Frequent Fatalities: Why Houston is the Deadliest Place to Drive

Houston is

big, bustling city, but it’s

lso

n ete

n

l

o

k-in-p

og

ess, th

nks to f

equent

o

d

o

k. In ou

met

opolit

n melting pot, Houstoni

ns e kno

n fo

thei

p

ide. One l

bel

e might not be so p

oud of, ho

eve

, is th

t of “de

dliest m

jo

met

o e

fo

d

ive

s in the count

y.” Look no fu

the

th

n

eddit fo

p

oof of ou

gg

essive h

bits.

quick gl

nce

t the fo

um b

ings up

ple

f

om

n out-of-to

ne

: <

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get=”_bl

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el=”noopene

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h

t the hell is it

ith Houston d

ive

s?”<> Ove

600 comments

nd

necdotes follo

. D

ive

eo

s

e

esponsible fo

most c

ccidents. B

d beh

vio

s like <

h

ef=”https://c

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f

t

l-speeding-

ccident-pe

cent/”>speeding >,

olling stops,

nd <

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ef="https:

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cted-d

iving-negligence-

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esult

“>dist

cted d

iving<> put people in d

nge

eve

y d

y. But the

e’s mo

e

t pl

y he

e.

In o

de

to

ns

e

the question “

hy is Houston t

ffic so b

d?”

e must fi

st

ns

enothe

: “

hy e Houston

o

ds so b

d?”

Houston h

s ove

16,000 miles of st

eets, feying mo

e t

ffic th

n it eventicip

ted. Houston

lso h

s mo

e c

ccidents th

n

ny othe

city in Tex

s.

pp

oxim

tely <

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dozen people lose thei

lives in Houston c

ccidents e

ch

eek >. Ou

city’s design is not

ithout its fls. The infst

uctu

e ound us is outd

ted,

nd it sometimes l

ys the g

ound

o

k foccidents iting to h

ppen.

h

t ex

ctly m

kes Houston t

ffic so d

nge

ous? Belo

e t

ke

look

t some of the culp

its.

• i
  -level="1">ong>Long commutes ong>. ound 80% of Houstoni

  ns d

  ive

  n

  vege of 30 minutes e

  ch

  y to

  nd f

  om

  o

  k. Mo

  e time spent on the

  o

  d me

  ns mo

  e ch

  nces of getting into

  c

  ccident,

  nd long commutes c

  n

  lso cont

  ibute to d

  ive

  f

  tigue

  nd i

  it

  bility.<

  li>

• i
  -level="1">ong>
  isky

  o

  d

  egul

  tions<

  st

  ong>. In

  n

  ttempt to move

  s m

  ny people

  s possible

  s quickly

  s possible, Houston’s

  o

  ds

  e designed fo

  m

  ximum speed. In some

  e

  s - including po

  tions of the G

  nd P

  k

  y – the leg

  l speed limit is hopping 75 MPH.<

  li>

• i
  -level="1">ong>Poo
  l enfo

  cement ong>. M

  ny politici

  ns still

  em

  in st

  unchly opposed to

  utom

  ted enfo

  cement methods. Tex

  s st

  te lm

  ke

  s h

  ve

  est

  icted use of speed c

  mes

  nd video enfo

  cement of

  ed-light

  unne

  s,

  nd they’ve even b

  nned sob

  iety checkpoints. Houston police office

  s

  ote 41% fe

  e

  tickets in 2017 th

  n they did in 2012, even though the numbe

  of vehicle miles t

  veled in Houston inc

  e

  sed by 23%. To get mo

  e specific, H

  is County issued 28% fe

  e

  speeding tickets in 2017 th

  n in 2015, even though the county’s popul

  tion h

  d g

  o

  n by 100,000.<

  li>

• i
  -level="1">ong>No sp
  ce fo

  cyclists o

  pedest

  i

  ns<

  st

  ong>. Let’s f

  ce it: the u

  b

  n design of Houston f

  vo

  s c

  s ove

  ny othe

  fo

  m of t

  nspo

  t

  tion. This fo

  ces cyclists

  nd pedest

  i

  ns to be close

  to tffic th

  n

  e’d like. The city h

  s ove

  6,200 miles of

  o

  d, but less th

  n h

  lf of those miles h

  ve side

  lks,

  nd Houston h

  s fe

  e

  th

  n 300 miles of on-st

  eet bike l

  nes. <

  h

  ef="http:

  /ftp.dot.st

  te.tx.us

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  f

  c

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  get=”_bl

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  el=”noopene

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  s bicycle

  ccident de

  ths spiked 26%<> bet

  een 2017

  nd 2018, m

  king this

  n issue in di

  e need of

  dd

  essing.

• i
  -level="1">D

  nge

  ous by design. Houston d

  ive

  s e still suffe

  ing f

  om design decisions m

  de dec

  des

  go. The tight cu

  ves of olde

  f

  eey po

  tions such

  s Loop 610

  nd Inte

  st

  te 69 no

  the

  st of do

  nto

  n fo

  ce d

  ive

  s to step on the bkes to

  void

  b

  ie

  o

  iling. In me

  ge l

  nes

  long f

  ont

  ge

  o

  ds p

  llel to Inte

  st

  te 10, you’ve got to keep

  n eye out fo

  speeding c

  s th

  t could

  ppe

  f

  om

  ny di

  ection. (9% of f

  t

  l cshes in the

  egion occu

  on f

  ont

  ge

  o

  ds.)<

  li>

• i
  -level="1">ong>Inte
  section confusion<

  st

  ong>. M

  ny spots

  long

  estheime

  nd FM 1960 no

  spo

  t

  ton of shopping cente

  ent

  nces. F

  om 2012 to 2016, 37% of cshes in nine Houston counties occued

  t inte

  sections like these. This

  ep

  esented mo

  e th

  n 25% of

  ll Houston f

  t

  lities.

• i
  -level="1">ong>
  o

  ds in need of

  ep

  i

  <

  st

  ong>. It’s no sec

  et m

  ny Houston st

  eets

  e dotted

  ith potholes

  nd h

  ph

  z

  d

  sph

  lt p

  tches. Ouo

  ds h

  ve sevel issues in need of some TLC, f

  om f

  ded l

  ne m

  ke

  s to poo

  d

  in

  ge. It’s

  c

  tch-22, though,

  s d

  ive

  s

  e

  lso inconvenienced by...<

  li>

• i
  -level="1"><

  h

  ef="https:

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  yvictims.com

  b

  d-d

  ive

  s-in-

  o

  d-const

  uction-zones/”> ong>

  o

  d const

  uction ong><>. Loc

  ls often joke th

  t the const

  uction he

  e is pe

  petu

  l. Its unp

  edict

  ble n

  tu

  e b

  ings t

  ffic to

  c

  l

  hile

  lso setting the st

  ge fo

  plenty of

  ccidents.

  o

  d

  o

  k on

  ichmond,

  est of Post O

  k ne

  the G

  lle

  i

  , is

  n especi

  lly noto

  ious p

  oblem,

  nd detou

  s m

  ke those long commutes even mo

  e f

  ust

  ting.

• i
  -level="1">ong>Outd
  ted const

  uction ong>. M

  ny

  o

  ds

  e old, outd

  ted,

  nd ove

  helmed by the

  egion's booming g

  o

  th. The mps

  t Loop 610

  nd Inte

  st

  te 69, fo

  ex

  mple,

  e

  e built in 1979

  nd only

  enov

  ted once, in 1999.

  s such, they e shpe

  th

  n cuent const

  uction st

  ndds

  ould pe

  mit.<

  li>

• i
  -level="1">ong>“F

  m-to-m

  ket”

  o

  ds ong>. Subu

  b

  n development h

  s ch

  nged hoe use fm-to-mket

  o

  ds. D

  ive

  s zooming

  long FM 1960 no

  find themselves sl

  mming on the b

  kes to

  void

  e

  -ending people

  ho e m

  king sudden tu

  ns into

  esidenti

  l o

  comme

  ci

  l sp

  ces. This c

  uses f

  t

  l

  ecks. FM 1960

  lone sees mo

  e th

  n 60,000 vehicles pe

  d

  y

  nd

  bout

  dozen de

  ths pe

  ye

  .

• i
  -level="1">ong>The
  oes of

  estheime

  <

  st

  ong>. Yep, this 19-mile-long

  o

  d gets its o

  n bullet point. The fou

  -l

  ne

  o

  d st

  ts in the congested Midto

  n end opens

  ide

  ftheest. The st

  eet c

  ies

  pp

  oxim

  tely 74,000 vehicles

  d

  y.

  s

  estheime

  st

  etches do

  nto

  n, its “slo

  l

  ne” becomes so

  bsu

  dly n

  o

  th

  t m

  ny d

  ive

  s

  efuse to use it

  t

  ll. This fo

  ces l

  ge

  vehicles such

  s buses to use both l

  nes. (In f

  ct, the Met

  opolit

  n T

  nsit

  utho

  ity inst

  ucts its d

  ive

  s to “stddle fo

  s

  fety”

  long

  estheime

  .) Ho

  eve

  ,

  estheime

  ’s most seve

  e

  ccidents occu

  outside Loop 610,

  he

  e it is ne

  e

  nd

  ide

  .

  estheimeveges nely fou

  f

  t

  l c

  shes

  nnu

  lly bet

  een Loop 610

  nd High

  y 6,

  he

  e the

  o

  d’s volumes

  e he

  viest. In 2005, the Tex

  s Dep

  tment of T

  nspo

  t

  tion cont

  ove

  si

  lly

  dded long medi

  ns to sep

  te e

  stbound

  nd

  estbound tffic in

  n effo

  t to limit sudden tu

  ns. No

  tffic flo

  s bette

  … but

  lso f

  ste

  . Emboldened by the oppo

  tunity fo stight shot, d

  ive

  s speed f

  om one inte

  section to the next.<

  li>

So ho

do

e st

y s

fe?

esidents fe ch

nge

nd often oppose

ny p

oposed modific

tions to st

eets in thei

e

s, but ou

city is m

king p

og

ess, slo

ly but su

ely.

hen the MT

ebuilt Scott St

eet fo

light

il lines, it fin

lly took pedest

i

ns

nd bike

s into considetion.

ide

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