I-19 ranked 9th deadliest road in America (Tucson, Nogales: house, calculated)

[ArniBoy]

Originally Posted by 2farsouth

Yawn...and Arni, let's not forget the moon landing was fake.

Sorry, can't see you yawing, because you're wearing 2 masks.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by bkolodzi

I have a few ideas why this stretch of road is so dangerous.

1. People texting or talking on the phone while driving (I see it frequently).
2. The speed limit for 1-19 is mostly 75mph. It goes down to 65mph in a few places. I usually set my cruise control at 80, and people still blow by me at 90mph or more.
3. There are a LOT of semi type trucks on I-19, and in my opinion, they travel way too fast.
4. There is a LOT of construction on I-19 which leads to changes in lane use and speed. When there is no work being done, the signs stay out, so people have gotten to where they ignore them.
5. There are people who WILL NOT get out of the left lane no matter how many cars are backed up behind them, and this causes people to drive aggressively to try and get the person to move over or to pass on the right. I would like to see HUGE tickets given to these people.
6. Some of the latest and most horrific accidents have involved alcohol. I have adopted a section of La Canada in Green Valley through the adopt a roadway program, and when I pick up litter, I find MANY of those mini alcohol bottles in the median and along the road. To me, this means people are drinking and driving.
7. I live in Green Valley (which is a retirement community with lots of elderly people) and I love where I live, but the fact is that there are MANY elderly folks driving that should not be. Be it eyesight issues or some other affliction, some of these folks are dangerous behind the wheel.
8. Green Valley has MANY "Winter Visitors", and some of them are not familiar with the town or the area which leads to people getting turned around and going the wrong way on one way streets, and possibly freeway entrance ramps. Yes, this has actually happened. Wrong way accidents on I-19 with fatal consequences. I am not saying all wrong way accidents on I-19 are the fault of Winter Visitors, but between that factor plus elderly drivers plus speed plus alcohol plus distracted driving plus construction plus just plain bad drivers plus lots of fast moving semi traffic, I can see how I-19 rates where it does.

I would agree with most of these. However, I find the OTR drivers to be fairly good drivers. They are generally operating within the speed limits.

Here are some of the additional problems:

1) There are a LOT of Border Patrol people working in Nogales and living in Tucson. I think that there have been several deaths among officers in recent years where they have fallen asleep making the commute home after a 12 hour shift.

2) There are a lot of people commuting between Rio Rico to Tucson, a very long daily commute. There is no speed limit to those individuals. I see the same people flying past me the same time every Tuesday morning. There is no police presence during rush hour.

3) While the snowbirds get a lot of the blame for everything that is wrong with drivers in Green Valley, I do NOT see any improvement in driving skills during the summer months.

[DAXhound]

Agreed, the long commutes can be deadly. I recall a teacher went off the road and was killed. Many simply refuse to live down there, which is their mistake.. It beats Tucson for moderately priced neighborhoods.

[wildflowers27]

Today's Green Valley News - On Tuesday at 1:30pm an empty 18-wheeler rolled on its side on northbound I-19, and driver taken to hospital. A Nissan Frontier pickup truck was also involved but driver not injured.

Instead of the "one car length for every 10mph" rule, maybe it would make sense to quadruple that.

[bkolodzi]

Originally Posted by wildflowers27

Today's Green Valley News - On Tuesday at 1:30pm an empty 18-wheeler rolled on its side on northbound I-19, and driver taken to hospital. A Nissan Frontier pickup truck was also involved but driver not injured.

Instead of the "one car length for every 10mph" rule, maybe it would make sense to quadruple that.

Even if you follow the current "rule" one car length for every 10mph, people just use that space to cut in front of you. If we quadrupled that rule, that would just mean that 4 cars would cut in front of you. I do my best to get in between groups of traffic and adjust my speed to stay there as long as possible, but it never lasts very long because of someone going below the speed limit or way above it.

[bkolodzi]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

I would agree with most of these. However, I find the OTR drivers to be fairly good drivers. They are generally operating within the speed limits.

Here are some of the additional problems:

1) There are a LOT of Border Patrol people working in Nogales and living in Tucson. I think that there have been several deaths among officers in recent years where they have fallen asleep making the commute home after a 12 hour shift.

2) There are a lot of people commuting between Rio Rico to Tucson, a very long daily commute. There is no speed limit to those individuals. I see the same people flying past me the same time every Tuesday morning. There is no police presence during rush hour.

3) While the snowbirds get a lot of the blame for everything that is wrong with drivers in Green Valley, I do NOT see any improvement in driving skills during the summer months.

Good points jlawrence01. Just to be clear, I am not trying to blame anything on the winter visitors, but at the peak of the season, Green Valley doubles in size, so there is just that much more traffic as well as some people who do not know their way around. Some winter visitors have been coming here for so long, they probably know the town better than I do, but just sayin', some don't.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by DAXhound

Agreed, the long commutes can be deadly. I recall a teacher went off the road and was killed. Many simply refuse to live down there, which is their mistake.. It beats Tucson for moderately priced neighborhoods.

When you live in the snow belt, after a few winters, you realize that the 35 mile commute that takes 45 minutes in great weather might take nearly three hours when it is snowing. Since there is little weather in Southern Arizona, people decide to live a long distance from work thinking that why not?

I will tell you that MANY of the doctors who practice in Green Valley commute from Oro Valley or Marana. A good number of the nurses that work in nursing facilities and the hospital live in Tucson. Those are some hefty commutes for people who work long stressful days. What makes it more difficult, especially at night, is that you go through the reservation where there is little light or visual stimulation and at a high speed.

There are several problems with employees living in Green Valley. MOST of the area is age-restricted (but not all). However, the perception among the medical professionals who I have talked with avoid Green Valley if they are under 50. One psychologist decided on Rancho Vistuoso as he had heard that ALL Green Valley properties were 55+ from his real estate agent. The other issue are the schools. Most professionals believe with good reason that they can do better than the Continental and Sahuarita schools.

In the last five years, there have been at least a dozen threads from Border Patrol employees relocating to this area who were planning some really crazy commutes.

[grmi66]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

I will tell you that MANY of the doctors who practice in Green Valley commute from Oro Valley or Marana. A good number of the nurses that work in nursing facilities and the hospital live in Tucson. Those are some hefty commutes for people who work long stressful days. What makes it more difficult, especially at night, is that you go through the reservation where there is little light or visual stimulation and at a high speed.

Now that you mention it, have a doctor friend that lives near La Cholla and Tangerine and commutes to Green Valley a few days a week. Guess it is pretty common.

[wildflowers27]

An update to this thread with some welcome news. Today's Green Valley News reports that the Arizona Dept of Transportation is upgrading the wrong-way signs and pavement markings on several of the interstate ramps - including those on I-19.

"The work is part of a statewide initiative to make wrong-way signs on freeways more visible. Some of the additions include larger signs and more white pavement arrows pointing the correct direction along freeway exit ramps."

To read further:

https://azdot.gov/adot-news/wrong-wa...uthern-arizona

[bkolodzi]

Originally Posted by wildflowers27

An update to this thread with some welcome news. Today's Green Valley News reports that the Arizona Dept of Transportation is upgrading the wrong-way signs and pavement markings on several of the interstate ramps - including those on I-19.

"The work is part of a statewide initiative to make wrong-way signs on freeways more visible. Some of the additions include larger signs and more white pavement arrows pointing the correct direction along freeway exit ramps."

To read further:

https://azdot.gov/adot-news/wrong-wa...uthern-arizona

That is good news wildflowers27! Thanks for the link!!!