China’s smog problem isn’t just a health hazard—it’s a traffic safety one as well. According to news reports, a massive pileup crash involving at least 33 vehicles traveling on the Taichang Expressway in Tianjin left six people dead and four hospitalized.
The primary cause of the pileup is being attributed to poor visibility and exceedingly dangerous amounts of smog surrounding the roadway.
This news comes soon after a red-alert was issued in Beijing, China for unusually harmful levels of smog, ordering half of the capital’s cars off the streets. The biggest contributor to the smog issue comes from the country’s coal-burning power-plants, with China recently promising to cut back on coal reliance and focus on achieving 20 percent of it’s energy needs from clean and renewable sources by 2030.
Although this incident took place almost 90 miles from the red-alert area, the severe amount of smog is similarly effecting much of Northern China and is forecasted to continue to cause problems for the next few days.
H/t to JustJim