Holiday times and road fatalities
An interesting read.
https://www.valuepenguin.com/most-danger…
...But not surprised that the highway area all over different Texas metro areas is more dangerous than average. 😅
https://www.valuepenguin.com/most-danger…
...But not surprised that the highway area all over different Texas metro areas is more dangerous than average. 😅
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On the way back we had a really bad snow storm where the car was actually pushing snow and we could hear the bottom of the car dragging across it. We did see a cop in the ditch and my buddy and I laughed and figured he deserved it. We joked about weather we should stop to help or not but we would rather not have any more harassment by a criminal in a car with blue and red lights on it. If it had been a good law abiding citizen we would gladly have helped...
I do agree that speed can be an issue, However... I will say this. About 12 to 15 years ago Denver made it to #2 on the list of U. S. Cities for road rage. #1 was Los Angeles. There were a high number of accidents and I-25 through Denver was raked in the top 5 most dangerous highways stretches in the country. Denver police started cracking down on slow drivers in the fast lane and writing tickets for impeding traffic. Most of the aggressive drivers were trying to get around these ass holes camped out in the fast lane and driving slow. That improved the road a lot and completely changed the dynamics of traffic in general. A few years later they started cracking down of aggressive driving, like making aggressive moves in traffic and weaving in and out of traffic in an aggressive manor. Speeding is not necessarily cracked down on within reason, unless you do not seem to be in control of your vehicle.
I often drive 15 to 20 mph over the speed limit in the city on freeways. I have often slowed down for my exit after going 80 mph in a 60 or 65 mph area and had a cop pass me that had been following me the entire time. I don't act aggressive toward other drivers by cutting people off, unless someone is camped out in the fast lane and holding up a long line of cars, I may pull an aggressive move to get a point across. That being said, I may be considered an aggressive driver in some areas, but I would consider myself to be a fast but not aggressive driver by Denver standards.
I do end up in Texas about 1or 2 times a year it seems like and it does seem like I see a higher percentage of people making aggressive moves in traffic there.
I personally don't see speeding as the entire problem, but if it is in conjunction with other bad driving behaviors it can be a deadly combination. I would say some of these more dangerous areas are that way because of what the police are looking for and cracking down on.
This past Saturday afternoon I was making a left with the arrow - the car coming opposite me ran the red - I floored it and barely got out of the way and the car that ran the red unfortunately ended up hitting the car right behind me although it wasn't a big hit - that particular traffic light lights/shines in kinda a weird way in that during the day you can't see the lighting well until you're close to it (it's lighting/shine is different than most traffic lights and it's something I've seen in my area in some newer lights).
About 15-minutes later on my same trip this past Saturday afternoon I'm going thru an industrial area on a wide street that's 4-lanes in each direction and is busy during the week but not much on the weekends - I'm coming up on an intersection to make a right at a light and I notice a cop-car blocking the intersection on the other side of the light but IDK why - I make my right and look again and then I notice a car on its roof on the street - have no idea what happened but given it's a wide 4-lane street in each direction in an industrial area where the traffic lights are a bit far from each other, I assume he may have been speeding by a good amount and lost control (I didn't notice any other car involved).
I'm thinking one needs to be extra-vigilant behind the wheel during the holidays and be looking out for more-than-normal # of impaired or distracted drivers.
The nights around Thanksgiving have lots of college students home for the weekend - and they go out and see friends - at bars and parties. Lots of bad decisions are made - including drinking and driving.
There are many folks traveling - on long road trips. Since roads are crowded, it takes longer. There are spots where it’s stop and go traffic - but when the road opens up - folks drive too fast to make up time.
Folks who fly - and face air travel delays - will try to make up the delays by driving fast in unfamiliar rental cars.
When you put these scenarios together on the same roads - it becomes dangerous and deadly.
Not usually this cold here this early.
SJG
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