The Autobahn ain't all it's cracked up to be...

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=153169

BRUNSWICK, Germany — More than 66 people are reported to be injured from a massive 259-car pileup late Sunday on the A2 autobahn in northern Germany. Police in Brunswick say the pileup is the largest series of collisions ever seen in the area. They say it started when several drivers lost control of their vehicles after a bout of heavy rain. The first collision happened near Hämelerwald, near Hannover, and caused a 2-hour-long series of accidents over just under a 20-mile stretch of the A2 autobahn. More than 300 ambulances, fire trucks and police cars were rushed to the scene to tend to the 66 injured drivers. Ten people suffered life-threatening injuries and are being treated in the hospital. The combination of the low setting sun and people driving too fast for the wet conditions caused the crash, which took some 340 rescue workers to clean up. Authorities estimate the cost of the pileup to be upward of $2 million. BBC recorded a video of the aftermath that can be seen here

Are you kidding? A 259 car pile-up is way better than any pile-up we have here.

walterj wrote: Are you kidding? A 259 car pile-up is way better than any pile-up we have here.

quoted for truth

[mcmahon]YES!!!11!1!1!!!...someone give this man a cigar! [/mcmahon]

Yep... 259 cars is a big one... although I've heard of some pretty bad ones on highways in the lower Appalachians during "fog season"... typically with trucks involved... which usually means fatalities...

MMM, So many wagons....

"Pileup" makes me think of a 259 car line smashed together nose to tail. This turns out to be just a bunch of accidents in a 20 mile stretch over 2 hours. Did anyone see any pics of more than a few cars actually touching each other?

Hope everyone recovers OK. 300 responders---wow.

Josh wrote: MMM, So many wagons....

That's wagen.

I recall from when I was stationed there in the late '80s, autobahn accidents were rare but spectacular. They usually made the evening news.

259 wow the autobody shops around there must be pretty happy.

I dunno, looks pretty cracked up to me....

PeteWW wrote: I recall from when I was stationed there in the late '80s, autobahn accidents were rare but spectacular. They usually made the evening news.

That's what I've always heard myself. 20 years in and never went to Germany. Finally going in September. The guys at work want me to drive the autobahn, they don't want to. The guy in my office going with me says he'll navigate since he reads/writes/speaks German fluently (1 year Army language school) and been to Germany before. Won't have time to visit any tracks, I'm only going to be there 1 week and the other guys aren't interested in that.

300 ambulances and emergency vehicles for 66 injured?? Seems like a waste of resources to me....

prolly only counting 66 injured enough to require treatment or transport.

like when you get in a wreck with 3 passengers and 2 are treated at the scene by 1 of the 2 ambulances that show up...while the other ambulance takes you to the hospital, cause youre injured????

Per Schroeder wrote:

Josh wrote: MMM, So many wagons....

That's wagen.

HA! I knew buying another Golf would bring ya around...

PeteWW wrote: I recall from when I was stationed there in the late '80s, autobahn accidents were rare but spectacular. They usually made the evening news.

I was there a couple of times, back when I was selling Grey Market cars in the 80s. The autobahn was wonderful at times, and dreadful at others. I didn't see a big wreck (which I found incredible, since there were so many Turkish "guest workers" humming along at 62mph while we all blasted around them), but at the time, "West Germany" had lots of money to spend on highways, and they seemed to be very happy to shut down twenty kilometers of road to re-pave a 5mm crack in it. The Turks would fire up their portable grills and feed their families on the roadside, and the Germans would wave portable chess sets in the air looking for someone to play a match.

I was about 25yr old at the time, and I think it was my first time understanding that humans have much more in common with each other than we have "different", regardless of what kind of society you grow up in...

aussiesmg wrote: I dunno, looks pretty cracked up to me....

I am so happy when someone gets me!