bigjohn92

glad to hear your ok. god be wih the family who lost a family member that day
.

maybe368

This looks like something out of a movie...Mark That is Chase field on the right, where the Diamonbacks play and my house is about 2 miles away...

NE frmhnd

I was delivering groceries to Walmarts in northern IN, Michigan, Chicago, and NW Ohio several years ago when that bad fog hit in late winter. You could see about 3-4 truck lengths in front of you when you were lucky. Cars were running around with their 4-ways on, so you had no idea when they were actually braking. There was a 100+ car pile-up on I-69 near Lansing, and one of the other drivers from where I was heard it on the radio and managed to flag down a car beside him. Being a retired marine, he started carrying supplies in to help, there was nothing else he could do, and the woman he flagged down wouldn't leave him alone. Finally he gave her the office phone number for Auburn and told her to call in and thank them for sending him that way that day.

She called in and "I was doing 75 in the left lane and couldn't see the car in front of me and I don't know what I would have done if your driver hadn't got my attention" was part of the conversation.

I'd leave it there. Good protection from the sun.

maybe368

How do they pass driving tests? Maybe the tests are way too easy. I have heard that in some countrys that there is a very high failure rate, because the tests actually test your driving skills, not whether you can memorize a 20 page pamphlet and get the 70% required to pass. It is sad that many people in the states think that parallel parking is thje hardest part of the test and even sadder that it probably is ...Mark

maybe368

http://www.azcentral.com/commphotos/view/495536.jpg

http://i.azcentral.com/i/9/9/D/PHP4E152A95B2D99.jpg

http://www.azcentral.com/commphotos/view/495528.jpg

http://www.azcentral.com/commphotos/view/495375.jpg

Mark

maybe368

This photo was taken by a driver getting ready to be slammed by the storm...scarey...Mark


http://i.azcentral.com/i/F/6/A/PHP4E15E86800A6F.jpg

9MM

Got any pics of the old girl?

NJTman

Mark,

Glad to see you made it out, pretty much unscathed.



Those photos are freaking amazing. I've never seen anything like that ... ever.


We have some pretty bad nor-easters here in the winter and on a daily basis, regardless of weather, there's always some knucklehead getting themselves killed on our famous "Garden State Parkway".

Seems as though when folks here buy their first, or second 4x4, SUV, or other all weather driving vehicle, they somehow develop the ability to drive as fast as if the roads were dry and on a clear day. Unfortunately, these drivers kill others in the process.... as well as take out a tree or two on the side of the parkway.

Really glad to hear you're ok. Man, if I was driving along, and I saw that storm heading my way, I think the first thing I'd do is pull off the road, wait for a clearing in the traffic, and high tail it in the opposite direction as fast as I could get my machine to move.

That wall of cloud looked nasty, and I guess no matter how well you roll up your windows, you're going to be eating dust for a minute or two.


T.

maybe368

This past summer we have had 6 or 7 of these major dust storms and the story is always the same. The first car or 2 into the cloud of dust either slow WAAAAY down or stop and the vehicles following DO NOT slow down and the result is almost always the death of the ones in the first few cars. Sorry to those of you that are truckers, but they cause the most havoc when they plow their 80000 pound rigs into the pile-up. If you are travelling in AZ, NM, Tx or some others, these dust storms are happening all seasons now and can spring up in seconds and the best thing to do is EVERYONE needs to slow down. One more thing, I have lived in AZ almost my whole 56 years and the first time I have ever heard the word "haboob" was this year. It is an African word for dust storm. I think the media dug it up so that they can giggle like a child when they say it. They are dust storms here in the good ole' USA...Mark

maybe368

We used to only get dust storms during the monsoon season in July, August and September. Now it seems that we are getting them all year long. This time ONLY 3 people burned to death, but it could have been a lot worse. They blame the storm for the carnage, but the truth is that people just plow through the zero visibility at 80 mph, which is not a very good plan, to say the least. If anyone plans to travel through AZ, or any other dusty area, the best plan is to slow down at the first sign of any blowing dust. That is how I avoided colliding with someone. The news is blaming the storm, but the reality is that the drivers just refuse to slow down. According to several of the survivors, there was dust building along the freeway just prior to the dust storm, that is when you need to slow down, because when the dust hits, it is too late. Let's be careful out there...Mark

http://www.azcentral.com/community/p...nclick_check=1

cougar

I lived in AZ for a few years and say a few "dust" storms. As bad as an AK whiteout.
Glad your Okay though. Wish you were closer, I'd trade you bumpers off my 91. It ain't perfect, but it's not terrible.

mknittle

We get dense tule fog in the valley. I live higher up in the foothills and avoid the valley like the plague when it is foggy. People drive like Idiots these days. it seems Common sense isn't common.

maybe368

Boy ain't that the truth. I had a high school teacher that said that there is no such thing as common sense, because there are too many people that have none at all. I will never understand why people are in such a hurry as to risk not arriving at all...Mark

maybe368

I would have given it to you, but unfortunately, it laid around my backyard for several years and I finally let a guy collecting scrap iron take it. Sometimes I can be really dumb about these things......Mark

mknittle

I always tell my wife, they want to be the first one to an accident.