Exploding cannisters rocketing out of a ball of fire in the middle of a busy highway.

[Scuba]

Can't believe. Cannot believe. Gotta wonder if we have stuff like that being transported on our highways with so little protection.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018587663

[SheilaT]

1. I'm not sure that took place in this country.

Notice the not-US license on the car that's in the foreground partway into the video.

[Scuba]

2. It's Russia, per the YouTube notes.

[SheilaT]

3. Ahh.

Didn't see the notes.

[csziggy]

4. According to the YouTube description that was in Russia

"This was an accident that occurred in Russia."

[Journeyman]

5. Russia. Wondrous country, what? . . .

I read sometime back that some states (Connecticut? or maybe Rhode Island?) only allow the transport of dangerous cargo during the midnight hours. So explosive gasses, corrosive chemicals, etc. are kept off the roads during daylight hours. I can't imagine such a law here in South California -- way too many people with way too many needs -- but in less populous areas I could see how this might work. Can anyone confirm this?

[MineralMan]

6. No doubt we do.

Mostly, trucks carrying stuff like that have placards on them, but they're still on the highway, probably right next to you on your commute. I was driving into St. Paul the other day, and passed a tanker truck carrying Liquid Oxygen. It was marked, but it was there, in the middle of rush hour traffic.

Trucks containing explosive, flammable, and toxic materials travel the highways here all the time. It's only when they crash and burn that we notice them, though, just like in your video.

I don't know what was in that truck of course, but I see trucks with 55-gallon drums of highly flammable stuff on the highway all the time. And then, there are all the gasoline trucks, and trucks full of containers of things like insecticides, high pressure gas cylinders and much, much more.

Yes, they're on our roads, too. How else would those materials get transported to the places that use those materials?

Am I worried? You bet I am. After passing that LOX truck, I sped up to put more distance between me and it, and got of the freeway as soon as I could.