Watch a 61 car pile-up unfold in real time

Thanks to Hollywood, most people think a car crash creates a glorious, explosive noise coupled with fireballs and flying objects. In reality, it is typically more of a dull thwack, as metal and plastic crumple sections do their job. It is actually a rather sickening sound once you have heard it a few times in real life. You are about to hear it a bunch of times.

Yesterday afternoon an icy Hwy. 55 in Minnesota, became the scene of a 61 car pile-up, as car after car slammed into the stopped vehicles in their path. The incident began when a tractor trailer jack-knifed and blocked the road. One of the early “arrivals” got out of his car and started shooting video with his phone before trying to help out fellow motorists. Typically it is safer to remain in your car, but in this case there was a wide sidewalk behind a barrier and our camera guy helps people over the barrier before running up the road to attempt to slow traffic down.

All the while, you can head the bangs of cars crashing and the screams of frightened passengers.

A representative of the Minnesota Department of Transportation told the StarTribune that “People need to remember how to drive in winter.” Looking at how far some of those cars slid, I would be willing to bet that very few of them were shod with proper Winter tires.

Fortunately, there were no serious injuries in the massive crash, but the video is still more than a little bit disturbing.