Austin - Land of the worst drivers in America (move to, title)

[austinaggie]

I have to laugh when I read that Austin has the WORST drivers in the State, Country, World whatever....I grew up in Houston, lived in Southern California for 17 years and have been here in Austin for almost two years and I don't think the drivers are any worse here than Houston or LA/Orange County/San Diego/Riverside County etc.

With all due respect to Southern California drivers, you ARE NOT aggressive but safe, you are simply aggressive. I should know I was one for 17 years and I have had to force myself to stop driving like I did when I lived there. The speed limits there are a suggestion not a requirement. People routinely tailgate, weave in and out of traffic, change from the fast lane of one freeway to the exit lane to another freeway with barely looking because they are too busy yakking on their cell phone to notice that they have nearly missed their exit. There are thousands of people from all over the world there that cannot even speak English much less read the traffic signs.

Also, don't even think of getting into a road rage situation there because it is more likely than not that the other person is a gang banger just ready to pull his or her gun on you. Also, Heaven help you if you are minding your own business driving along on the freeway and you are unlucky enough to get caught up in a high speed police chase. Never happened to me but I saw plenty on T.V. happening on the very same freeways I drove all the time.

You think I-35 is bad? Ha! if you really want to drive on a dangerous freeway hop onto the 710 in Long Beach and start praying. If you pray hard enough you MIGHT not get flattened by one of the hundreds of 18 wheelers traveling from the Port of Long Beach to who knows where. It's not referred to suicide alley for nothing. Lastly, don't even get me started on the Summer of 2005 when indiots were going around using innocent motorists as targets in their sick game of shooting practice. One guy got shot on one of the off-ramps of the 55 freeway in Tustin (Orange County) not a stone's throw from where my kids attended day care. It was an exit I used almost EVERYDAY to get them to and from day care and all I could think was that it could have been one of my kids or me that was shot. So yes, there are bad drivers everywhere but to say Austin has the worst is really ludicrous and frankly as I said laughable.

[Moonlady]

Austinaggie -I have a brother in law who is a cop in Southern Cal and he used those exact words - "the speed limit is a suggestion not a requirement". He drove like a bat out of hell when he came to visit - now I know why!

[austinaggie]

Moonlady, that's too funny! At least he admits it! I never saw any type of cop (motorcycle, patrol OR Chippy) pull over any car on the freeway for speeding when I lived in SoCal. They can't because they would literally be doing that ALL DAY LONG! They would also pretty much ignore most minor traffic violations they saw as long as the violation helped with the traffic flow (i.e. driving on the shoulder, crossing solid lines, illegal U-turns you name it). I have seen more traffice enforcement by cops in the last 2 years living here than I saw the entire 17 years living in SoCal.

[machoman]

i think it is a function of too much traffic and too few roads

[Linmag]

Well I'll tell ya,having visited my nephew 2yrs ago and coming the end of March , my experence is this,oh i live in pittsburgh pa.yee haaa!!! I think its the roads, there flat -black and when the sun is out you can hardly see, you gota have the blackest sunglass's on and you got no curbs..........if you go off the road your in a hole or a pit..AND my gosh the cars, most aren't driveable, the steering wheel falls off or brakes ...then even if you have an accident your in the middle of no where stranded......... but I LOVE AUSTIN and i am going to west lake hills area this time can't wait.... LOVE YOU AUSTINNEESS

[S6Sputnik]

BAN texting while driving!
I have had several close calls and noticed the people nearly running me of the road were reading or writing TM's..

Ofcourse they think they are safe, because they never see what is happening around them

My $0.02

[jenks9]

I currently live in New Hampshire and commute to Boston for work and I have visited Austin before and I can honestly say driver's in Boston are worse, there might be more accidents in Austin but the driver's in Boston are more dangerous and more hostile. Also to the original poster if you are only going by comparing Utah to Austin you need to travel to other cities like DC and LA, Atlanta, NY, Boston, all of these cities are much worse than Austin. I don't think the traffic or the driver's in Austin can compare to some of these other cities.

[Chris2000]

You know whats funny...
Im from Pheonix, and i LOVE the Austin roads.
Atleast there are options in Austin. There are all sorts of frontage roads to divert traffic incase of an accident. Dedicated u turn lanes heheh
nice!!
atleast yo have somwere to go when theres an accident :

[KanniJay]

Originally Posted by Chris2000

You know whats funny...
Im from Pheonix, and i LOVE the Austin roads.
Atleast there are options in Austin. There are all sorts of frontage roads to divert traffic incase of an accident. Dedicated u turn lanes heheh
nice!!
atleast yo have somwere to go when theres an accident :

I agree! I LOOOOVE the u-turn lanes and the access (or frontage) roads!! Drivers can, however, be pretty challenging in some situations.

[nomore07]

Originally Posted by twange

I agree, it does make sense. There is a method that once you get used to, isn't very intimidating. Here, it seems kind of over-the-top and random. Lots of entitlement driving and recklessness.

Yes, entitlement and egos. People drive like it's a macho fashion show.

I've driven from coast to coast and lived in several major cities. I've been hit more times in Austin than in all other cities combined. That includes getting rear ended while sitting at a red light (twice)... hit broadside at a Whataburger drive through... etc. The driver's ed requirement has also become more lax in TX and the result is noticeable.

The previous comment was dead on, east coast drivers were obnoxious but usually safe. Probably from learning to drive in the inclement weather there.