Route 23

Route 23
Full Name	Route 23 Highway
Location	White Plains, New York, U.S.
Purpose	Highway
Status	Intact
First Appearance	Final Destination 2
Last Appearance	Final Destination: Bloodlines (mentioned)

Route 23 is a highway located near White Plains, New York, where a deadly multi-vehicle pileup occurred on May 13, 2000, killing 18 people. The disaster was caused by a logging truck that spilled its payload across the highway, causing a chain reaction of crashes.

Theatrically, the Route 23 pileup is the second major disaster of the series, as seen in Final Destination 2, and the fifth major disaster chronologically, given the events of Final Destination 5 and Final Destination Bloodlines.

Disaster

While driving to Daytona Beach for vacation with her three friends, Kimberly Corman stops on the on-ramp, almost rear-ending the car in front of her. Her friends ridicule her for this mistake until a homeless woman pounds on her window in an attempt to collect empty soda cans to sell for cash. Kimberly and the ill-fated group then prepare to enter the highway.

Premonition

As Kimberly drives on Route 23, she notices several omens that cause her to become more and more uncomfortable the further she drives down the highway, such as: ominous songs playing on the radio, seeing a child in a vehicle next to her replicating a head-on car crash with a model car and model red pickup truck (that looks eerily similar to the red SUV she is currently driving), witnessing a semi-truck driver drinking a beer, passing by a school bus filled with a high school sports team that chants "Pile up!", and noticing emergency signals lighting up on her car dashboard.

Just before the pileup occurs, Officer Thomas Burke drives in his patrol car behind a truck carrying heavy, thick logs. He notices a loose chain dragging along the road, distracting him as coffee spills onto his leg. The chains holding the logs on top of the truck's flatbed snap, and the logs fall off. Thomas is too distracted by cleaning up the spill before he looks up to notice a log bouncing up from the ground and heading straight toward his patrol car. The log bursts through the windshield, decapitating Thomas. Eugene Dix and Rory Peters see the accident and attempt to drive out of the way. Eugene's bike falls over, and he is thrown against a log, where his motorcycle slides across the road and slams into his torso, crushing him.

In the midst of the pile-up, Kimberly's SUV crashes.

Rory hits a log and his car flips several times before finally landing upright in the middle of the road in the opposite lane. Rory survives the rollover, but is not quick enough to avoid a garbage truck that ruthlessly plows into his car and kills him in a fiery explosion. Shortly afterward, Kat Jennings crashes head-on into a log, sending her SUV end-over-end and landing upside down on top of the log.

Nora Carpenter and her son, Tim, swerve across the road to avoid the logs and destruction, causing Tim to drop a water bottle onto the floor of Nora's seat. The water bottle rolls underneath the brake pedal and prevents Nora from stopping the car. She crashes her car into the same log that Kat crashed into, exploding on impact. Isabella Hudson, who is pregnant, drives a white van through the destruction, narrowly avoiding death when a log sideswipes her vehicle. The log truck ultimately jackknifes to a stop, leaving behind a path of destruction. Kimberly swerves to avoid a log and flips her SUV over it, rolling out of control and severely injuring herself and her friends, Shaina, Dano, and Frankie, before it lands on its left side. Evan Lewis, in his attempts to avoid crashing his car, collides with the gas tank of the log truck, exploding on impact.

To Kimberly's surprise, Evan is still alive and trapped in his car by his seatbelt, screaming as the fire burns his flesh away. Kimberly begins to cry as she watches Evan burn alive in the wall of flames. Suddenly, a truck carrying several cars jackknifes through the wall of flames and kills Evan. The truck careens toward Kimberly's car with no intention of stopping. Kimberly screams as the truck drives into her.

Real Life

A mysterious truck comes out of nowhere, obliterating Evan Lewis and heading straight towards Kimberly.

After the vision ends, Kimberly finds herself and her friends still on the on-ramp. Kimberly freaks out after the signs in her premonition come true, and intentionally blocks traffic. Thomas comes by and questions her motives, and she begins to explain that a large car accident is about to occur. Shortly after Thomas asks Kimberly to step out of her vehicle, the log truck passes by, and the accident occurs. Thomas retreats to call for help, but a moment later, he pulls Kimberly out of the way when the truck carrying several cars on its trailer rams into her SUV, killing Shaina, Dano, and Frankie. Thomas holds Kimberly back as she cries hysterically over the loss of her friends.

Signs/Clues

• During the opening credits, there's a journal page that says ROAD TRIP. However, a set of keys covers the T, spelling ROAD RIP.
• Kimberly sees a school bus with students inside, chanting, "Pile up!". It was later revealed to be from Mt. Abraham High School.
• A news announcement about the Flight 180 memorial plays on the radio in Kimberly's SUV.
• The song "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC plays on the radio shortly after the memorial announcement.
• Kimberly sees a car passing by with a kid slamming a red toy truck against a bigger truck.
• Kimberly and Shaina see a man drinking beer in the Hice Pale Ale beer truck, with a sign saying DRINK RESPONSIBLY! on it.
• Kimberly sees an electrical sign stating NEXT 180 FEET.
• Eugene Dix has a pool ball keychain with the unlucky number 13 on it.
• During and after the premonition, a homeless old woman comes up to Kimberly's van, shaking a bag of cans, and the bag snaps open, releasing its cargo, just like the log truck would in the vision.
• Kimberly sees a sign showing that there is a rest stop 23 miles away.
• While Kimberly was watching television, the clock was showing 1:08, a mixed-up version of 180.
• Kimberly's father, Michael, sees oil leaking from his daughter's SUV, which, due to its coloration, resembles blood.
• After Kimberly's premonition, when the real pileup occurs, Thomas runs to his car and speaks into his radio for medical assistance. He announces his unit is number 13.
• When Clear sees Kimberly flipping off at her through her monitor, the lighting reflected off the floor of the hallway behind Kimberly is similar to a highway.
• In Final Destination, Clear Rivers sat in row 23 on Flight 180.
• In the non-canon ending to Final Destination 3, when Kimberly and Thomas' newspaper about their death is read in detail, Route 23 is repeatedly referred to as Route 180 (Flight 180 in Final Destination, Aisle 180 in The Final Destination).
• Kimberly sees a kid in a car slamming two toy cars together, imitating the pile-up.
• The song playing in Kimberly's SUV, after "Highway of Hell" by AC/DC, is called "Rock 'n Roll" by The Sounds. Kimberly's SUV and multiple other cars end up rolling on the highway.

Intended Survivors

• Isabella Hudson
• Isabella Hudson's unborn son

Unintended Survivors

• Kimberly Corman (alive)
• Thomas Burke (alive)
• Eugene Dix (deceased)
• Rory Peters (deceased)
• Kat Jennings (deceased)
• Nora Carpenter (deceased)
• Tim Carpenter (deceased)
• Evan Lewis (deceased)
• Dano (deceased)
• Shaina (deceased)
• Frankie (deceased)

Casualties

• 15 unnamed people, possibly including:
  • An unnamed garbage truck driver
  • An unnamed transporter truck driver
  • The unnamed log truck driver

Trivia

• The Route 23 pileup occurred on May 13, the same date as Flight 180, the Devil's Flight, and the Coral Clipper disasters.
• The Route 23 pileup is the only disaster where no memorial service for the casualties was explicitly shown.
• This disaster has the distinction of being the only one in which the death order was reversed, since Death did it to seal the rift caused by the Route 23 survivors previously cheating death due to the deaths of the Flight 180 survivors.
• There are eight survivors of the Route 23 pileup. 180 divided by 8 is 22.5, which can be rounded up to 23. In addition, 8 plus 2 and 3 (from the number 23) add up to 13, the unluckiest number.
• The opening credits of Final Destination 5 reference the pile-up with logs and coffee falling on the screen.
• The pile-up is also referenced in Final Destination Bloodlines when several logs were seen being ejected from some of the derailed train cars of Train 0513.
• 23 is considered an ominous number in some circles.
• In an early script for Final Destination 2, Route 23 was originally called Route 18, a reference to the curse of 180. Additionally, if we count Dano, Shaina, and Frankie as casualties along with the 15 people who were killed in the pileup, there would be 18 casualties of the disaster in all.
• British Columbia Highway 19 portrays Route 23 in the film.
• It can be argued that this accident is difficult to recreate. Meaning that at least Burke's death doesn't make sense, as it is impossible for a log to slide back and bounce directly behind the truck instead of rolling aside like the others did.

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