Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-10-2009, 11:25 PM
 
28 posts, read 57,682 times
Reputation: 31

Advertisements

The psychology of this creature eludes me. When a light turns green, after having enough time to look both ways for those who run red lights (partially the fault of how fast the lights here change), the Amarillo Driver doesn't go. They sit there in deep thought.

And while sitting at the red light before you get yourself ready to scream "GO!" to the unmoving Amarillo driver, another strange phenomenon is observed: Instead of a solid line of vehicles, there's an incredible space between cars, anywhere between two and up to 8 car lengths, causing those in the back of the line to miss one, even two, cycles.

After you successfully make your way through this, you get on the highway, but have to be careful of another dangerous behavior exhibited by the Amarillo Driver. I call this behavior the ole "I must stop when getting on the Highway Syndrome."

And mentioning that it's dangerous to a longtime resident causes them to scream several justifications as to why they slam on their brakes when getting onto the highway.

So, seriously: Why in Amarillo does green NOT mean 'go,' what's up with the literally sometimes 7 or 8 car lengths between vehicles causing several to not make a light, and why do I DAILY see people screeching to a halt when merging onto the highway.

And this is my fifth major move, and I've never seen so many accidents happen right in front of me as I have here.

And I didn't even go into the people who are in the middle lane, then suddenly turn right in front of you without warning, or the fact that NOBODY here seems to know how to turn their head when changing lanes then blame everything on their "blindspot." Adding TO that, why do the drivers here "hover" next to you in the next lane, even when you change speeds? And why does your signal to change lanes signal other drivers to hurry up so you can't get over?

Can a long time resident explain this? The only explanation I can think of is the growth here and people simply aren't used to this many people on the roads.

Don't get me wrong, I love this city, but the drivers here sincerely scare me. I sometimes wonder if drivers in Amarillo just never learned the basic rules of driving? I once almost crashed into the back of a Mercedes going north on the Dumas highway because the truck in front of the Mercedes suddenly stopped right in the middle of the highway when an Ambulance passed. That's a basic rule: you're not supposed to stop on the highway.

PS: TEXTING WHILE DRIVING IS UNBELIEVABLY common here! I actually found this shocking!

Last edited by AmarilloDude; 11-10-2009 at 11:27 PM.. Reason: forgot a point
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-11-2009, 03:12 PM
 
Location: Metromess
11,798 posts, read 25,079,672 times
Reputation: 5219
Just be glad there aren't as many of them there as there are in the DFW Metromess.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-11-2009, 03:58 PM
 
67 posts, read 148,512 times
Reputation: 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by catman View Post
Just be glad there aren't as many of them there as there are in the DFW Metromess.
Amarillo has worst drivers but waaaaayyyyyyy beter traffic.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-11-2009, 05:13 PM
 
Location: Denver
4,716 posts, read 8,526,176 times
Reputation: 5957
Lol, I've run into some of those problems in Lubbock, but not near as bad as what you've described. I think Amarillo might have this problem because the drivers there are a combination small-town farmers who aren't used to sharing the road, retirees who don't know how to drive period, oblivious out-of-staters on the interstate, and trucks/18-wheelers that think they own the road. I've also noticed that Amarillo has very short entrance ramps up to their freeways. Lubbock has less of the out-of-staters and truckers, but it has agreesive college kids who are used to driving in DFW or Houston.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-11-2009, 08:21 PM
 
1,488 posts, read 5,215,681 times
Reputation: 953
The traffic and the drivers there are the very reason we chose to live 20 miles out of town when we had our business in the east edge of Amarillo. We could 'sneak in the back door' to the business and avoid most of the trucks and untrained drivers. We always called I-40 'Rodeo Drive'....not 'Ro-day-o Drive' - just plain ol' 'Rodeo Drive' - just as wild as the broncs and the bulls 24/7. But I do believe the streets around the hospital district are just as dangerous....sick and elderly out-of-towners wandering aimlessly around trying to navigate their way in and out of the parking lots and streets.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-12-2009, 10:33 AM
 
Location: The Great State of Texas, Finally!
5,459 posts, read 12,189,965 times
Reputation: 2791
I'll take Amarillo drivers over those of DFW, any big metro in Tx, Seattle, Chicago, or any of the other places I've lived. You don't know how good you have it. Quit your complaining.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-12-2009, 04:17 PM
 
67 posts, read 148,512 times
Reputation: 33
I hate this interchange:
(a retirement home is next to this road)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-12-2009, 04:47 PM
 
Location: Metromess
11,798 posts, read 25,079,672 times
Reputation: 5219
It doesn't look like much to me. You should try the "High Five" in Dallas, or the "Mixmaster" in Fort Worth. That said, one can't tell much about how difficult it actually is by looking at a photo. You have to experience it! Amarillo doesn't seem like much of a challenge to me.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-13-2009, 04:31 PM
 
67 posts, read 148,512 times
Reputation: 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by catman View Post
It doesn't look like much to me. You should try the "High Five" in Dallas, or the "Mixmaster" in Fort Worth. That said, one can't tell much about how difficult it actually is by looking at a photo. You have to experience it! Amarillo doesn't seem like much of a challenge to me.
Ive been on both and trust me they are nerve wrecking!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-13-2009, 05:32 PM
 
5,643 posts, read 15,644,914 times
Reputation: 2758
Well written my friend, well written.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top