Having once, and hopefully never again, driven in a "tule fog" in Northern California, I can see how the lack of visibility that suddenly enveloped a Florida road led to the deaths of ten motorists who thought they would be home soon:

Photographs of the scene taken hours later revealed an aftermath that resembled a Hollywood disaster movie. Twisted, burned-out vehicles were scattered across the pavement, with smoke still rising from the wreckage.

Cars appeared to have smashed into the big rigs and, in one case, a motor home. Some cars were crushed beneath the heavier trucks.

Reporters who were allowed to view the site saw bodies still inside a burned-out Grand Prix. One tractor-trailer was burned down to its skeleton, charred pages of books and magazines in its cargo area. And the tires of every vehicle had burned away, leaving only steel belts.

Before Camps hit the fog bank, a friend who was driving ahead of him in a separate vehicle called to warn of the road conditions. The friend said he had just seen an accident and warned Camps to be careful as he approached the Paynes Prairie area just south of Gainesville.

A short time later, Camps said, traffic stopped along the northbound lanes.

“You couldn’t see anything. People were pulling off the road,” he said.

Camps said he began talking about the road conditions to a man in the car stopped next to them when another vehicle hit the man’s car.

The man’s vehicle was crushed under a semi-truck stopped in front of them. Camps said his car was hit twice, but he and another friend were able to jump out. They took cover in the grass on the shoulder of the road.

All around them, cars and trucks were on fire, and they could hear explosions as the vehicles burned.

The story: Florida traffic nightmare

LA Times

Granted that this may not have been of general interest to MER, but having driven in such conditions and known the absolute fear of being on a highway and unable to see, I identified with it. To be driving somewhere and just be dead a few seconds later is always a fear!

Driving in dense fog scares the piss out of me, Lucky. Drive too fast and ram into pile up in front; drive too slow and idiots behind run up your tailpipe. I just try to get off road as soon as possible.

I cannot count the times I have driven that portion of I-75 on numerous road trips to Florida over the years. Just last May I traveled that road and there were numerous field fires and smoke on the highway then. Thankfully I traveled it during the day and without Fog mixed with the fire smoke. It is such a Florida gateway for tourist traveling from the North the victims are probably from numerous states.

I cannot count the times I have driven that portion of I-75 on numerous road trips to Florida over the years.

Ditto, in my college years I commuted between Tampa and Gainesville often. I have seen some bad accidents in that stretch, but not this bad.

Fog is common in Florida at certain times of the year, night time and early mornings.

The problem with interstate driving in fog is that even if you pull off the road, thinking that is safer, there is danger you could still be hit by others thinking it wise to pull off too. If you pull way off you risk getting stuck in soft sand or muck requiring a tow truck to get out.

Driving in dense fog scares the piss out of me, Lucky. Drive too fast and ram into pile up in front; drive too slow and idiots behind run up your tailpipe. I just try to get off road as soon as possible.

Agreed. Dense fog and ice both scare the shit out of me. The former because of too high speed front or back crash, the latter for some crazy ass driver coming at you from any direction, sides too. Also, I get queasy when I feel my car inching sideways telling me I'm going too fast. I ease off the gas and pray.

My father's younger sister was killed in a low-speed accident in thick fog, back in the days before seat belts, air bags, safety glass, etc.(her head went through the windshield, which severed her jugular), so I was raised by parents who were scared to death of driving in fog and would do anything to avoid it. This accident on I-75, however, was not one that you could prepare for, because it was caused by sudden, unexpected smoke, at night, with lots of big trucks travelling at high speed. Being thrust into a situation in which you have no control and no idea what to do is something that everyone fears, and quite rightly.