What That 2002 LA Pile-Up Would Look Like Today

We spend a lot of time tracking crashes, digging into what went wrong, what coverage applied, and what claims came next. After a while, you start to wonder: what did some of the biggest trucking accidents in history actually look like?

That’s how we ended up revisiting a pile-up from over two decades ago.

The 2002 fog crash on I 710 near Los Angeles involved more than 200 vehicles, dozens of injuries, and a semi that clipped the divider and kicked it all off.

At the time, it made headlines. But legally, it barely made a ripple. No lawsuits. No nuclear verdicts. No social media storm.

It’s been 23 years since that wreck. If it happened now, the aftermath would look nothing like it did back then.

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What a Crash Like That Means in 2025

A crash like the I-710 pile-up isn’t just a historical headline. It’s a real-world scenario that could happen again. Fog events like this happen every year across California. Visibility drops fast, traffic stacks up. And when judgment slips, so does control.

The difference now? The legal and financial fallout is a whole different world.

Carriers today face higher scrutiny, higher verdicts, and higher expectations. One truck making the wrong move in low visibility can set off a chain reaction and end up being held financially responsible for every injury that follows. That means medical bills. That means lost wages. That means years of legal fees, even if you did everything right after the fact.

In 2002, that semi hit the divider and the system absorbed it. In 2025, the same crash could take a company down.

That’s just how much the claims and legal process has changed.

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What Really Happened That Morning

Forty-one people were injured. Nine were in critical condition.

The physical trauma was severe, but the emotional trauma ran deeper. Drivers sat stunned behind deployed airbags. Some climbed out of broken windows. Others, dazed and bleeding, ran blindly across live freeway lanes in dense fog, dodging more cars that hadn’t seen the pile-up yet.

One man told the LA Times his brakes locked up as he slid through oil and fog. Another survivor said he never saw what hit him, only felt the impact. First responders moved car to car, trying to reach the injured through the fog and wreckage.

There were no camera phones. No GoPros. But if this crash happened today, every second of that trauma would be online, and that footage would follow the carrier into court.

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The Fog Hasn’t Changed, But the System Has

If you run trucks in California, you already know fog season isn’t rare. Whether you're hauling out of the Inland Empire, hitting I 5 before dawn, or pulling into the ports in the early morning dark, low visibility is part of the job.

But in today’s legal climate, a moment of misjudgment in the fog can lead to a lawsuit that lasts years. California’s comparative fault laws allow one crash to turn into a mountain of claims. Third-party litigation funding means those claims go farther, last longer, and demand more. And juries now expect professional drivers to act like professionals, even in the worst conditions.

The carrier whose driver clips the divider? Today, they’d be looking at a wall of medical bills, legal fees, and social media pressure before the tow trucks even finished clearing the scene.

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What Good Carriers Do Now

None of us can control the weather. But we can control how we prepare.

That starts with how we train drivers to respond in zero-visibility conditions. Slowing down isn’t just good judgment. It’s good defense. Real-time telematics and camera footage can prove your side of the story when claims come in. And coverage limits need to reflect real risk. One million dollars isn’t what it used to be.

Good carriers don’t wait for disaster to force them into action. They lead with training, transparency, and readiness. They know the law. They know the roads. And they prepare for worst-case scenarios before they ever leave the yard.

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Truck U Takeaway

We’re not here to sensationalize. That 2002 fog crash was real. It left people in the hospital, in shock, and in survival mode. Nine critical injuries. Dozens more shaken and scarred. And it happened in seconds.

If you're hauling freight in 2025, it's risky to think a crash like that couldn’t happen again.

You can’t predict when fog is going to hit. But you do get to control how your company handles it, before, during, and after.

Carriers that stay in business are the ones who adjust how they run: their speed, their safety mindset, and their expectations to match the conditions on the road.

That’s the difference between handling a claim and being taken out by one.

Need help reviewing your coverage before the fog rolls in?
We’ll walk through your policy, spot the gaps, and make sure you’re protected for worst-case scenarios.

Email us anytime at info@trucku.biz

Disclosure:

This post is for educational purposes only. It’s not legal advice, insurance advice, or a substitute for calling your agent. We’re good, but we’re not psychic. Policies vary, laws change, and courtrooms get weird. Don’t make decisions based solely on something you read on the internet, unless it’s from us, in writing, with your name on it. 

All opinions are our own and do not represent the views of any carrier, employer, or underwriting department that occasionally wishes we were quieter on LinkedIn.