Stay alert and safe - people are idiots

3,247 Views | 28 Replies | Last: 10 mo ago by Gunny456
GrapevineAg
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12:28p, 3/16/25
AG
Dear diary,

Driving northbound 281 south of Hamilton, some southbound dumb lady swerved across a double solid yellow and completely into the left oncoming lane. I was the only northbound car in the immediate vicinity and in the right lane. I braked, got on the shoulder and laid on the horn. She waved. Not saying it was a close call, but it got my attention. I hate undivided highways because I don't trust the other drivers. I am hyper (over?) vigilant just for situations like this.

Other than that, 281 is a much more pleasant route between DFW and Austin. Gonna go get a stiff drink. Stay safe y'all.
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bam02
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In reply to GrapevineAg • 2:22p, 3/16/25
AG
Damn. Glad you are safe. I hate those undivided highways, too. We have some windy undivided streets right outside our neighborhood that are scary, too. Had a jeep come darn close to clipping my mirror just this past Friday.
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12th Man Ag
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5:12p, 3/16/25
AG
Same stuff every day on 249 at 1774 (Aggieland Parkway). Too many folks on their phones.
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txyaloo
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In reply to GrapevineAg • 5:15p, 3/16/25
AG
GrapevineAg said:
Dear diary,

Driving northbound 281 south of Hamilton, some southbound dumb lady swerved across a double solid yellow and into the left oncoming lane. I was the only northbound car in the immediate vicinity and in the right lane. I braked, got on the shoulder and laid on the horn. She waved. Not saying it was a close call, but it got my attention. I hate undivided highways because I don't trust the other drivers. I am hyper (over?) vigilant just for situations like this.

Other than that, 281 is a much more pleasant route between DFW and Austin. Gonna go get a stiff drink. Stay safe y'all.
When I see that, I figure it's someone else stuck behind the self appointed speed police. If there's a full shoulder, I give the whole line of cars room to pass.

There aren't enough passing lanes on 281 between Hamilton and Lampasas.
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Kenneth_2003
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In reply to 12th Man Ag • 6:27p, 3/16/25
AG
12th Man Ag said:
Same stuff every day on 249 at 1774 (Aggieland Parkway). Too many folks on their phones.


In the early 2000s TxDOT was fast tracking the stretch of 6 between Navasota and CS to get rid of that undivided portion.

Then a decade later they build an undivided stretch of 249 that carries the same traffic load.

Makes ZERO sense.
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frankm01
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9:35p, 3/17/25
Glad you're OK, Grapevine. We drive San Antonio to Southlake usually once a month to see our daughter and grandkids. We take l-35 but usually take the 45/130 toll road to avoid Austin.

Used to be the toll road was a low stress, pleasure to drive but lately it's gotten crowded with slow moving trucks, school busses, garbage trucks, etc. It's to the point where it's almost as bad as going thru Austin. I really wish there was an enforced minimum speed on the toll road, but they're certainly not going to cut the revenue they get from those trucks.

You're absolutely correct. Driving requires your full attention, plus having to guess what some poor drivers' next move is.
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91AggieLawyer
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11:46p, 3/17/25
AG
Quote:
281 is a much more pleasant route between DFW and Austin

It wasn't the last 2 times I went that way. Too many 2-lane stretches. Has that changed?

I think I last took it in 2013.
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GrapevineAg
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In reply to 91AggieLawyer • 7:46a, 3/18/25
AG
It's a 3-lane road much of the way, where the third lane is a passing lane that alternates between southbound and northbound every few miles. I didn't feel stuck behind slow cars much at all.
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Dogdoc
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8:14a, 3/18/25
AG
TXDOT is planning to widen 281 between Lampasas and Evant. Also 190 between Lampasas and Lometa. Get ready for years of road construction.
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CenterHillAg
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9:24a, 3/18/25
AG
Can we use this thread to vent about random stupidity in our highway system? The biggest aggravation of road I regularly drive is the 111 mile stretch of Highway 7 from the loop in Crockett to where 7 ends at I-35 in Eddy. There's not a single passing lane while driving west, and there's a very small one coming out of the Trinity River bottom heading east. I've seen many close calls with people passing in the rare spots where you're able to, often the opposing traffic has to get in the shoulder or the ditch while the passing car is getting back in their lane. It seems like every other road in East Tx has had passing lanes added except this one.

A close 2nd is Madisonville. The entire structure of the intersecting highways suck and creates constant congestion.
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KRamp90
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10:12a, 3/18/25
AG
Highway 7 from Centerville to I-35 is a potholed pos.
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JDCAG (NOT Colin)
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10:24a, 3/18/25
AG
Phones are a huge problem.

When I pick my kids up from school there is a small road leaving the school that has 2 lanes at a light. The left lane is left turn only and gets really backed up (because left is the way to town and where most people live). I'm in the right lane because we live just across the street and down a bit.

Anyhow, the main point is that the left lane backs up such that folks usually have to sit through 2-3 pretty long cycles before they actually get through the light. My lane is usually empty, so many times I'm the first/only car there.

It's unreal how often somebody will have waited through 2-3 lights to get to the front of the line in the left lane, then when they get a green arrow, won't move at all. There is about a 10 second period where the light is red, but they get a green arrow, so I just get to sit an marvel at how unaware people are. Every time, they're on their phone.

Every. Single. Time.

That's not even to mention how often people look drunk with their inability to stay in their lanes and when you get behind them or pass them in another lane you can see that they're reading something on their phone.
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HollywoodBQ
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In reply to CenterHillAg • 10:59a, 3/18/25
AG
CenterHillAg said:
Can we use this thread to vent about random stupidity in our highway system? The biggest aggravation of road I regularly drive is the 111 mile stretch of Highway 7 from the loop in Crockett to where 7 ends at I-35 in Eddy. There's not a single passing lane while driving west, and there's a very small one coming out of the Trinity River bottom heading east. I've seen many close calls with people passing in the rare spots where you're able to, often the opposing traffic has to get in the shoulder or the ditch while the passing car is getting back in their lane. It seems like every other road in East Tx has had passing lanes added except this one.

A close 2nd is Madisonville. The entire structure of the intersecting highways suck and creates constant congestion.
Just drove from Eddy to Centerville last month on Hwy 7.

Luckily, there was minimal traffic but I agree with you that there aren't many places to pass.
It was a nice change of pace from taking Hwy 6 all the time.

But that construction traffic on I-45 is a mess. I think it was Madisonville to Huntsville.
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HollywoodBQ
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In reply to GrapevineAg • 11:03a, 3/18/25
AG
Agree with you that people out there one the road are idiots who aren't paying attention.

Thursday night, driving from Tallahasse to Jacksonville, FL, I saw a collision while I was refueling but the scary one was the asleep at the wheel lady eastbound on I-10.

I saw this car about a 1/4 mile ahead of me start drifting left in a straight line from the right lane through the left lane, onto the shoulder and then into the grassy area of the divided highway.

The driver was obviously asleep because she never tried to correct course.

Luckily, the car got stuck in the mud before it went into oncoming traffic.
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Matsui
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In reply to GrapevineAg • 12:30p, 3/18/25
AG
very dangerous thru there
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Kenneth_2003
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12:46p, 3/18/25
AG
Cypresswood Dr this morning westbound just before you get to 249...
I watched a guy run the light so badly it turned GREEN as he cleared the intersection!
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GrapevineAg
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In reply to Kenneth_2003 • 4:32p, 3/18/25
AG
Damn, I used to joke about waiting a few seconds after a light turns green before proceeding (in Houston) to make sure all the red light runners have cleared the intersection. This guy took it to a new level!
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GrapevineAg
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4:40p, 3/18/25
AG
Also, why would somebody deliberately choose to be a left-lane bandit on an undivided highway like this!? Saw many vehicles get in the left lane every time there was one. I don't wanna be any closer to oncoming traffic than I have to.

Maybe the time for self-driving cars has arrived. Too hard to have a nice pleasurable drive any more.
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AlphaBean
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4:21p, 3/25/25
AG
Monday morning one lane each direction undivided with speed limit 65. There are only 3 brief stretches it is safe to pass in the 8 miles I go on that road. Thanks to the dash cam I clocked out how ridiculous an oncoming driver was with their decision to pass a concrete truck.

7 seconds before potential impact, driver begins to enter my lane
6 seconds before, fully in my lane and I begin moving to shoulder
1 second before potential impact, driver completely back in their lane

Wherever they were going was not worth mine or my 5 and 1yo lives. **** that guy.
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GrapevineAg
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In reply to AlphaBean • 8:20p, 3/25/25
AG
Glad y'all are safe, and yes, **** that guy.
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BBRex
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6:52a, 3/26/25
AG
If we're complaining about highways, I want to include a problem I see a lot in Houston: if you have a enough traffic one way to build a flyover ramp, then you probably have enough traffic to build one going back the other way. I don't know if that is TXDOT or local dummies, but 249 at Beltway 8, 249 at 99 and 59 at 99 immediately come to mind. On 249, I think at both intersections, they are trying to go back and retrofit ramps. Just do it right the first time.
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AlphaBean
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In reply to GrapevineAg • 11:21a, 3/27/25
AG
Thank you kind sir (or ma'am). I wondered if I had "overreacted" which led me to review the game film. When I realized just how quickly it happened and how close it was I was first amazed at how nonchalant and slow motion it all felt with an instant but measured reaction from me, then terrified of the thought of my kids at 16 in the same situation without the experience to safely and quickly respond. It's easy to see how one could have not realized what was happening until too late, or panicked and overcorrected into the shoulder and then losing control. And fortunately the shoulder was clear of vehicles and trash cans and debris and such. Absolutely terrifying.

Stay safe everyone, indeed!
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HollywoodBQ
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In reply to BBRex • 1:08p, 3/27/25
AG
BBRex said:
If we're complaining about highways, I want to include a problem I see a lot in Houston: if you have a enough traffic one way to build a flyover ramp, then you probably have enough traffic to build one going back the other way. I don't know if that is TXDOT or local dummies, but 249 at Beltway 8, 249 at 99 and 59 at 99 immediately come to mind. On 249, I think at both intersections, they are trying to go back and retrofit ramps. Just do it right the first time.
Hwy 6 at US 290 is another one.
Flyover going away from College Station but not one going towards College Station.
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The Brazos Kid
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3:48p, 3/27/25
US 79 from TX/LA state line to Hearne then the stretch from Milano to Rockdale… I've seen so many wrecks. I used to travel different parts of it most every week for years.
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GrapevineAg
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In reply to AlphaBean • 3:59p, 3/27/25
AG
Yeah, when cars are traveling towards each other at 75mph+, space disappears in a hurry. I think my wife now *finally* understands why I stay away from the center stripe and watch traffic like a hawk. She likes to ride to the left of her lane (because she knows where the left side of the car is) and she likes to look for birds, horses, etc. very stressful for me to ride while she drives on those roads.
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The Brazos Kid
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In reply to GrapevineAg • 9:17p, 3/27/25
GrapevineAg said:
Yeah, when cars are traveling towards each other at 75mph+, space disappears in a hurry. I think my wife now *finally* understands why I stay away from the center stripe and watch traffic like a hawk. She likes to ride to the left of her lane (because she knows where the left side of the car is) and she likes to look for birds, horses, etc. very stressful for me to ride while she drives on those roads.
As an old driver trainer of mine used to say, "that center line marks you as 12 inches away from death". He wasn't wrong.
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Kenneth_2003
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In reply to HollywoodBQ • 9:26p, 3/27/25
AG
HollywoodBQ said:
BBRex said:
If we're complaining about highways, I want to include a problem I see a lot in Houston: if you have a enough traffic one way to build a flyover ramp, then you probably have enough traffic to build one going back the other way. I don't know if that is TXDOT or local dummies, but 249 at Beltway 8, 249 at 99 and 59 at 99 immediately come to mind. On 249, I think at both intersections, they are trying to go back and retrofit ramps. Just do it right the first time.
Hwy 6 at US 290 is another one.
Flyover going away from College Station but not one going towards College Station.


The flyover from 6 to 290 East into Houston is (obviously) to avoid putting that traffic through a light (ahem 105 to Conroe).

The Houston to CS crowd still get a dedicated lane/ramp it's just on the ground. There's that landscaping shop but that's really low volume

Not enough traffic from the Austin direction to justify anything.
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HollywoodBQ
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In reply to Kenneth_2003 • 2:07p, 3/28/25
AG
Kenneth_2003 said:
HollywoodBQ said:
BBRex said:
If we're complaining about highways, I want to include a problem I see a lot in Houston: if you have a enough traffic one way to build a flyover ramp, then you probably have enough traffic to build one going back the other way. I don't know if that is TXDOT or local dummies, but 249 at Beltway 8, 249 at 99 and 59 at 99 immediately come to mind. On 249, I think at both intersections, they are trying to go back and retrofit ramps. Just do it right the first time.
Hwy 6 at US 290 is another one.
Flyover going away from College Station but not one going towards College Station.
The flyover from 6 to 290 East into Houston is (obviously) to avoid putting that traffic through a light (ahem 105 to Conroe).

The Houston to CS crowd still get a dedicated lane/ramp it's just on the ground. There's that landscaping shop but that's really low volume

Not enough traffic from the Austin direction to justify anything.
I just drove it northbound to Waco this morning (when did College Station get commuter traffic BTW?).
It doesn't have to be some massive aerial concrete structure but an upgrade from a Yield sign would be nice.

As far as the concrete place - either you're unmarried or don't live in a situation where you have landscaping opportunities. It's like a magnet drawing my wife in there every time we go past.

Personally, I'd rather stop a few miles earlier and watch The Cricket.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_View_Cricket_Complex
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Gunny456
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7:00p, 3/28/25
AG
I travelled for a living driving 90% of it across 6 states for over 40 years. I'm lucky to be alive. Phones are the main issue. You can't drive 25 miles without seeing an idiot texting or jacking with his/her phone. That's why there are so many traffic deaths annually in the U.S.
You gotta drive defensively at all times.
TAMU Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences

"Boat Racing is like a beautiful woman.... expensive, high maintenance....... but well worth the fun!"
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