Was the deadly I-10 crash near Tonapah caused by blowing dust? Low visibility driving tips
Dust storm-related traffic accidents cause 14 to 32 deaths annually in the U.S., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research showed.
If confirmed as dust-related, the Interstate 10 collision on Saturday near Tonopah, which killed four, would account for a significant share of annual fatalities. Two people were in critical condition receiving life-saving treatment, as of Sunday afternoon.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety is investigating the collision, which involved multiple vehicles. Investigators are looking into whether blowing dust was a significant factor, DPS confirmed on Sunday morning.
"Troopers are investigating whether blowing dust was a significant factor in the collisions by potentially causing reduced visibility," Warren Trent with the department said.
He urged anyone driving in conditions where visibility was limited to slow down at the very least as it takes longer for a vehicle to come to a complete stop the faster it goes.
"Dust storms can panic unprepared drivers, blocking all visibility behind and in front of a car, and cause people to become disoriented or slam into unseen obstacles," the NOAA said following a 2023 research report by its Air Resources Laboratory.
The report found that dust events, previously assumed to be rather rare and isolated to particular regions, are contributing to a larger number of U.S. traffic fatalities than are recorded.
In its "Pull Aside, Stay Alive" public service announcement from June 2018, the Arizona Department of Transportation suggests drivers should take the following precautions when confronted by a dust storm:
Drivers of high-profile vehicles should be especially aware of changing weather conditions and travel at reduced speeds.
If you encounter a dust storm, immediately check traffic around your vehicle (front, back and to the side) and begin slowing down.
Do not wait until poor visibility makes it difficult to safely pull off the roadway — do it as soon as possible. Completely exit the highway if you can.
Do not stop in a travel lane or emergency lane. Look for a safe place to pull completely off the paved portion of the roadway.
Turn off all vehicle lights. You do not want other vehicles, approaching from behind, to use your lights as a guide and possibly crash into your parked vehicle.
Set your emergency brake and take your foot off the brake.
Stay in the vehicle with your seat belt buckled and wait for the storm to pass.
More: Wind, dust and wildfire warnings: What to know about Arizona weather
The Arizona Republic's Perry Vandell contributed to this story.
Connect with the reporter at olakunle.falayi@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Low visibility may be a factor in fatal I-10 crash: What research says
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Waymo leads in self-driving: Can Tesla's robotaxi take its crown?
Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), has been working on self-driving cars for years. But now rivals, such as Tesla (TSLA), are starting to catch up. Yahoo Finance Senior Autos Reporter Pras Subramanian takes a closer look at Waymo's rise and the competition. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination here. Well, Waymo has emerged as a leader in autonomous vehicle technology and robotaxi services. Its roots, of course, are with Google, as its self-driving car project, and Waymo has come a long way. Our senior autos reporter, Pras Subramanian, joins us now to talk about its success as a leader in this sector, Pras. Hey Josh, yeah, you mentioned, yeah, so it started off as a as a as an offshoot of Google, uh, Google X in the X division issue back in those days what they used to call autonomous nine, and after some testing and trying to get permits off the ground in 2016, the project became Waymo. Uh, started testing its Pacifica hybrids and took off from there. 2018, Waymo, uh, worked with Jaguar, paired up with them to get their i-Pace EVs in for testing. You see these now in the streets in LA and places like that. Uh, you know, Waymo uses a combination of vision, radar, lidar, what they call multimodal. They claim this is the safest solution. Now they have the most robotaxi miles driven. They perform around 250,000 trips a week, right? So other rivals like GM's Cruise and AV tech companies like Argo AI are they're gone. Leaving only a few competitors like WeRide and and Zoox in the space. Now, challenges, they need to scale up. They have around 700 to 1000 vehicles in in major markets and can produce at their factory around 1500 a year. An expert tells me that that could be a bottleneck for them in the future, whereas Tesla, right, Tesla with their big test coming up on on I'm sorry their start of their test unofficially on the 12th, if their hardware is sufficient, I have millions they have millions of vehicles on the road already, and when you pair that with their robotaxi software, you could see them easily overtake Waymo. That's a big if. Tesla service is just beginning, years behind Waymo, and if Musk's big bet on a vision-only system paired with the neural network that Tesla built can take on and possibly surpass Waymo, uh, there's still a lot to prove to see whether that can actually happen. Now Pras, have you taken a Waymo? And if so, what did you think of the experience? I ask because I haven't. I did, about a month ago, I was in LA and I took a Waymo, uh, in the western part of the city to to a friend's place and I I was actually deeply impressed by it. I thought that it was a very slick. I used the app to order the the Waymo. It comes to you. It has your it has your initials on the top and little screen so you know it's yours. You open the door with the app. You close the door, get inside, and you and then you start the ride when you're inside the car, hit the button on the app. All of a sudden it pairs your phone, it it says you can stream music, it you can you can change the temperature to your to your liking. It's very pleasant. The car is actually whipped around. I think at a decent pace, not a slow thing in my opinion. Uh, got to me, got me where I need to be and at a competitive rate to Uber. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Will Texas Enforce FMCSA English Proficiency Rules for Intrastate CDL Drivers?
In Texas, drivers who cannot read or speak English may still be issued commercial driver's licenses if they operate solely within the state's borders. This policy is not new. Per Texas Transportation Code § 522.043(b), the state prohibits requiring English language proficiency for intrastate-only CDL holders. The Texas Administrative Code and the official Texas Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Handbook support this stance, noting that ELP only applies to interstate drivers. But a new enforcement directive from FMCSA, effective June 25, states that any commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver failing to meet the English proficiency standard under 49 CFR 391.11(b)(2) will be placed out of service if operating in interstate commerce. The issue? Texas isn't enforcing this for intrastate fleets and never really has. Federal Funds at Risk? MCSAP Says Maybe This enforcement discretion may violate the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP), a federal grant program that gives states funding for enforcement in exchange for aligning with FMCSA safety regulations. 49 CFR 350.305 outlines the limited list of allowable state-level variances. English proficiency isn't one of them. So, unless Texas has formally petitioned FMCSA for a variance – and DPS leadership confirms the state hasn't – Texas' refusal to enforce this could jeopardize MCSAP funding. TDPS Says No to ELP Enforcement, But FMCSA Says That's Changing The Playbook directly messaged leadership at Texas DPS, and the agency stated that it does not have a formal FMCSA-approved exemption. However, historically, FMCSA has turned a blind eye. That leniency may be coming to an end. Texas never enforced English proficiency for Intrastate drivers before the 2014-2015 FMCSA enforcement directive and still hasn't. But now, with FMCSA saying ELP violations will result in out-of-service orders, the conversation is shifting. Texas may be forced to act if FMCSA chooses to enforce funding eligibility under MCSAP. What's at Stake for Fleets? For now, fleets operating intrastate in Texas may continue employing non-English-speaking drivers with a restricted CDL if they stay within the state. But carriers need to be extremely careful: Interstate operations are subject to federal ELP enforcement. That includes for-hire and private carriers operating across state lines or hauling loads that begin or end outside Texas. MCSAP enforcement could force Texas to revise its policies or risk losing significant federal funding. Border state complications may emerge. As a border state, Texas is uniquely exposed to federal scrutiny, especially given the broader political climate and FMCSA's evolving enforcement stance. Compliance Is No Longer Optional The key takeaway? Carriers must evaluate whether their drivers are genuinely intrastate and ensure their CDL designations, load documentation and operational areas support that claim. The days of looking the other way on English proficiency may be numbered. As the FMCSA steps up enforcement and grant eligibility becomes more stringent, states like Texas may be forced to close the gap between state law and federal expectations or risk the financial and regulatory fallout. The post Will Texas Enforce FMCSA English Proficiency Rules for Intrastate CDL Drivers? appeared first on FreightWaves.
Scientific American
a day ago
- Scientific American
Thermal Runaway Explains Why Waymo Cars Burned So Completely in the Recent Los Angeles Protests
Imagine watching a car burn until it seems to vaporize and the street itself begins to sag. That happened on Sunday in Los Angeles, when protesters torched at least five Waymo-branded Jaguar I-Pace robotaxis. When the smoke cleared, virtually the entire shell of each car—its roof, doors, hood, trunk and body panels—was gone, leaving only wheel rims and traces of aluminum lacing. Why did the fires cause such obliteration? The answer starts with the battery. Each I-Pace can carry roughly 90 kilowatt-hours of stored chemical energy, comparable to about 170 pounds (77 kilograms) of TNT. That energy is distributed across hundreds of lithium-ion pouch cells, which are sealed in flammable electrolyte and separated by polymer films as thin as snack-bag plastic. When any one cell is punctured or overheated—or set aflame with an incendiary device—chemical reactions generate more heat than the cell can shed, and neighboring cells follow in a chain reaction. This positive-feedback loop is called 'thermal runaway.' According to a 2024 study in the Journal of Power Sources, as the battery burns, its temperature can soar past 1,000 degrees Celsius. At that point, the pack becomes its own furnace. Aluminum sections of the car's floor surrender, liquefying at about 660 degrees C and taking the underbody with them. Magnesium parts—seat-base frames, the bracket that holds the steering column and the cross-car beam that is located behind the dashboard—flare bright white. Patches of magnesium can catch fire and burn fiercely. Plastics disappear as vapor, wheels lose their tire, and even the lidar mast on the roof quickly resembles an overcooked marshmallow. A 2025 study in Fire Technology and a 2023 study in Applied Energy noted that the placement of the battery on the floor—sometimes referred to as a 'skateboard architecture'—makes the floor the hottest zone. Thus, flames radiate upward and outward, cooking everything above. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. All the while, the battery cells vent hydrogen fluoride, a toxic, lung-searing gas documented in laboratory test burns of commercial lithium packs. Among the disturbing scenes from the recent Los Angeles protests, which erupted over federal immigration raids, are those in which protestors stood around the flaming Waymos. Historically, first responders without supplied-air protection have developed throat burns and breathing difficulties upon arriving at scenes with burning lithium-ion batteries. Depending on the hydrogen fluoride levels, an exposed person can begin coughing up blood within minutes. Whereas inhaling concentrations above roughly 30 parts per million (ppm) is immediately dangerous to health, 50 ppm may be fatal when inhaled for a half-hour to an hour, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that exposure to 170 ppm for 10 minutes can be deadly. Measurements taken near electric-vehicle (EV) fires show peaks of 150 to 450 ppm, with levels during much of the fire hovering around 50 ppm. Firefighters call such blazes 'battery box fires,' and they hate them. Flame-retardant foams do little, and fire departments now favor high-pressure water lances or immersion pits. Dousing a runaway battery usually means lowering temperatures below the runaway threshold for every last battery cell—a task that, according to the Independent, can swallow 30,000 to 40,000 gallons (about 114,000 to 151,000 liters) of water. That's at least 40 times the amount of water required to extinguish a gasoline-car fire. If you hit the flames too lightly, stranded energy reignites hours later—a quirk the National Transportation Safety Board flagged in its 2020 report on EV firefighting hazards. Car designers have tried to address the danger. Software monitors cell temperatures and slows the rate at which batteries charge to prevent overheating. And it automatically cuts current if anything looks amiss. Yet even the best code cannot rewrite chemistry: in 2023 Jaguar recalled more than 6,400 I-Pace cars after at least a dozen of them caught fire from overheated batteries—which had likely shorted from manufacturing defects in their pouch cells. Six of the fires happened while the car was either plugged in or within a few minutes of being unplugged. Waymo's fleet got the update to better regulate the batteries, but software can't help when someone smashes one of the car's windows and lights up its interior with a 'makeshift flamethrower,' as reported by the Los Angeles Times. Could a Waymo van have burned just as thoroughly? Only with great effort. The company's earlier Chrysler Pacifica hybrids, which were phased out in 2023, stored a tenth of their battery energy in a steel-framed shell. Steel keeps its shape beyond 1,300 degrees C, so after a typical blaze, you would still recognize the carcass. To prevent thermal runaway, Teslas have batteries that use thousands of small cylindrical cells locked inside an aluminum tray with titanium undershields and built-in firebreaks. And most brands of electric-car batteries now sit in similarly rigid aluminum or steel boxes—and are shifting toward less volatile chemistries. Importantly, however, the scene in Los Angeles by no means indicates that electric cars are tinderboxes. A 2023 study in Finland showed that, mile for mile, they caught fire less often than gasoline cars. But when an EV does burn, the physics shift. You're no longer fighting a puddle of gasoline on asphalt; you're battling an energy-dense, metal-oxide battery that is determined to finish what it started—and in such cases, a single Molotov cocktail can turn a sleek robotaxi into a pool of molten alloy.
