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Snapping a pic when I'm sitting still is me causing traffic? I'd see your point if I was slowing down and not driving the speed limit, but accelerating from a dead stop?

Do you see the people in the pic? Do you see the Audi driving away? Any guesses where those people were and how fast the Audi was going when I pulled out my phone? If you guessed "in the left lane" and "0mph," you'd be correct.

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and therein lies the problem, everyone 'rationalizes' it however they want to make ok.

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Agreed. If you slow down others or come to a complete stop, you are subject to being beaten with a tire iron on the spot.

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Obviously merging smoothly is a requirement,. My moral quandary stemmed more from the continuing in the exit/entrance lane rather than getting in line with the rest of the schmucks in the main lanes. Is my usage of the exit/entrance lane as long as I can any different than the jackasses that stay in the 45N exit lane and then cut over into the 45S lane at the last second?

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Snapping a pic when I'm sitting still is me causing traffic? I'd see your point if I was slowing down and not driving the speed limit, but accelerating from a dead stop?

Do you see the people in the pic? Do you see the Audi driving away? Any guesses where those people were and how fast the Audi was going when I pulled out my phone? If you guessed "in the left lane" and "0mph," you'd be correct.

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and therein lies the problem, everyone 'rationalizes' it however they want to make ok.

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So answer me this...if traffic in front of me is stopped and not moving, thus not allowing me to move, how does me snapping a picture impact the stopped traffic behind me?

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Snapping a pic when I'm sitting still is me causing traffic? I'd see your point if I was slowing down and not driving the speed limit, but accelerating from a dead stop?

Do you see the people in the pic? Do you see the Audi driving away? Any guesses where those people were and how fast the Audi was going when I pulled out my phone? If you guessed "in the left lane" and "0mph," you'd be correct.

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and therein lies the problem, everyone 'rationalizes' it however they want to make ok.

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So answer me this...if traffic in front of me is stopped and not moving, thus not allowing me to move, how does me snapping a picture impact the stopped traffic behind me?

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It's more of the fact that everyone thinks that, thus slowing down the general flow. It compounds the problem exponentially. If every single driver just drove and didn't rubberneck, flow would not be nearly as impacted. Unfortunately, humans en masse are stupid and even stupider behind the wheel.

I agree, but finberbang's rant was directed at the picture I posted. Also, traffic will slow down regardless when there's a wreck. There are some out there who want to try to spot the white sheet, but others are slowing down to not fly by the scene at posted speeds. I'm a speeder, but I will slow down quite a bit when there's an accident because I don't think it's the safest thing in the world to fly by people walking around at 75mph. Now, if the accident is on the other direction and there's a median or concrete barrier between us, then cruise on and possibly increase speed due to all the cops being at the accident.

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I agree, but finberbang's rant was directed at the picture I posted. Also, traffic will slow down regardless when there's a wreck. There are some out there who want to try to spot the white sheet, but others are slowing down to not fly by the scene at posted speeds. I'm a speeder, but I will slow down quite a bit when there's an accident because I don't think it's the safest thing in the world to fly by people walking around at 75mph. Now, if the accident is on the other direction and there's a median or concrete barrier between us, then cruise on and possibly increase speed due to all the cops being at the accident.

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I think that's because your picture was pretty much what he was talking about, generally speaking. You merely provided his example of what he believes (and actually is) to be a large problem on Houston highways.

Eh, the biggest problem with Houston highways are is the sprawling nature of Houston and it's lack of a decent public transportation system. When new roads are built, new neighborhoods are build near them along with new retail, etc. Within a few years, that road is just as ****ed as the others. Also, the loopty loop system needs to stop. It's not addressing the issue of actually getting into town and the headache that it involves.

If you want to talk about drivers specific, I'd say it's the idiots who don't know how to properly merge, the soccer mom's who drive too safe (yes, driving 45 when traffic is going 70 isn't safe), old people, the increasing illegal population with their ****ty cars breaking down in the middle of 610, the dumbasses who can't look right and see they have their own lane to turn into, and the asshats who take 4 seconds to process that a light has turned green.

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If you want to talk about drivers specific, I'd say it's the idiots who don't know how to properly merge, the soccer mom's who drive too safe (yes, driving 45 when traffic is going 70 isn't safe), old people, the increasing illegal population with their ****ty cars breaking down in the middle of 610, the dumbasses who can't look right and see they have their own lane to turn into, and the asshats who take 4 seconds to process that a light has turned green.

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Preach on! Oh, and if you constantly drive with your hazards on because you are worried about being a problem on the highway or getting hit because you can't get up to speed, DON'T GET ON THE ****ING HIGHWAY!

I'll add the people who see a cop and slam on their brakes. I HATE THIS!!!! Unless you're going 10mph over, chances are he has bigger issues to deal with than you. Driving 69 in a 65 will not get you a ticket in Houston. In some podunk town it might, but not in a city with 3mm+ people.

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I agree, but finberbang's rant was directed at the picture I posted. Also, traffic will slow down regardless when there's a wreck. There are some out there who want to try to spot the white sheet, but others are slowing down to not fly by the scene at posted speeds. I'm a speeder, but I will slow down quite a bit when there's an accident because I don't think it's the safest thing in the world to fly by people walking around at 75mph. Now, if the accident is on the other direction and there's a median or concrete barrier between us, then cruise on and possibly increase speed due to all the cops being at the accident.

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I think that's because your picture was pretty much what he was talking about, generally speaking. You merely provided his example of what he believes (and actually is) to be a large problem on Houston highways.

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this. There are several issues as yall have addressed, but this is the new level of rubbernecking

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nothing wrong with the loop system

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From a developers perspective, they are a dream.

From the perspective of developing an efficient and effective means of moving people in an ever growing city they are total crap. So if you love congestion and inefficiency, then no, there's nothing wrong with them.

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I'll add the people who see a cop and slam on their brakes. I HATE THIS!!!! Unless you're going 10mph over, chances are he has bigger issues to deal with than you. Driving 69 in a 65 will not get you a ticket in Houston. In some podunk town it might, but not in a city with 3mm+ people.

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How about the drivers that won't pass a cop on a multi-lane street when the cop is going 5-10 below the speed limit?

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I'll add the people who see a cop and slam on their brakes. I HATE THIS!!!! Unless you're going 10mph over, chances are he has bigger issues to deal with than you. Driving 69 in a 65 will not get you a ticket in Houston. In some podunk town it might, but not in a city with 3mm+ people.

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How about the drivers that won't pass a cop on a multi-lane street when the cop is going 5-10 below the speed limit?

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PIT maneuver is the only acceptable result....

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How about the drivers that won't pass a cop on a multi-lane street when the cop is going 5-10 below the speed limit?

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I get a much bigger kick out of the guy who winds his way through the traffic and passes the same cop, without noticing him, but going like 30 mph above the speed limit. Saw that show last week on Louetta.
Memo to idiot driver: There just may be a reason why everyone is driving the speed limit.

If they would ban anything over 1 ton vehicles on any toll roads, life would be infinitely better in terms of traffic. SHTW, 99, Westpark, Hardy, etc. are all nothing more than traffic jams you pay to sit in and it's largely because fugskin 18 wheelers, lanscaping trucks pulling a 30 foot trailer packed with lawmowers and 48 tons of debris, busses, etc. take up space I"m friggin paying for.

Also, if it were legal to kill idiots on the road, traffic would be better as well.

And honestly thinking that DFW is better than Houston in terms of traffic is laughable. They both suck donkey balls, as does almost every major city in the country that I"ve had the misfortune of driving in - that ranges across the entire southern portion of the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific and as far north as KC and Denver - they all suck.

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Also, the loopty loop system needs to stop. It's not addressing the issue of actually getting into town and the headache that it involves.

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nothing wrong with the loop system

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For the loop system to work, you need to add spokes when you add wheels. That's not happening. The loops are great to get from suburb to suburb, but not to get toward town, and that's where the problem is. They're congested because the roads leading into or out of town are jam packed and not allowing people to get off. Couple that with a **** ton of development along each loop and you have a double whammy.

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I'll add the people who see a cop and slam on their brakes. I HATE THIS!!!! Unless you're going 10mph over, chances are he has bigger issues to deal with than you. Driving 69 in a 65 will not get you a ticket in Houston. In some podunk town it might, but not in a city with 3mm+ people.

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How about the drivers that won't pass a cop on a multi-lane street when the cop is going 5-10 below the speed limit?

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As long as they're not in the left lane and slowing me down, I'll continue on my merry ol way. What's the cop going to do? Pull me over for going the speed limit?

"Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?"
"No, sir."
"You were driving 60 in a 60. Sir, are you alright? Sir, what's so damn funny? Alright, meow..."

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Also, the loopty loop system needs to stop. It's not addressing the issue of actually getting into town and the headache that it involves.

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nothing wrong with the loop system

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For the loop system to work, you need to add spokes when you add wheels. That's not happening. The loops are great to get from suburb to suburb, but not to get toward town, and that's where the problem is. They're congested because the roads leading into or out of town are jam packed and not allowing people to get off. Couple that with a **** ton of development along each loop and you have a double whammy.

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45, Hardy, 59, 290, 288, 249

How many spokes do you want?

Look at all of the development that has happened along the Grand Parkway around Katy. Where do you think majority of those people work? How do you think they get to work? Have you driven the Beltway east of 59? Have you noticed all of the development around Wilson Rd and Lake Houston Parkway? How bad do you think the Beltway will be in 10 years? Do you think those people will be driving to Crosby or Cleveland for work? No. Most will head toward downtown, the Galleria, Memorial, Energy Corridor, etc.

But to answer you question, how many? Lets start by eliminating roads feeding into 610 by making them go into downtown or at least near it. How much better do you think 610 would be if you didn't have 290, Hardy, and 225 feeding into it? 45 would still be effed without 249 feeding into it, but it would at least help to divert it to empty somewhere else. The West Parking Lot feeds right into 59 at a horrible location. Granted, it would be worse if it were actually feeding inside 610...The fact is, you have multiple flows of traffic bottle necking at 1 location. I'd be curious to know how many people who use each of those roads work in downtown or near by. Yes, you'd piss some people off in the Heights or the like by putting a freeway through their neighborhood, but they wanted to be close to everything. Can't be much closer than a freeway out your back door. Don't like it? Move to Katy.

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Look at all of the development that has happened along the Grand Parkway around Katy. Where do you think majority of those people work? How do you think they get to work? Have you driven the Beltway east of 59? Have you noticed all of the development around Wilson Rd and Lake Houston Parkway? How bad do you think the Beltway will be in 10 years? Do you think those people will be driving to Crosby or Cleveland for work? No. Most will head toward downtown, the Galleria, Memorial, Energy Corridor, etc.

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Um, the 18 lane wide I-10? Also add the Westpark Toll

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Look at all of the development that has happened along the Grand Parkway around Katy. Where do you think majority of those people work? How do you think they get to work? Have you driven the Beltway east of 59? Have you noticed all of the development around Wilson Rd and Lake Houston Parkway? How bad do you think the Beltway will be in 10 years? Do you think those people will be driving to Crosby or Cleveland for work? No. Most will head toward downtown, the Galleria, Memorial, Energy Corridor, etc.

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Um, the 18 lane wide I-10? Also add the Westpark Toll

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Do you know how I know you haven't been on either during rush hour?

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Look at all of the development that has happened along the Grand Parkway around Katy. Where do you think majority of those people work? How do you think they get to work? Have you driven the Beltway east of 59? Have you noticed all of the development around Wilson Rd and Lake Houston Parkway? How bad do you think the Beltway will be in 10 years? Do you think those people will be driving to Crosby or Cleveland for work? No. Most will head toward downtown, the Galleria, Memorial, Energy Corridor, etc.

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Um, the 18 lane wide I-10? Also add the Westpark Toll

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Do you know how I know you haven't been on either during rush hour?

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You wanna bet?

you have to pay the Iron Price to drive in Houston

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Sorry if I am not sympathetic to the poor saps that decided to live in Katy that just figured out traffic is bad driving to Houston. Rather than build a new freeway through the heights, why don't you just live closer to your job?

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this or take the bus. You know what youre getting into by moving to the burbs.

Where are all the "my commute from Katy/Kingwood/Sugar Land is only 30 minutes" people? Seems that the highways are just fine with short drives like that.

My commute from Willowbrook is only 10 mins.



To my job in Willowbrook.

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Where are all the "my commute from Katy/Kingwood/Sugar Land is only 30 minutes" people? Seems that the highways are just fine with short drives like that.

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They are probably sleeping so they can wake up at 2am and zip on into town.

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Where are all the "my commute from Katy/Kingwood/Sugar Land is only 30 minutes" people? Seems that the highways are just fine with short drives like that.

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Outside of rush hour, I can get from my house in Kingwood to downtown in about 30 minutes. Hell, in the mornings, I get to work in about 50 minutes...I do leave at 5:45. My commute home is what sucks, which is only bad because of I-10. But hey, if you want to live close to town, that's fine. I'd much rather drive a little more and get more house for my money. You'd rather pay more and drive less. Different strokes...

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Sorry if I am not sympathetic to the poor saps that decided to live in Katy that just figured out traffic is bad driving to Houston. Rather than build a new freeway through the heights, why don't you just live closer to your job?

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Lets use your suggestion and say that everybody who works ITL should live ITL. Do you really want to double (possibly triple) the ITL population?

Also, paying over $600k for a house built when my parents were teens to be close to work isn't exactly something that looks appealing to me. Not to mention my house is almost paid off.

No one suggested everyone that works on ITL should live ITL.

What's been suggested is that YOU shouldn't whine about traffic and how the freeways don't suit you when you made the decision to commute to work and are one of the people making it worse by snapping pictures of wrecks.

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No one suggested everyone that works on ITL should live ITL.

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It seems anytime somebody mentions traffic or something and doesn't live ITL, people throw out "well, you should move closer" as if "closer" could accommodate everybody who could potentially do this. Just because somebody doesn't live near work means that they can't discuss the worsening traffic and crappy roads?

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What's been suggested is that YOU shouldn't whine about traffic and how the freeways don't suit you when you made the decision to commute to work and are one of the people making it worse by snapping pictures of wrecks.

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I'm not whining about my commute. I knew what my commute would be when I accepted my job, and I'm the one choosing not to uproot my family and move to the other side of the city. As far as the picture, you just showed me that you didn't bother to read the thread. FWA didn't answer it, so I'll ask you in hopes you could enlighten me...

"So answer me this...if traffic in front of me is stopped and not moving, thus not allowing me to move, how does me snapping a picture impact the stopped traffic behind me?"

I'll at least give him a pass due to assuming traffic was moving at the time.

Keep trying to rationalize it.