Over 400 Cars Involved in Pileups Since 10th

UPDATE: We have issued an official article on this subject which contains more information about the D.O.T. situations. We also have issued this video with additional footage (video may expire):

I compiled a list of recent snow-caused vehicle pileups from Google News this morning and found that over 400 vehicles have been involved in multi-vehicle accidents in the past 5 days. Dozens of people were sent to hospitals and several were killed. The accident shown in the video below was a true pileup, occurring on a bridge in Kansas City, where cars couldn't even veer off to the side.

So why so many all of a sudden, is there a monthly trend? Google News Archives show that pileup stories increase in the winter, though it seems to depend more on when the cold and storms hit than anything else - sometimes the spiked in December, other times in January or February.

The unusual number of pileups Sunday into Monday could have some potential reasons. First, this snowstorm was not large and not hyped by the media; it's possible that departments of state were not as aggressive treating roads beforehand (also possible they are treating less now because they are running out of money after a snowy winter). Apparently drivers don't realize that even half an inch of snow can turn roads deadly.

It's also possible that the showery nature of snow under an upper low pressure system (which has been tracking from the Midwest through the Ohio Valley this week) had something to do with it. That would allow sunshine, which is becoming more intense now, as we move towards Spring, to melt the snow in-between showers. Ice would then form as cooler temperatures and snow moved back in.

Of course, some of it was just human stupidity as KansasCity.com said: "The I-70 crash was complicated further because motorists traveling east had slowed to catch a glimpse of the westbound pileup, causing more crashes on that side of the interstate."

COMPLETE (?) LIST:

- 50 Vehicles, I-71 in DE Feb. 15th- 5 Vehicles, Route 1 in MA Feb. 15th- 5 Vehicles, I-80 in PA Feb. 15th- 70 Vehicles, I-70 in KS Feb. 14th- 40 Vehicles, I-70 in KS Feb. 14th- 6 Vehicles, I-435 in KS Feb. 14th* - 14 Vehicles, Highway 4 in NE Feb. 14th- 5 Vehicles, Highway 34 in NE Feb. 14th* - 35 Vehicles, I-80 in NE Feb. 14th - 50 Vehicles, I-29 in IA Feb. 14th- 20 Vehicles, I-35 in KS Feb. 14th- 50 Vehicles, I-64 in VA Feb. 10th- 50 Vehicles, I-80 in PA Feb. 10th- 4 Vehicles, Route 15 in MD, Feb 10th- 9 Vehicles, Route 113 in NJ Feb. 10th