Aftermath of a multi-vehicle collision on the M4 Motorway in Sydney, Australia
A multiple-vehicle collision (colloquially known as a pileup or multi-car collision),[1] is a road traffic collision involving many vehicles. Generally occurring on high-capacity and high-speed routes such as freeways, they are one of the deadliest forms of traffic collisions. The most disastrous pileups have involved more than a hundred vehicles.
Terminology
A chain collision can be defined as "an accident involving three or more vehicles in which one vehicle has only rear impact damage (i.e., the "lead" vehicle); one vehicle has only frontal damage; and all other vehicles have frontal and rear impact damage (these are the "middle" vehicles)".[2]
Statistics
British statistics
In Great Britain, statistics are available on the number of vehicles involved in crashes.
In 2013, there were: 42,487 single-vehicle crashes, 82,429 dual-vehicle crashes, and 13,744 crashes involving three or more vehicles (10%) for a total of 138,660 reported crashes. In crashes with three or more vehicles, there were 228 motorists killed and 19 pedestrians killed.
In 2020, there were: 25,730 single-vehicle crashes, 57,392 dual-vehicle crashes, and 8,077 crashes involving three or more vehicles (9%) for a total of 91,199 reported crashes. In crashes with three or more vehicles, there were 200 motorists (18% of all motorists) and 17 pedestrians (5% of all pedestrians) killed.[3]
American statistics
In America, statistics are available from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).[4]
Between 2005 and 2021, there were 138 fatal crashes that involved at least ten vehicles.
Crashes involving more than ten vehicles are over 100 times more likely to result in the deaths of at least five people compared to fatal crashes involving fewer than five vehicles.[5]
More fatal pile-ups occur between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. than during any other single hour. However, the most frequent time for these accidents is during the transition from late afternoon to early evening, with one-third of the pile-ups happening between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Pile-ups generally occur in low-visibility conditions as drivers on freeways are following too closely and unable to adjust to road conditions.
Chain-reaction crashes can also occur in conditions of good visibility, when black ice or other road hazards are encountered unexpectedly as drivers round a curve or crest a hill.[1]
Multiple vehicle collisions can also occur when a third vehicle is too close to an initial collision to avoid hitting one or both of the vehicles. Due to the high traffic speeds on the road, if one car develops a problem and suddenly halts, ones behind it cannot stop in time and may hit it. Considering that these roads often have high traffic volumes, more cars are forced into braking and skidding, darting into other lanes and in front of other traffic; more vehicles become involved, creating a chain reaction effect.
Determining the cause of such collisions is difficult for investigators and it is often impossible to tell if negligence caused the crash. In spite of their frequency, little formal research has been done in the United States regarding their causes.[6]
Multiple-vehicle collisions are particularly deadly as the mass of crumpled vehicles makes escape for survivors difficult. Even if survivors are able to exit their vehicles, other cars may strike them. Individual vehicles in a multiple-vehicle collision are often hit multiple times at high speed, increasing the risk of injury to passengers who may have survived the first impact with the benefit of now-discharged protective airbags. Collisions after the initial collision may occur from the side of the vehicle, where the passenger compartment is more vulnerable.
A fire in one part of the collision can quickly spread via spilled gasoline and cover the entire crash area. Multiple-vehicle collisions can also overwhelm local emergency services making speedy rescues more difficult. If the collision takes place in a remote area, getting medical help to the scene can be difficult.
The destruction and intense heat of fires can also damage roadways, particularly by melting and burning the asphalt or spalling concrete surfaces. The structural steel of bridges and overpasses can also be weakened by the heat. A fiery pileup inside a tunnel is the most serious, as there is little means to escape the poisonous fumes and the confined heat may damage structural supports.
The large scale of these collisions can close highway routes for several days, or even longer if highway support structures are damaged.
Avoidance
A NHTSA report suggests that a vehicle fit with a center high-mounted stop lamps has 23.7% less risk to be involved as a lead vehicle in a chain collision while it has 16.0% less risk to be involved as a middle vehicle in such a chain collision.[2]
France
In the French ASFA motorway network, out of all vehicle crashes with injuries, single vehicle crashes make up 42% of the total, dual vehicle crashes make up 41%, and crashes involving three or more vehicles make up 17%.[7]
Korea
On Korean expressways, chain crashes represent 10.7% of crashes with injuries involving truck drivers. On Korean rural roads, chain crashes represent 0.6% of crashes with injuries involving truck drivers.[8]
A fog bank settled over Santa Ana Freeway and caused a chain reaction collision involving more than 100 cars in both directions. The crash caused 28 injuries. Two more separate chain collisions involving an additional 50 cars (also attributed to fog) occurred on Harbor Freeway that same day.[9]
Due to fog, there was a pileup on the M1 just north of the A505 junction near Luton, United Kingdom. Fog warning lights, switched on at the advice of motorway patrols, were not active at the time of the pileup. 26 miles of the M1 motorway were closed for several hours in both directions.[10]
The heavy fog created a rapid reduction in visibility along the toll plaza stretch of the New Jersey Turnpike near Secaucus along the bank of the Hackensack River. Semi-trucks, cars, and even a coach bus were involved in the crashes. Smoke from a nearby fire also contributed to the low visibility. Local police and New Jersey State Police helped out in the search and rescue efforts.[11]
An accident involving a gasoline tanker truck in the third (then-northernmost) bore set off the Caldecott Tunnel fire.[12] The accident caused major damage and the bore was closed to traffic for several months while repairs were made, with traffic temporarily reverting to the pre-third-bore configuration. During the fire, the tunnel acted as a natural chimney, venting the smoke, flames, and heat upward the eastern entrance to the tunnel. The accident and fire killed seven people, most of whom were overcome by toxic smoke. The fire occurred shortly after midnight when there were few cars in the tunnel; had it occurred during normal commute hours, hundreds could have died.
The Beaune coach crash in France, Europe, is considered the most fatal multiple vehicle road collision in France. 53 people died, including 46 children (44 on the coach and 2 in a car).[13] Legal consequences include the following: maximum speed limit for coaches reduced, the speed limit for all vehicles in rainy conditions reduced to 110 km/h (68 mph) on motorways and 80 km/h (50 mph) on other roads;[14] transporting groups of children forbidden during the busy weekends of late July and early August; and all heavy vehicles (such as HGVs and coaches) must be equipped with a mechanical speed-limitation device, and it is strictly forbidden for the user to tamper with or modify this device in any way.[15]
Heavy fog led to a fiery crash involving 52 vehicles led to three deaths and more than 30 injuries on the Interstate 43 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, on the Tower Drive Bridge over the Fox River. A fog warning system was immediately installed, and bridge lighting was installed in the mid-2000s after more fog-related issues.
Heavy fog caused by the neighboring Bowater paper mill led to a fiery crash involving 99 vehicles, leaving 12 dead and 42 injured on Interstate 75 in Calhoun, Tennessee, between Chattanooga and Knoxville near the Hiwassee River. The Bowater paper mill paid out more than $10M in settlements. A fog warning system has since been installed, and the highway patrol enforces speed limits aggressively.[16]
Referred to as the 1991 M4 motorway crash; heavy fog and a van driver either falling asleep or swerving to miss a pigeon in the outside lane led to a pileup and fiery crash involving 51 vehicles, leading to 10 deaths on the M4 in Hungerford, Berkshire, United Kingdom, between Membury and Hungerford.[17]
Referred to as the 1997 M42 motorway crash: fog caused a crash in the United Kingdom, involving 160 vehicles, leading to three deaths and 60 injuries.[25][26]
On a snow-slicked section of N/B Interstate-75 in central Michigan, just north of Grayling, 114 cars crashed during whiteout conditions,[27] killing one and injuring 39.[28]
On Interstate 70 in Golden, Colorado, United States, a car spun out in the westbound lanes in heavy snow and fog and was then hit by other vehicles as it attempted to resume westbound travel.[31]
In Ife, Nigeria, a tanker truck crashed into a traffic jam and exploded. The death toll is disputed, as 96 bodies were recovered in the crash, but some believe the true death toll to be as high as 200.
Dense fog caused a collision on Interstate 43 in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, just north of the Ozaukee-Sheboygan County line, involving 50 vehicles. It is considered the worst multiple-vehicle collision in Wisconsin history.[34]
On the A10 autoroute, Coulombiers, two HGV drivers, one British and one Russian, did not comply with speed regulations, going up to 140 km/h when speed was limited to 50 km/h due to fog;[36] the Orsec-Novi plan was raised.
Due to poor visibility during a white out snow squall, on Interstate 80 in Centre County, Pennsylvania, an accident involving around 50 vehicles left six dead and 17 injured.[42]
Tule fog led to an accident on Highway 99 south of Fresno, California, United States, involving 108 vehicles, with two dead and dozens of injuries.[45]
Four people were killed and as many as 38 were injured in a major pileup on Interstate 4 in north central Florida involving 70 vehicles, as fog mixed with smoke from a controlled fire led to "superfog", making it almost impossible for motorists to see.[47]
At 6.39 am a series of vehicle crashes occurred, involving cars, SUVs, busses, and trucks, because of heavy fog on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway near Ghantoot, Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, leading to the worst ever crash and multi-vehicle pileup in the country's history. According to Dubai-based Gulf News and Reuters, the incident killed 3 people and injured 277, involving 60 vehicles of which 25 caught fire.[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56]
Dozens of people were injured, 10 critically, when 259 vehicles were involved in a series of related pile-ups due to heavy rain on the German Autobahn A2 near Braunschweig in Lower Saxony.[66]
Severe black ice, freezing fog, and deep snow led to a pileup on the M27 motorway westbound at Rownhams services involving 20 vehicles, and another pileup eastbound between J7 for Hedge End and Botley and J8 for Bursledon and Netley involving 23 vehicles.
Near Williamsburg, Virginia, whiteout conditions around 9:00 am led to a fifty-car pileup on a stretch of westbound I-64. The collision took hours to clear, and seven people suffered minor injuries requiring hospitalization.[68]
Whiteout conditions caused several pileups involving 140[69] vehicles, including two Greyhound buses,[70] in the Kansas City area. The largest pileup along I-70 and K-7 near the city of Bonner Springs, Kansas, involved 40 vehicles.[69][70][71] No fatalities or critical injuries were reported. The collision closed I-70 for several hours so emergency workers and crews could clean up the area. The same day, also in the Kansas City metro area, a separate pileup also caused by whiteout conditions involving at least 20 vehicles closed parts of I-35 near 87th Street.[70] No fatalities or serious injuries were reported there as well.[70] The collisions sent 13 people to area hospitals.[71]
Heaving fog resulting in zero visibility led to crashes on Interstate 77 in Carroll County, Virginia, in both the northbound and southbound lanes between mile markers 4 & 7 in the area of Fancy Gap, with a total of 75 vehicles involved.[72]
Heavy fog led to a collision on Rodovia dos Imigrantes at São Paulo, Brazil, involving around 300 vehicles, leading to several injuries and one person dead.[75]
Dense fog caused a multiple-vehicle collision occurred on the M5 motorway near Taunton, Somerset, in South West England. The crash involved dozens of cars and articulated lorries; a large fireball ensued. It was concluded that the cause of the crash was dense fog.
"Heavy, heavy fog" led to three separate chain-reaction crashes on Tennessee State Route 386 (Vietnam Veterans Boulevard) and Saundersville Road near Hendersonville in Sumner County, Tennessee, United States, north of Nashville. It involved 176 vehicles, leading to one death and 16–18 injuries. A fog advisory was not in effect for the area at the time of the crashes.[76][77][78][79]
A slippery road caused a pileup in the Chugoku expressway in Shimonoseki, Japan, and injured 10 people. It is believed to be one of the most expensive pileups, having 8 Ferraris, 3 Mercedes-Benz, a Lamborghini, and 2 Toyota Prius being involved in the crash.[81]
Heavy fog and smoke from a nearby ongoing marsh fire in New Orleans East led to a pileup on I-10 in New Orleans, Louisiana, with about 40 vehicles involved and at least 50 injuries (22 serious).[82]
On European route E75 in Helsinki, Finland, heavy snow and icy road conditions caused accidents with more than 100 cars involved and more than 40 injured (1 critically).[83][84]
On Interstate I-75 Southbound on the University Blvd. overpass on the Sarasota/Manatee County line, Florida, white-out rain led to 12 separate crashes involving 47 vehicles.[85]
On the European route E4 Klippan on Tranarp bridge near Helsingborg, southwesternSweden, one person died and more than 40 were injured after up to 80 vehicles crashed into one another due to dense fog and slippery road conditions.[87][88]
On Interstate 75 in Middletown, Ohio, flash snowburst caused a large pileup. Same storm as the Cincinnati 103-vehicle collision that killed a 12-year-old girl.[92]
On Interstate 77 in Carroll County, Virginia, approximately 95 vehicles were involved in a collision on the southbound lane of I-77 near the base of Fancy Gap Mountain near Fancy Gap, Virginia. Virginia State Police say that excessive fog could be to blame for the collision. Three people were killed.[95]
One person was killed and 67 injured as 132 vehicles were involved in a triple chain collision in thick fog on the A19 in Zonnebeke, Belgium.[97] A second person died four days later.[98]
Up to 105 vehicles were involved in multiple collisions on the eastbound lanes of the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Willow Grove and Bensalem. One collision involved about 75 vehicles while another incident further east involved about 30 vehicles. There were a total of 30 injuries. The collisions were a result of icy conditions from a winter storm.[100]
On Ontario Highway 400 south of Barrie, 96 vehicles were involved in collisions at about 9am during a snow squall, reducing visibility to "a few feet". The incident resulted in the closure of Highway 400 between Highway 89 and Mapleview Drive. Both lanes on that stretch of highway were closed for most of the day until early evening.[101]
A 47-vehicle pileup occurred during morning traffic on N12 Freeway near Alberton, South Africa, heading east. Four people were confirmed dead and nine were critically injured.[105]
Nearly 200 vehicles, including 76 semi trucks, were involved in a pileup on Interstate 94 near Galesburg, Michigan,[106] amidst a heavy snowstorm that brought nearly a foot of snow to the area. One of the trucks was carrying a load of fireworks, which caught fire and exploded, injuring two firefighters. The only fatality was a 57-year-old truck driver from Quebec, Canada.[107]
Icy roads led to a 60-car pileup on Interstate 76 in Upper Merion, Pennsylvania. One man was killed when he got out of his car after the collision and was hit by another car. 30 more people were injured.[108][109]
A 106-car pileup on Yeongjong Bridge in Incheon, South Korea, killed two and injured more than 65 people. The event was caught on tape from a vehicle's dashcam.[110]
Icy conditions caused a pileup on the I-78 Freeway in Pennsylvania, resulting in the deaths of 3 people. 50 cars were involved and at least 25 people were injured.[114][115]
Snowy road conditions on an expressway linking Beijing and Kunming in the North China province of Shanxi caused a total of 56 vehicles to crash into each other, resulting in 17 deaths.[118]
A 50-vehicle pileup on Interstate 90 in Concord Township, Ohio on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, at mile marker 202.3 (between OH-44 and Vrooman Road) happened as a result of overnight heavy lake-effect snow. It seems to have had 15 semi trucks and 35 cars involved.[119]
Icy conditions led to a pileup on Interstate 35 near Ames, Iowa, involving at least 15 semi trucks and 35 cars. One fatality and five critically injured people were reported.[120]
White-out conditions and winds in excess of 50 mph contributed to a 131 vehicle pileup on Interstate 41 near Neenah, Wisconsin. The crash resulted in 1 dead and 71 injured.[122][123]
With fog visibility of 100 feet, there was a pileup on the Southbound side of Interstate 5 South of Grapevine at Gorman School Road. A toddler passed away days later.[125]
A semi driver slammed into rush hour traffic, starting a pile up and massive fire that killed four people and injured seven others in Lakewood, Colorado.[126]
Near Wamsutter, Wyoming, over 100 vehicles collided in near-zero visibility conditions while semi-trailers toppled over in high winds. Vehicles were unable to stop as there was also black ice on Interstate 80 on both sides of the highway, westbound and eastbound portions between Rawlins and Wamsutter. People report being stuck on the highway for over nine hours before emergency teams were able to clear the roadway.[129]
Freezing rain resulted in 133[130] vehicles being involved in a crash on Interstate 35W near Fort Worth, Texas. It was the worst pile-up in Texas history with more than 65 people hospitalized and at least six people dead. Multiple people were trapped in their vehicles as well and had to be rescued. The scene of the crash spanned over 1.5 miles.[131]
A severe sandstorm resulted in a pile-up of 22 vehicles on Interstate 15 in Millard County, Utah. Eight were killed, including four children under the age of 15.[132]
On the workweek morning of January 5, early morning rain falling with temps below freezing led to widespread black ice across the Philadelphia and New York City metro areas. In Monmouth County, New Jersey, black ice over the Route 18/36 flyovers led to 2 car pileups in both directions. 50 vehicles were involved in the second crash and 15 were involved in the first.[135]
This crash occurred on the Ohio Turnpike in Sandusky County due at least partially to weather conditions from the December 2022 North American winter storm, as the area was under a level 3 snow emergency and "the crash came amid frigid temps and strong winds."[142] This crash was still under investigation a month later.[143]
This crash occurred on King’s Highway 11 in the city of Orillia, Ontario, after snow squalls in the area led to whiteout conditions, causing collisions between an estimated 50-60 vehicles. A 49-year-old man was killed and 11 others were hospitalized.[152]
Two accidents occurred in Uppland on 15 February, one on the E18 in the vicinity of Grillby near Enköping and another on the E4 near Uppsala due to icy road conditions and low visibility.
This crash occurred on the Herat–Islam Qala highway, an extension of the Afghanistan Ring Road, due to, according to local police, "excessive speed and negligence" of the overcrowded bus, which collided with a motorcycle and a truck possibly loaded with fuel, although the Taliban-ruled government has ordered an investigation.[154][155]
Motorsports
Multiple vehicle collisions can occur in the restricted courses used in motorsports as well, most commonly after a green flag (on road courses) being waved following a warm-up lap during the start of the race. Reporters and fans apply subjective guidelines as to what threshold needs to be crossed before a simple on-track incident can be described as such. NASCAR fans, for example, talk about the "Big One", where many cars can be or are involved in a wreck while running close together.
^ abReport No DOT HS 807 076, THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CENTER HIGH MOUNTED STOP LAMPS, A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION, March 1987, Charles J. Kahane, Ph.D., Office of Standards Evaluation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C. 20590
^Department for Transport statistics, Reported Road Casualties Great Britain Annual Report 2020, RAS40004 Reported accidents, vehicle user and pedestrian casualties by severity and combination of vehicles involved, Great Britain, 2013
^Conseil Général des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris, le 30 décembre 2004, Bureau d’Enquêtes sur les Accidents de Transport Terrestre, Affaire n°2002-0226-01, Rapport final de l’enquête technique sur l’accident survenu le 5 novembre 2002 sur l’autoroute A10 à Coulombiers, Jean Gérard KOENIG, Ingénieur Général des Ponts et Chaussées, Yves BONDUELLE, Inspecteur Général de l’Equipement, Jean Paul BOIRON, Ingénieur Général des Ponts et Chaussées, Bernard LOITIERE, Ingénieur Général des Ponts et Chaussées
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