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Old 01-16-2008, 10:50 PM
 
2 posts, read 8,467 times
Reputation: 10

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Just a quick factoid: Driver's Ed is still mandatory for minors hoping to get a driver license in Texas.
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Old 01-17-2008, 07:16 AM
 
Location: Portland, OR
1,455 posts, read 2,498,818 times
Reputation: 2011
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spree View Post
I drove from Dallas to San Antonio on a Friday afternoon - getting to Austin around 4 or 4:30 pm. It took me an hour and a half from just north of Round Rock to south of Austin on I 35. It was bumper to bumper stop and go traffic. It was unreal. Luckily I didn't have to be anywhere quickly and anticipated a traffic slow down in Ausin, but didn't think it would be that bad.

Locals, please let me know what is the best way around Austin to get to San Antonio. I'll be traveling that way often after I move to Dallas this summer. I might be SOL but thought I would ask! What about 281?
TX 130 toll road will get you a round a lot of the traffic....
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Old 01-17-2008, 07:50 AM
 
3,367 posts, read 11,062,005 times
Reputation: 4210
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenbar View Post
The Austin area, and surrounding suburbs have SO MANY fatal car wrecks. I read about them every morning it seems, in the paper.

Why do you think this is?
Wanna read some terrifying stats on Austin wrecks and SUV's, such as:

Austin crashes. The Austin Police Department says that for the first 11 months of 2006, there have been over 30,000 motor vehicle crashes. Of these, something like 14,000 were severe enough that one or more vehicles had to be towed away or someone had to be hospitalized.

SUVs. An average SUV or a pickup is more than twice as likely as a car to kill the driver of the other vehicle in a collision, and an SUV is four times as likely to roll over in an accident. (3)

SUV's deadlier to child pedestrians than passenger cars by about 18%. (NTSA (broken link), 2003)

Big pickups kill even more than SUV's. When the average large pickup truck collides with a second vehicle, people in the second vehicle die at a rate of 293 for every 100,000 crashes, according to federal crash statistics. By comparison, large sport utility vehicles kill people in the second vehicle at a rate of 205 per 100,000 crashes; minivans kill at a rate of 104 deaths; and large cars at a rate of 85 deaths. (NYT, July 31, 2003)

Bicycle Almanac: Bike Safety Statistics
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Old 01-17-2008, 08:18 AM
 
1,559 posts, read 2,400,510 times
Reputation: 2601
I have lived in Austin most of my life so have seen the changes in traffic first-hand. I think it is a question of too many people driving as if they are entitled - they make up their own rules by disregarding speed limits, changing lanes without turn signals, running red lights, etc. Large SUV's careen around as if they are sports cars instead of the lumbering vehicles they are. Cell phones haven't helped the situation any either. Sorry to say but most of the bad drivers came from somewhere else as it didn't used to be this way. There used to be signs on the road saying Drive Friendly but that was a long time ago.
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Old 01-17-2008, 09:53 AM
 
257 posts, read 986,938 times
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Default its simple

More and more people living closer and closer together equals more car wrecks.
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Old 01-17-2008, 11:10 AM
 
Location: Austin 'burbs
3,225 posts, read 14,066,251 times
Reputation: 783
Quote:
Originally Posted by arbucle View Post
More and more people living closer and closer together equals more car wrecks.
No.

I moved here from Seattle. One of the most densely populated cities. There are bad, passive aggressive, drivers there - but no where near the number of fatality accidents.

Austin is way more spread out and wide open than many cities...
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Old 01-17-2008, 01:27 PM
 
2 posts, read 4,405 times
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So I am thinking riding a motorcycle is probably not a good thing? I am possibly relocating to Austin and was going to buy one before I moved? I was thinking it would be a great town to ride. Any thoughts on that?
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Old 01-17-2008, 01:32 PM
 
2,238 posts, read 9,019,279 times
Reputation: 954
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueskiesunltd View Post
So I am thinking riding a motorcycle is probably not a good thing? I am possibly relocating to Austin and was going to buy one before I moved? I was thinking it would be a great town to ride. Any thoughts on that?
If you're suicidal go ahead. If there's one thing Austin drivers hate more than other drivers, it's motorcycles. Bicycles are the bottom of the food chain.

There's a lot of weekend riders west of Austin on the weekends, that seems relatively okay. But driving on 35, 183, Mopac, etc.? I wouldn't do it.
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Old 01-17-2008, 01:44 PM
 
2 posts, read 4,405 times
Reputation: 10
and I was thinking the bugs would be the big draw back!
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Old 01-18-2008, 10:52 AM
 
Location: Hutto, Tx
9,249 posts, read 26,702,366 times
Reputation: 2851
I see lots of bikers riding East of Austin as well. But usually it's in bunches.
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