They'll probably do that for all three vehicles, but especially the X5.

From the sound of it, the van stopped dead in the lane and was reportedly filled with smoke - it's likely the driver was too panicked to think about getting it over to the shoulder and probably braked to a stop pretty quickly.

Also, if you consider that most people would jump out of the car pretty quickly if it was filling with smoke, it sounds like they were hit within seconds of stopping, so there may not have even been time to put on the hazards (IF they were still working).

But I'm sure the police investigation and inspection of the van will reveal a lot of that.

RIP


but to those being mad at ppl driving in the HOV lane.... uhhh wtf? even if they werent alone in their car they would probably have hit them.... wtf does them being alone in the hov lane have anything to do with it....

He was in the HOV lane ILLEGALLY! If the guy wasn't in the HOV lane then this accident could have been prevented.

ur just making assumptions that it wouldnt happen... there's no way in knowing.... it could have been the car behind them that would run into the van

the amount of ppl that are in his car has nothing to do with it... heck maybe if he was driving with 5 ppl in his suv and they were all partying and laughing it woulda distracted him and he woulda hit the van also

if she didnt stop in the middle of the hov it wouldnt have happened

if the cars that hit the van decided to go a different route it wouldnt have happened


bla bla bla bla bla bla it doesnt matter


end rant



him being alone in the car in the hov lane isnt what caused the accident is what im sayin

Rip

+1. This error isn't as big as the error of keeping a safe distance from the car ahead of you. Mechanical breakdowns can occur whether you're in the HOV lane, fast lane or slow lane so I don't really get the emphasis of the X5 driver being on the HOV.

Looks like bad journalism in a poor attempt to incite a reaction.

We don't know the extent of the mechanical breakdown. What if the whole car died, power steering included? All it just says is:
Or maybe RS should start another Rant Thread about female drivers suggesting we revoke their licences due to lack of manual dexterity & strength capability as their male counterparts :rolleyes:

The emphasis is that he shouldn't have been there in the first place, and neither should the car behind him (which was also a single occupant).

Who wants to lay odds that the two other cars were racing, or at least toying with each other, and were both FLYING down the HOV... or as ericthehalfbee suggests, had JUST moved into that lane? Either way, they had to be going pretty fast to do that kind of damage, and were most certainly not paying attention to what was happening in front of them, but probably more to each other.

What if this incident occurred in the fast/slow lane? Is it all good?

Come on, use your head. Whether the X5 driver was alone or not and this accident are two separate issues. If the X5 had a passenger, this accident still would have happened; and if the X5 wasn't there, some other car would have been in its place.

The questions we need to know are what exactly happened so we can learn from this. Was it the actions of the driver of the minivan that lead to this accident (which I think it is)? Why didn't she pull over? (something bad was bound to happen the moment she decided to stop in the middle of the highway) Did she have her hazards on? Was the driver in the X5 speeding? Why didn't he stop in time? Why didn't the Echo stop in time?

too many ifs

rip to the kids

lets just wait and see what they find

The difference is in WHY the X5 was in the HOV lane; what led to his being there, at that time, going that speed, and not being able to stop in time. And I'd lay odds he was driving like an asshole in the first place.

+1

likely another case of "I'm invincible because I drive an SUV"

You can say that another car could have taken that SUV's place BUT the issue here is that he shouldn't have fucking been in that lane anyways. We don't know how close the other cars were but what we do know is that this car rear-ended them so hard that the entire back was completely caved in.

He crashed into them when he wasn't even suppose to be there and that is something that the fucker could have prevented if he wasn't there illegally in the first place.

Moot point, it just as easily could have been another group of people in another car.

So who cares.

^ I agree If the x5 would have been driving legally none of this would of happened the lady might have had time to put on her hazards or what not. there is a reason why they call it an HOV lane its for 2 or more occupants not single assholes just trying to get ahead of traffic. I hope they charge him with negligence and take his licence away

I think the real question is, if your car dies and you can't get it into the shoulder and put your hazards on, FOR THE LOVE OF FUCKING GOD WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU STAY IN THE CAR!?!?!?!

I'm sorry, some of the flagrant idiocy on this forum is highly disturbing.

The fact that the x5 had only one passenger in it was a moot point, if he had two, he still would have been behind them, he still would have hit them.

Or if he wasn't in the HOV lane and another van was there with a group of people, they still could have hit them.

The fact they were in the HOV lane with only one person is secondary to the larger issue and is totally irrelevent.

Someone would have been in that late, someone, more likely than not, would have hit them.

Frankly, I'd rather have it be a guy in an X5 than a van full of another entire family, imagine how many dead people there would be in that case?

^Getting out of the car in the middle of the freeway isn't really a much better idea, if you think about it for a second...

Not that that would come immediately to mind either if the car was full of smoke - getting out would be the first instinct. Which is why it would seem there was almost no time between the van dying and getting hit.

If they were in the HOV lane the shoulder would have been to their immediate left, they should have at least got out of the car and got onto the median.

It may be secondary, but it's not irrelevant. Being illegally in the HOV certainly wasn't the cause of him hitting the car, but it's very likely an indicator of the cause, which I'd bet was that the guy was a jerk and in a hurry and either changed lanes when he shouldn't have, or was going way too fast because he was impatient, and in either case was probably not paying attention.

It's fine to argue that if it hadn't been this guy, it would have been someone else... except someone else probably would not have been speeding, or making a bad lane change, or would have been paying attention, or in some other way driving like an asshole.

You'd think... which is why it sounds like they had no time to do that. Chances are, the thing had JUST kacked when it got hit. There was no mention of anyone NOT wearing their seatbets, so they probably hadn't even had the chance to unbuckle.

Not a good idea either, considering she had kids aged 6,8,9 just out on that highway. The risks of this option are still potentially catastrophic.

edit:

I missed that but it's a really good point as well.

I guess I am just shocked and appalled that any parent/grandparent would think that just sitting in the car and doing nothing was a good idea.

One of the older people should have atleast got out and started waving a jacked around, or opened the doors to give an obvious sign that the car was not moving/not functional.

^+1

Thank you for chiming in.

Let's not forget, the story reports that the van was filling with smoke, so getting the fuck out would be anyone's first instinct... which again, makes it sound like they didn't even have the chance to try before they got nailed.

how the fuck can u say the accident could have been avoided if he hadn't been there?? Clearly the van was the majority cause of the accident considering TWO vehicles ended up rear ending it not just one car so clearly the van acted INS fasion that not only suprised the x5 but also the vehicle behind it

As well that stretch is completely straight with virtually no blindspots so I really woulnt be suprised if the van driver paniced and stopped as soon as the "smoke" was entering the cabin, in reality how bad could it have been in a brand new vehicle??...

R.I.P to the kids all day long but from everything I've read as of yet it seems mainly on the driver of the van.