DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

Driving to the City Saturday morning, we caught a glimpse of Armageddon on 101N — peeking over the high guard rail, I saw what looked like about 100 cars strewn across four lanes of highway. I thought I saw a bulldozer, too, but that was probably a synaptic misfire brought on by the stress of carnage.

Equally shocking was that the highway was completely empty beyond the wreck — meaning, there weren’t 10,000 cars waiting for a lane to open. It was eerie. Highway 101 is never empty, especially not at 9:00 AM on a Saturday.

After passing through the Waldo tunnel, we saw the reason for the empty highway. Police were forcing everyone to exit 101N into Sausalito, at the bottom of the Waldo grade. 101N was closed! Another thing I’ve never seen.

Southbound traffic was moving quickly across the bridge. I asked the woman at the toll booth what radio station would broadcast traffic information, so I’d know when I could get home. She said “The CHP will have the road open by 5:00 PM.” 5:00 PM?! What kind of wreck takes all day to clear?

We heard the story an hour later: around 2:30 AM a driver had lost control and slammed into an SUV, killing the smaller car’s two passengers. [Insert SUV high-bumper rant here.] Because the road at the site of this accident is a steep downhill with blind turns, 26 more cars piled into first two. The CHP had been on site for something like seven hours already.

The Chron ran a full report on Sunday, with a better explanation for the initial crash: HUGE PILEUP IN SUDDEN BLIZZARD

More coverage: Marin Independent Journal (for 14 days only, hmph)