Accident On iterstate 15 South of Salt Lake City

[Gary W]

We were in an accident in Utah on Saturday March 13 on our way to Arizona . We were about 2 hours south of Salt Lake City when we ran into heavy snow at 6000 ft. We were driving slow 30 mph when everybody in front stopped. We safely came to a stop as well as a Honda Civic behind us. We felt a bump, and when I went back to look I noticed that a semi had run into the civic which then rear ended us. Only a little damage to the   Jeep but the Honda got it good. The young couple only had a few scrapes. We were there for over 2 hours waiting for the Highway patrol to prepare our statements.
The couple were on their way to a wedding in Vegas, so I offered them a ride as far as ST George UT. We had just got going when there was a truck jack knifed ahead of us half a mile, so we sat another hour or two. Check out the pictures. We stayed at the Walmart in St George for the night . Should have been there at 4:30 but arrived at 10 pm.

We headed out this Sunday morning from ST George, great weather. We are now in Apache Junction where it is warm and sunny. Little damage to the back of Jeep. At least we can drive it, the Blue Ox tow bar won't fold up into stow position so my insurance company told me to replace it.

Gary

Gary

[Gary W]

Here are a few more pics.

Gary

[bobofthenorth]

Glad to hear everybody is OK.  I've driven that stretch more times than I care to remember and plenty of times in bad weather although usually once we got south of SLC we thought the worst of it was behind us.  The problem with driving is always that, no matter how safely you drive, the road is still full of idiots who will drive too fast or follow too close.  If you leave a safe following distance between you and the guy ahead of you then you can bet that some fool (or fools) will think they need to fit in that space.  I've come to think of the ones who repeatedly take up my stopping distance as my personal crumple zone - it helps to pass the time in heavy traffic.

Thanks for the pictures - they remind me why I don't like driving in those conditions.

[fe2_o3]

  We're also very glad no body was seriously hurt. Again the advantages of the bus. Stability, strength, and a place to stay till the paper work is done. Good job on the pictures...Cable

[busguy01]

For your sake - PLEASE replace the base plate as well as the tow bar.
JimH

[Chopper Scott]

Those pics look cold! Glad nobody got injured but still an inconvenience. I know what Bob is talking about with idiots jumping in front of your "crush zone"! We had a few close calls with traffic backing up quickly and some fool jumping in front of us resulting in almost locking em up. On 3 occasions it was a trooper having someone pulled over causing the backup. Safety first!!

[Iceni John]

I've been thinking of making a bumper sticker that says "If you can read this, you are my crumple zone".   And this is with a school bus that's still painted NSBY and still has its red lights!

Maybe that guy with the old mobile-BLEVE Yellow Coach PG-2505 had the right idea  -  use Armco barrier front and rear.   Seriously though, I plan on reusing my roof-height red rear flashers as high-mount supplemental brake lights, plus I will also use a Hella rear fog light on the rear bumper.   When I had another identical fog light on a previous car I would notice tailgaters immediately dropping back when I turned it on in poor visibility, maybe because they thought it was a brake light, but probably because it's obnoxiously bright to anyone too close behind.   There's good reason why rear fog lights are mandatory in Europe  -  why are they still almost unknown here?   I can take responsibility for maintaining a safe distance ahead of me, but I can't control the dimwits behind me.

John

[belfert]

though, I plan on reusing my roof-height red rear flashers as high-mount supplemental brake lights, plus I will also use a Hella rear fog

When I drive my car I notice that brakes lights close to eye level are easiest to see and react to.  The center brake light was and is a very good idea.  The center brake light has been around so long that I notice I'm used to them and take a split second longer to realize the brake lights on the car are on if the center light is out.  (Why the heck does nobody replace center brake lights?)

I'm not sure that brake lights at the roof level are really going to help much unless a bus or large truck is behind you.  I guess people do react to the flashing stop lights on school buses at the roof line so I could be wrong.  Do NHTSA standards allow brake lights that high?

[Iceni John]

Do NHTSA standards allow brake lights that high?

Good point.   CVC 24600(f) states "Taillamps on vehicles manufactured on or after January 1, 1969, shall be mounted not lower than 15 inches nor higher than 72 inches, except that a tow truck . . ."   OK, maybe I can instead mount them at the maximum allowable height of 72", shining out through my rear window (yes, I like having a rear window!).   I still think that the more and brighter one's rear lights are, the less chance there is of being rear-ended, and the perp would have a harder job convincing the judge he/she "didn't see you".

Thanks, John

[John316]

Gary,

Thanks for posting and letting us know. That looks like it was something else. Accidents are no fun, and even worse in snow. I am just glad you all were okay. That shows you are a good driver. You had enough distance to stop. Good job.

When I drive my car I notice that brakes lights close to eye level are easiest to see and react to......

I'm not sure that brake lights at the roof level are really going to help much unless a bus or large truck is behind you.......

Brian, I found that the lights on our bus that are close to the top have a big impact (pun intended). I have followed our bus for about 600 miles, and a lot of those miles were at night. Our upper brake lights aren't on as running lights, when the headlights are on. So when the driver stepped on the brake, the whole back of the bus lit up. We have the IBP conversion LED lights (which we love), and I think that has something to do with it. But when the brake lights come on, when I was following the bus, when the brakes came on, because of the upper lights, I noticed....

FWIW

God bless,

John

[Busted Knuckle]

Gary,
Glad to hear there were no injuries.
Also as said I would at leas t have the base plate examined by someone from Blue Ox. Also I would have the bus hitch / and engine cradle closely examined! The MCI engine craddles  are known to get stress cracks from time to time just from normal road use. It could be accelerated by be knocked from the opposite direction. (better safe than sorry)
FWIW   BK 

[Busted Knuckle]

Do NHTSA standards allow brake lights that high?

Good point.   CVC 24600(f) states "Taillamps on vehicles manufactured on or after January 1, 1969, shall be mounted not lower than 15 inches nor higher than 72 inches, except that a tow truck . . ."   OK, maybe I can instead mount them at the maximum allowable height of 72", shining out through my rear window (yes, I like having a rear window!).   I still think that the more and brighter one's rear lights are, the less chance there is of being rear-ended, and the perp would have a harder job convincing the judge he/she "didn't see you".

Thanks, John

OK first off, the code you quoted was for "tail lamps/lights", not brake lights.
Second if you look at the date of the code more than half of the people who enforce these laws weren't even born then.
Now for the third (remember I'm not a lawyer or a cop!) but I interpret it to say that there must be a set within the 15" and 72" limits. So as long as you have a set there, any others are considered "auxiliary" and can be mounted as you chose them! (just look at MCI e thru j models as well as Prevost, and some others  factory coaches that have been mounting them higher than that for years! (the "e" or Renaissance model has been around since '97-98)

Also please note that the rear "fog lamp" is a good idea, but also if it can be turned on when in a forward motion is illegal in many states especially CA! (I know because I used to have a set of "KC Daylighters" mounted on the rear "DOT" bumper of all my semi trailers as "back-up lights". But I also had them where I could turn them on manually as you mentioned. I was ticketed once in CA by a CHP for having them and he cut the wires to them also!
As for rear fog lamps being required in Europe, I think you'd be surprised to know that by that they don't actually mean "driving or fog lamps" like we are used to but in most cases the left rear tail light must be able to be brighter than the rest of them in order to show cars approaching from the rear which side to pass on. (I have had a Mercedes and currently have Setra's with this feature)
fwiw   BK       

[RJ]

Just to clarify, the European code rear "fog lamp" must be red.

FWIW & HTH. . .

[Iceni John]

Just to clarify, the European code rear "fog lamp" must be red.

Yes, my Hella rear foglights are red.   I certainly would never use white front-mount foglights at the rear!

John

[edvanland]

Gary welcome to Arizona. I live in Cornville about 120 miles north of Apache Junction. Now that you are done with the snow you will have to get out your sunshine shovel so shovel the sunshine, aint it great. Gald all are OK and not much damage to the vehicles. As has been said it is sure nice to the the bus when stranded in traffic.
ED
MCI 7