Texas Interstate Highways

[kels]

Having returned to the wonderful cold state of Kansas, I
would like to explain the Texas interstate highway system
to any future visitors.

With three lanes on each side, it works as follows.
Outside lane is labeled FAST.
Middle lane is labeled FASTER.
Inside lane is labeled Oh, my God!

Once you see your first accident on the inside lane
you will understand

PS, I think the locals think the speed limit is a suggestion.

[retdetsgt]

Texas freeways, I can handle. Hwy 101 through L.A. is something else. People driving fast and 3 feet from your rear bumper.

[MikeG]

Having returned to the wonderful cold state of Kansas, I
would like to explain the Texas interstate highway system
to any future visitors.

With three lanes on each side, it works as follows.
Outside lane is labeled FAST.
Middle lane is labeled FASTER.
Inside lane is labeled Oh, my God!

Once you see your first accident on the inside lane
you will understand

PS, I think the locals think the speed limit is a suggestion.

lol. I drove I-10 through Texas a couple times. I don't recall 3 lanes very much but the slow lane was about 90 at nigh and crowded. You can feel the trucks try to suck the car into their lane as they pass in the OMG lane. This was before GPS so I don't know if that slowed the commercial trucks down but it was scary.

I'll take LA over Phoenix in the rain. Phx gets crappy drainage, oil from the roadway comes up in the rain and apparently the low visibility means people want to get closer to see the car in front of them while driving faster in the rain to get home. Oh, and the carpool lanes in phx are death traps. bumper to bumper and 5 mph in every lane except carpool lane which is near empty and about 50mph. At least LA limits carpool lane entry and exit. Not phx. Still, LA motorcycles passing everyone between cars in bumper to bumper traffic is scary too.

Portland in fog and freezing rain (or whatever you call it when the fog freezes to road and the car) isn't pretty either. It always scared me more to know the plane landed in the crap I was scared to drive in.

[retdetsgt]

Yeah, I lived down in Cochise County and later went to school at U of A in Tucson and remember what happened when it rained. Also how the wet shoulders of the road would suck in your tires if you got off the pavement.

We don't have the freezing rain hardly at all anymore (thank you, global warming!). When I first got here in 1970 until the early 80's, it was several times a winter and ice would get an inch or better thick on everything. We've had icy roads a few times since then, but not often and not very thick. We haven't had anything that lasted for more than a few hours in years and years.

The worst thing here are the drivers. They simply don't have the concept that the right lanes are for slow traffic and the left are for passing.

[MikeG]

The worst thing here are the drivers. They simply don't have the concept that the right lanes are for slow traffic and the left are for passing.

Yeah, it used to be everyone kind of played by those rules and the trucks would even flash and blink lights for passenger cars and cars did the same to let them know they were passing and when they were clear. Now every lane is treated as a commuter lane. Now, even if you come up behind someone and flash high beams they don't move to the empty slower lane.

[JoetheGI]

The worst thing here are the drivers. They simply don't have the concept that the right lanes are for slow traffic and the left are for passing.

Of all the places I've driven, whether here in the states, or OCONUS, the folks who had the best understanding of this concept, and actually applied it, were the French.

Weird, considering how much flack they get.

I drove the highways all over that country, and there was a noticeable difference in the driving behaviors they exhibited when compared to Italians, Germans, Brits, and our fellow countrymen. They really seemed to grasp and embrace the concept of the passing lane, and it made for making great time, and a far more pleasant driving experience.

I find that here in the Republic of Texas, aside from the failure to acknowledge the passing lane concept, there is a general lack of appreciation for the "flow of traffic" concept in general. There's a lot of speed "diversity" out there on the roads, and it makes using the cruise control futile at times.

[FoodStampz]

Detroit is just as bad, maybe worse. Totally depends on the time of day and the weather though.

[Safety Steve]

Try going from a complete stop pulling into those three lanes of traffic and then pulling over the correct vehicle all day long! You have to have a little driving skill to go from zero to 110 MPH and not cause a crash or crash yourself!


Be Safe.

[MikeG]

Try going from a complete stop pulling into those three lanes of traffic and then pulling over the correct vehicle all day long! You have to have a little driving skill to go from zero to 110 MPH and not cause a crash or crash yourself!


Be Safe.

Try pulling over the incorrect cars. Those are the ones the Department of Corrections want. ;)