saw.

You're not kidding.. I grew up in Rochester. The ice storm of 91' was just as you see in the video.

My mother in law told my wife today that they had another ice storm over the last few days. Not as bad as 91' though.....

[Shakey]

Looks like the first guy put the pedal to the metal

I was thinking the same thing.

One of two things:

Sheer stupidy or he felt he should write the car off if he mashed all four corners, and get a payoff from the insurance company rather than having a repaired car.   

[Steve P.]

Or the first CRUNCH knocked him out and his foot went to the floor.. 

[69chargeryeehaa]

i'd get out of the car and push it!!!! instead of just sitting in it, that must be the most helpless feeling.  You would think that if everyone watching would push the cars they could stop them.

[bull]

Damn, I'd move somewhere warmer.

It is someplace warmer, that's the problem. Portland doesn't get much snow so when we do the people who normally shouldn't be driving even on dry pavement start sliding around on ice and smashing into each other. I just read an article about that video in the Oregonian and there was no explanation as to why the guy was on the throttle instead of the brakes (or better yet, nothing). It did say he is 79-years old though so maybe it was like that dude who smashed into the crowd a while back that allegedly thought he was stepping on the brake pedal. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1169180739240520.xml&coll=7

But in defense of these people, Portland/Vancouver winters are a different breed than what I've experienced elsewhere. I grew up in Eastern Oregon where it snowed a lot in Dec. and then stayed very cold and clear all winter so driving on the snow-covered roads there was easy. Cold snow is a lot less slippery than warm snow. When it snows here the temperature usually hovers around 30-degrees and the stuff melts and freezes several times before it finally disappears. What the video doesn't tell you is that a week before this big snow storm we had a small snow storm and after most of that snow melted and turned to ice and it got pretty cold here for a week so there was a lot of it still hanging around the shady areas of Portland. Then when the big snow hit Monday night that ice that was still beneath it never left. Driving on four inches of snow isn't too bad but driving on four inches of snow that's on top of two inches of ice is pretty darn slick and that's what's going on here in the video.