That’s right. I’m declaring it right now. Texas has THE
WORST drivers I’ve ever seen.
I think they get away with it a little bit because of the
ONE good thing I’ve noticed about Texas drivers – they are generally really
good about letting people over/in when you put your blinker on. But seriously,
that’s it. In order to validate my claim I will list out the various offenses I’ve
noticed multiple times. So without further ado, and in no particular order
(other than understanding they all are terrible) here I go…
·
Blind lane changes
o
I live in the “burbs” but drive to downtown Dallas
all the time. On MANY occasions driving to downtown I’ve almost gotten into an
accident because people will switch lanes, even in tight traffic, without
looking. And hello, I’m right here. Coming at you at up to 60+ mph sometimes.
Stop doing that!
·
Complete disregarding for lines
o
I know this isn’t a big one, but it drives me
NUTS. Solid white lines…. You’re not supposed to cross them! Of course we’d all
love to move out of the merging lane early, but if it’s a solid white line you’re
supposed to wait until it because dashed.
§
Ok I just looked this one up, and at least in
Texas it’s not necessarily against the law to cross it, but it’s “strongly
discouraged”. Either way, I still find it super annoying. But now that I know
it’s not illegal I’ll probably start doing it. #hypocrite
·
Stopping on a freeway onramp
o
Yes, I have literally had this happen to me. As I
was leaving work a week or so ago I went to get on the freeway, which already
has a pretty short ramp length, when the car in front of me literally stopped
on the ramp. WAS SHE TRYING TO GET US ALL KILLED?! I was so annoyed. And to
really drive this point home (that’s somewhat confusing wording to use when
actually talking about driving, but oh well), let me share a story that I heard
when I attended the YSA ward I should technically be in. A very young (18 or 19
year old) girl started talking about how she wanted to go to an art museum in
downtown Dallas. Now, like I said before, I live in a suburb about 35 minutes
from downtown. To get there from my house I end up using about 3 or 4 different
freeways. Well, apparently this girl had NEVER driven on a freeway. (How is
that possible you ask? I will explain in the next bullet point.) So, once she
decided to go to the museum in downtown she mapped out how to get there using
just side streets. But then her GPS, which was supposed to be programed to
avoid freeways completely, told her to go a certain way that resulted in her
having to go on a freeway. Apparently it did not go well. The gist of the story
was that she got off the freeway as soon as she could, pulled into a parking
lot where she cried and spazzed out for like 15 minutes. And then she just drove
home because she couldn’t handle trying to drive to downtown after that “horrible”
ordeal. THAT IS A TRUE STORY. By a legal adult. America, we should be worried
for our future.
·
No formal driver’s ed
o
Absurd right? I guess Texas isn’t unique in not
having driver’s ed done through the school system. And I know that in Utah you
can take it separately from the school offered class, but I’m pretty sure most
people do the school program. Anyways, what that means is that here in Texas
parents teach their kids how to drive. So every little driving quirk/issue the
parents have the young driver now inherits. Did you know that all growing up I thought
you had to constantly be moving the steering wheel to keep the car going
straight? You want to know why I thought that? Because when my dad drove, he
constantly shook the steering wheel. Once I starting driving however, guess
what I discovered? For the most part, cars go straight all on their own. MIND
BLOWN. A uniform training program, in my oh so wise opinion, is the best way to
teach a large group to follow set rules and guidelines. Not individuals with
different issues and knowledge bases. And that’s how you end up with people who
have driven for years and have NEVER driven on a freeway. So Absurd.
·
Use of the left lane
o
Ugh, this one irritates me multiple times a
week. People, the left lane is for cars that want to go fast. If you are going
the speed limit, move over. The left lane is not for you.
Well, I think that sums up my main complaints. I love Texas,
but man, the drivers here put the Utah and California drivers to shame with the
dumb crap they do.
One final thought, and this isn’t a complaint, but rather an
observation. When did everyone learn how to back into parking spots? I can
parallel park like a boss (thank you LA), but backing into a spot… no way. Not
something I can do. How did I miss this training that apparently everyone else
took? The girl who can’t drive on a freeway can probably even back into a spot.
And that’s just embarrassing… for me.
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