Austin - Land of the worst drivers in America (Hutto: buy, living)

[HappyTexan]

Besides bad drivers, the infrastructure did not keep up with the growth. I always wondered why developers weren't charged with expanding 2 lane country roads and paying for stop lights and building schools when 600-700 home subdivisions replace a single large farm. They are riding on Ag Exempt land til they break ground as well pocketing all that tax money that should go to the city/county/etc.

/Rant off

[TX transplant]

I've driven across the country and overseas and I must admit Austin has some funk about it as far as driving is concerned. But I wouldn't blame Austin or Texas for it. All of us, transplants, are the problem.

Different driving styles, more trucks and bigger ones, along with poor condition roads are the main reasons for this mayhem, IMO. But the crown has to be handed to those on/off weird ramps! Who's the genius who came up with those? Cell phones too are a huge issue here. They should be banned like in DC.

[2austin]

Seriously, the cellphones should be banned while driving. They are such a huge distraction during driving, specially with one hand on the steering wheel. I have felt that with a speaker phone or an integrated phone I am much more relaxed and focus than holding one next to my ear.

I think the city/state should require/force use of new technology such as bluetooth for newer cars and radio speakers for older ones. Both of them can be brought for around $50 these days.

Is there anything we could do together to send a request to our city/state to research the hazards of using hand held cellphone use during driving?

[southdown]

Originally Posted by 2austin

Seriously, the cellphones should be banned while driving. They are such a huge distraction during driving, specially with one hand on the steering wheel. I have felt that with a speaker phone or an integrated phone I am much more relaxed and focus than holding one next to my ear.

I think the city/state should require/force use of new technology such as bluetooth for newer cars and radio speakers for older ones. Both of them can be brought for around $50 these days.

Is there anything we could do together to send a request to our city/state to research the hazards of using hand held cellphone use during driving?

Handheld phone use while driving was banned in the UK a while back, anyone know if it has lowered the accident rate?

Tests in Australia showed driver/phone users to be four times more likely to crash...and that was hands-free and handheld
Cell Phone Use While Driving Ups Crash Risk

[apocatastasis]

Everywhere says that they have the worst drivers. I think that American drivers, on the whole, just suck. Plain and simple, no distinction between places. I agree that cell phones are definitely part of it, and I am only half kidding when I say we should outlaw automatic transmissions and thereby force people to actually pay attention to their driving. Sure, you can talk on the phone and eat a burger while driving stick... but it's a hell of a lot harder.

I've lived in Austin, Houston, and NOLA. All three of them have their share of idiots. But I've had the worst experiences here in Houston. I moved here in May 2007. In June 2007, less than a month after my move, I was heading about 40 mph down a major thoroughfare in one of the ritzy parts of the Inner Loop. I was driving into an intersection when, without warning or time to react, a kid driving a Suburban ran a red light, smashed into my car at 50 mph, and totaled both my 10 month old Mazda and his SUV. Seven or eight of the cars behind me stopped to make sure I was alive, and all these housewives came out of their multi-million dollar houses to bring water and bandages.

I got the insurance money from his provider, bought a brand-new Mazda back home in NOLA, drove it back to Houston... and four DAYS later, I was rear-ended at a red light by a lady in a Honda SUV.

The only up-side to Houston is there are few hills, and people in Austin don't seem to realize that manual transmission cars roll backwards if the brake is not engaged. I'm still a relatively new MT driver, and the hills alone scare the bejeezus out of me sometimes. Even though I know about using the E-brake to start on hills, last thing I need is to worry about is making a mistake and rolling into the retard who is an inch away from my bumper.

[Darlynn0217]

Originally Posted by southdown

Handheld phone use while driving was banned in the UK a while back, anyone know if it has lowered the accident rate?

Tests in Australia showed driver/phone users to be four times more likely to crash...and that was hands-free and handheld
Cell Phone Use While Driving Ups Crash Risk

We've been dicussing this on another thread and here are some of the highlights....

"Please...everyone...REGISTER TO VOTE!

And while you're at it, dig into the issues and be an informed voter!
Right now there are a number of things you may see showing up on your ballot having to do with your individual rights & keeping our wonderful low property taxes in rural parts of this great state...(We are in Missouri, but of interest to all))

Beware of anything that wants to introduce a "certificate of value"...at the time of the sale of real property!
Beware of bills that will increase fees for the recording of real property...even if they claim they will help the homeless! (There's more to the story...!)
Beware of legislation that will reduce or eliminate any tax credits!
Beware of the bill that will require reassessment upon the sale of real property!

And I've been forced to re-evaluate my stand on the legislation regarding the use of cell phones while driving a car...word from the hill is that the folks who are wanting to require hands-free units have another agenda...all the studies are showing that it's not holding the phone that is the problem...it's the talking on the phone.
These bills are only designed as a foot-in-the-door.
Next will they want to outlaw talking to your passengers?
Or eating cheeseburgers?

Whew...it's a slippery slope!" -lakejunkie

[2austin]

Originally Posted by Darlynn0217

We've been dicussing this on another thread and here are some of the highlights....

"Please...everyone...REGISTER TO VOTE!

And while you're at it, dig into the issues and be an informed voter!
Right now there are a number of things you may see showing up on your ballot having to do with your individual rights & keeping our wonderful low property taxes in rural parts of this great state...(We are in Missouri, but of interest to all))

Beware of anything that wants to introduce a "certificate of value"...at the time of the sale of real property!
Beware of bills that will increase fees for the recording of real property...even if they claim they will help the homeless! (There's more to the story...!)
Beware of legislation that will reduce or eliminate any tax credits!
Beware of the bill that will require reassessment upon the sale of real property!

And I've been forced to re-evaluate my stand on the legislation regarding the use of cell phones while driving a car...word from the hill is that the folks who are wanting to require hands-free units have another agenda...all the studies are showing that it's not holding the phone that is the problem...it's the talking on the phone.
These bills are only designed as a foot-in-the-door.
Next will they want to outlaw talking to your passengers?
Or eating cheeseburgers?

Whew...it's a slippery slope!" -lakejunkie

>>And I've been forced to re-evaluate my stand on the legislation regarding >>the use of cell phones while driving a car...word from the hill is that the >>folks who are wanting to require hands-free units have another agenda

It is funny how you linked some views here to an "agenda"

No one is arguing that taking hands-free is as safe as not talking at all. I am suggesting that for starters having both hands on the wheel is a good idea, no? Just a wild guees but having both hands during an emergency might come handy

[Phisch]

Ew. I know what I have noticed is that there are so many who drive and use their cell phones and those are incredibly dangerous people. On top of that, I keep getting tail gated. I lived in CA and---at least our part of CA---people didn't really tailgate for the most part.

I keep reading about people who drive and send text messages...there are no words.

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by 2austin

>>And I've been forced to re-evaluate my stand on the legislation regarding >>the use of cell phones while driving a car...word from the hill is that the >>folks who are wanting to require hands-free units have another agenda

It is funny how you linked some views here to an "agenda"

No one is arguing that taking hands-free is as safe as not talking at all. I am suggesting that for starters having both hands on the wheel is a good idea, no?

To be fair, I've heard comments that all car phones (including the hands free) should be banned because it's too distracting. I think that's crazy. Phones aren't the problem...people are. I see people shaving, putting on makeup, reading, yelling at the backseat people...you name it. For the record, I don't think that the problem with Austin drivers is not that they drive too slowly, it's that they drive too FAST.

[Phisch]

Originally Posted by mimimomx3

To be fair, I've heard comments that all car phones (including the hands free) should be banned because it's too distracting. I think that's crazy. Phones aren't the problem...people are. I see people shaving, putting on makeup, reading, yelling at the backseat people...you name it. For the record, I don't think that the problem with Austin drivers is not that they drive too slowly, it's that they drive too FAST.

Way too fast! I drive down Escarpment from Slaughter and often have a ton of people piling behind me because I'm at the speed limit. There are always pedestrians around---including one guy who likes to jog in the street but that's another story---and on top of that many of them are kids. On top of that, Austin PD loves to sit there and tag people.