By Linda B. Blackford and Janet Patton
On Wednesday, (click here) Peggy and Eric Wilson started the drive from their winter home in Alabama back to Chicago because of a family emergency.
At 10 Thursday morning, they were among hundreds of people who had been stranded in their cars on Interstate 65 for hours without any help in sight.
The Wilsons were going on 14 hours stuck in their car amid stopped trucks and other vehicles as nearly 2 feet of snow immobilized a stretch of highway from Hardin County to Jefferson County.
"We've been parked in the same spot since 8 p.m.," Peggy Wilson, 70, said in a phone interview. "We are stuck between two semis."...
Snacks in the trunk in a cooler along with blankets and water are just as much a part of standard emergency equipment as a tire jack.
There is also a danger of carbon monoxide if cars are idling for long periods of time. The exhaust pipe has to be cleared of gathering snow. Semis don''t have that problem, their stacks exhaust upward.
Noted in his picture the empty lanes of the opposite direction of the highway. Those trapped can be rescued by emergency vehicles from those open lanes.
Mobile phones and working towers are important in these dangerous months. Do not use the car's battery as a charger for phones unless the engine is running. Batteries should be maintained in full charge.
Trucks can be fitted with chains during severe weather that effects their traction. There has to be as much as possible of the cargo weight over the rear tandems of the tractor. The maximum for those axles is 18 thousand pounds and as much as that maximum should be placed there in winter months.
The temperatures will begin to warm soon for the lower USA so preparedness for next year is important. Major transportation companies should have safety programs ready for next season. Once the lower half of the country begins to warm the interstate system at these latitudes will serve as better movement until the severe temperatures of an approaching summer. If summer temperatures prove high then northern routes will be easier on any engine or driver.
One other thing, "Bridge Laws" (The laws that manage the total weight on a bridge so the maximum capacity isn't exceeded. The weight traveling over any bridge in the USA should be well below a bridge's maximum. Snow is very heavy and will add to the weight on any bridge. Snow accumulations also will weigh differently based on the water content of the snowflakes. When semis are at a standstill the snow accumulations will transfer in surface area to their roofs. What difference does that make? When the semis start to move they take the weight on their roofs with them adding to the total on the bridge.) need to be reviewed for all semi drivers. The USA infrastructure is not at it's best and if there are a line of semis on a bridge along with the weight of snow, especially heavy snow, it could be a problem. Dispatchers have to know the 'repair status' of the bridges along their driver's routes as well as the least congested roads.
Mountain passes cannot be taken for granted as in West Virginia. West Virginia has lowered speed limits in recent years and they should be strictly enforced.
The USA economy is based strongly in movement, don't screw it up.
