When White Wall Fell: I-75's Deadly Fog and the Cover-Up

When White Wall Fell: I-75's Deadly Fog and the Cover-Up

A highway that produced a white wall so sudden drivers could not see a bridge above them - 99 vehicles entered it and 12 people died in one morning. What allowed a known fog hotspot, with internal company studies and cancelled state research, to keep killing on Interstate 75?

In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events, the geography, the studies that were commissioned and cancelled, and the warning system that drivers came to ignore - and ask how many more tragedies it would take to force change.

Person: Bowater (company) Location: Mileposts 29-39 on Interstate 75, southeastern Tennessee Event: December 11, 1990 fog pileup with 99 vehicles involved Date: Road opened December 24, 1973; prior crashes recorded March 9, 1974; Nov 5, 1978; Apr 15, 1979 Study: University of Tennessee study commissioned Jan 1979; $100,000 state study proposed in 1980 and cancelled

- 99 vehicles entered the fog wall on the morning of December 11, 1990. - 12 people died as a result of that single incident. - The Bowater settling ponds total 235 acres located on both sides of I-75 at the Hiwassee bridges. - Less than three months after opening (road opened Dec 24, 1973), March 9, 1974 crash involved 18 vehicles and 3 deaths. - A University of Tennessee study was commissioned in January 1979 and a $100,000 state study proposed in 1980 was cancelled.

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