Houston is
big, bustling city, but it’slso
n eten
lo
k-in-pog
ess, thnks to f
equento
do
k. In oumet
opolitn melting pot, Houstoni
ns e knon fo
theip
ide. One lbel
e might not be so poud of, ho
eve, is th
t of “dedliest m
jomet
o efo
dive
s in the county.” Look no fu
theth
neddit fo
poof of ou
gg
essive hbits.
quick glnce
t the foum b
ings upple
fom
n out-of-tone
: <h
ef="https:/
.eddit.com/
houston/comments/8gzq6f/
ht_the_hell_is_it_
ith_houston_dive
s” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”noopene
nofollo“>“
ht the hell is it
ith Houston dive
s?”<> Ove600 comments
ndnecdotes follo
. Dive
eos
e
esponsible fomost c
ccidents. Bd beh
vios like <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comf
tl-speeding-
ccident-pecent/”>speeding
>,olling stops,
nd <h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comdist
cted-d
iving-negligence-nd-the-inju
ies-tht-
esult“>dist
cted d
iving<> put people in dnge
evey d
y. But thee’s mo
et pl
y hee.
In o
deto
nse
the question “hy is Houston t
ffic so b
d?”e must fi
stns
enothe: “
hy e Houstono
ds so bd?”
Houston h
s ove16,000 miles of st
eets, feying moe t
ffic th
n it eventicipted. Houston
lso hs mo
e cccidents th
nny othe
city in Texs.
ppoxim
tely <h
ef="https:/j
lopnik.comhoustons-
ods-
e-the-de
dliest-in-the-u-s-1828881806" tget="_blnk”
el="noopenenofollo
">dozen people lose thei
lives in Houston cccidents e
cheek
>. Oucity’s design is not
ithout its fls. The infstuctu
e ound us is outdted,
nd it sometimes lys the g
oundo
k foccidents iting to hppen.
ht ex
ctly mkes Houston t
ffic so d
ngeous? Belo
e t
kelook
t some of the culpits.
- i
-level="1">
ong>Long commutes ong>. ound 80% of Houstonins d
iven
vege of 30 minutes ech
y to
nd fom
ok. Mo
e time spent on theo
d mens mo
e chnces of getting into
cccident,
nd long commutes cn
lso contibute to d
ivef
tiguend i
it
bility.<li>
- i
-level="1">
ong> isky o
degul
tions<st
ong>. Inn
ttempt to moves m
ny peoples possible
s quicklys possible, Houston’s
ods
e designed fo
mximum speed. In some
e
s - including potions of the G
nd P
k
y – the leg
l speed limit is hopping 75 MPH.<li>
- i -level="1">
ong>Poo l enfo ong>. Mcement
ny politici
ns stillem
in stunchly opposed to
utomted enfo
cement methods. Texs st
te lmke
s hve
esticted use of speed c
mesnd video enfo
cement ofed-light
unnes,
nd they’ve even bnned sob
iety checkpoints. Houston police offices
ote 41% fe
etickets in 2017 th
n they did in 2012, even though the numbeof vehicle miles t
veled in Houston inc
esed by 23%. To get mo
e specific, His County issued 28% fe
espeeding tickets in 2017 th
n in 2015, even though the county’s popultion h
d go
n by 100,000.<li>
- i -level="1">
ong>No sp ce fo cyclists o
pedesti
ns<st
ong>. Let’s fce it: the u
bn design of Houston f
vos c
s ove
ny othe
fom of t
nspo
ttion. This fo
ces cyclistsnd pedest
ins to be close
to tffic thn
e’d like. The city hs ove
6,200 miles ofo
d, but less thn h
lf of those miles hve side
lks,
nd Houston hs fe
eth
n 300 miles of on-steet bike l
nes. <h
ef="http:/ftp.dot.st
te.tx.uspub/txdot-info/t
fc
sh_st
tistics2018/01.pdf” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”noopene
nofollo“>Tex
s bicycleccident de
ths spiked 26%<> beteen 2017
nd 2018, mking this
n issue in die need of
ddessing.
- i -level="1">D
nge
ous by design. Houston dive
s e still suffeing f
om design decisions mde dec
desgo. The tight cu
ves of oldef
eey potions such
s Loop 610nd Inte
stte 69 no
thest of do
nton fo
ce dive
s to step on the bkes tovoid
bie
oiling. In me
ge lnes
long font
geo
ds pllel to Inte
stte 10, you’ve got to keep
n eye out fospeeding c
s th
t couldppe
f
omny di
ection. (9% of ft
l cshes in theegion occu
on font
geo
ds.)<li>
- i -level="1">
ong>Inte section confusion< st
ong>. Mny spots
longestheime
nd FM 1960 no
spot
ton of shopping centeent
nces. F
om 2012 to 2016, 37% of cshes in nine Houston counties occuedt inte
sections like these. Thisep
esented moe th
n 25% ofll Houston f
tlities.
- i -level="1">
ong> o ds in need of
epi
<st
ong>. It’s no secet m
ny Houston steets
e dotted
ith potholesnd h
phz
d
sphlt p
tches. Ouods h
ve sevel issues in need of some TLC, fom f
ded lne m
ke
s to pood
in
ge. It’sc
tch-22, though,s d
ives
e
lso inconvenienced by...<li>
- i -level="1"><
h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comb
d-dive
s-in-o
d-constuction-zones/”>
ong> ong><>. Loco
d constuction
ls often joke th
t the constuction he
e is pepetu
l. Its unpedict
ble ntu
e bings t
ffic to
cl
hilelso setting the st
ge foplenty of
ccidents.o
do
k onichmond,
est of Post Ok ne
the G
llei
, isn especi
lly notoious p
oblem,nd detou
s mke those long commutes even mo
e fust
ting.
- i -level="1">
ong>Outd ted const ong>. Muction
ny
ods
e old, outd
ted,nd ove
helmed by the
egion's booming go
th. The mpst Loop 610
nd Intest
te 69, foex
mple,e
e built in 1979nd only
enovted once, in 1999.
s such, they e shpeth
n cuent constuction st
nddsould pe
mit.<li>
- i -level="1">
ong>“F ong>. Subum-to-m
ket”
ods
b
n development hs ch
nged hoe use fm-to-mketo
ds. Dive
s zoominglong FM 1960 no
find themselves slmming on the b
kes to
voide
-ending people
ho e mking sudden tu
ns intoesidenti
l ocomme
cil sp
ces. This cuses f
tl
ecks. FM 1960
lone sees moe th
n 60,000 vehicles ped
ynd
boutdozen de
ths peye
.
- i -level="1">
ong>The oes of estheime
<st
ong>. Yep, this 19-mile-longo
d gets its on bullet point. The fou
-lne
od st
ts in the congested Midto
n end openside
ftheest. The steet c
iespp
oximtely 74,000 vehicles
dy.
sestheime
stetches do
nton, its “slo
lne” becomes so
bsudly n
oth
t mny d
ives
efuse to use itt
ll. This foces l
ge
vehicles suchs buses to use both l
nes. (In fct, the Met
opolitn T
nsit
uthoity inst
ucts its dive
s to “stddle fos
fety”long
estheime.) Ho
eve,
estheime’s most seve
eccidents occu
outside Loop 610,he
e it is nee
nd
ide.
estheimeveges nely fouf
tl c
shes
nnully bet
een Loop 610nd High
y 6,
hee the
od’s volumes
e he
viest. In 2005, the Texs Dep
tment of T
nspo
ttion cont
ovesi
llydded long medi
ns to septe e
stboundnd
estbound tffic inn effo
t to limit sudden tuns. No
tffic flos bette
… butlso f
ste. Emboldened by the oppo
tunity fo stight shot, dive
s speed fom one inte
section to the next.<li>
- i -level="1">
So ho
doe st
y sfe?
esidents fe chnge
nd often opposeny p
oposed modifictions to st
eets in theie
s, but oucity is m
king pog
ess, sloly but su
ely.hen the MT
ebuilt Scott St
eet folight
il lines, it fin
lly took pedesti
nsnd bike
s into considetion.ide
sidelks hve
lso beendded to Shephe
d.chment_70081″
i
-descibedby=”c
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chment-70081" style="idth: 260px” cl
ss="p-c
ptionlign
ight">c=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comp-contentuplo
ds2020/02/Ste
t-J.-Guss-tto
ney-260x300.jpg"lt=”Ste
t-J.-Guss-tto
ney"idth=”260″ height=”300″ s
cset="https:/c
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yvictims.comp-contentuplo
ds2020/02/Ste
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x-idth: 260px) 100v
, 260px"> ption- chment-70081″ cl p-c tto h /c inju ou m/ste “>Ste figc figu e’s mo izon in the fo p ebuild of Inte te 45. The p ims to ny of the do n f ns essu ge hich TxDOT consult y le nd t ffic. ll is s nd done, beh still m s. Togethe e c e eotype of Houstoni s essive d s. Eve s esponsibility to keep ou o nd, most impo ntly, to st nt on the unp ble ds ough the city ll home. Should you eve self in h /c inju se c – tto “>c n count on the te t Ste e’ ted to finding the negligent p ty ccount hethe e ive co o e h /c inju cont “>Cont t J. Guss, ney y.