Semi-annual driving reminder

October 3, 2003 - 2:44 am 19 Comments

Dear Austin,

I realize that sometimes traffic laws and regulations are considered optional. They are, in fact, important. Particularly the following:

§ 545.154. Vehicle Entering or Leaving Limited-Access or Controlled-Access Highway

An operator on an access or feeder road of a limited-access or controlled-access highway shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle entering or about to enter the access or feeder road from the highway or leaving or about to leave the access or feeder road to enter the highway.

Do you know what this means? This means that if you are on the access road, you must yield to traffic exiting the highway!

I realize that San Antonio has marked each and every highway exit with “Yield” signs on the access road, but that is because they caved in to the ignorant masses of people who don’t seem to care about the silly old law. San Antonio has spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on those signs. Austin cannot afford this. Austin doesn’t even have a proper east-west highway. Our exit ramps are built precariously close to where we need to turn. Try exiting Bee Cave Rd. off Mopac, or MLK off I35 during rush hour if you don’t understand what I mean.

I hereby issue my ultimatum. If you do not get your damned car the hell out of my way when I’m exiting the highway, I will run you down. And I drive a Suburban.

That is all.

19 Responses to “Semi-annual driving reminder”

  1. hub Says:

    Yeeee-haw! I’m glad you finally feel the same way I do. Welcome to the dark side. Now let’s go squish some of those bastards!

    (ordering a front brush guard and heavy duty rear bumper)

  2. omit Says:

    Let’s be reasonable here. If you’re trying to change 4 lanes from the highway to take a right 100 yards from where the highway exits, you should accept the fact that you might have to go to the next light and backtrack (or get off at the exit before you need to take a right). Regardless of what the law is, I think you need to drive defensively and wisely.

  3. Addlepated Says:

    Oh, yes, of course. How silly of me to expect people to do what they are legally required to do. Anyway, they are probably on the telephone and too busy to yield. Or just too frigging ignorant, or too high on their moral high horse to actually worry about stupid things like laws.

  4. brother Says:

    GO HUB!! No more girlyman car for you!

  5. brother Says:

    GO HUB!! No more girlyman car for you!

  6. brother Says:

    GO HUB!! No more girlyman car for you!

  7. brother Says:

    GO HUB!! No more girlyman car for you!

  8. brother Says:

    whoops! x4

  9. Addlepated Says:

    Anything worth saying once is worth saying 4 times?

  10. MD Says:

    This rule is stupid; what do you do when people drive through town who are just in from another state? It flies in the face of what people are told in every other traffic interaction, which is that “if you are supposed to yield; there’ll be a Yield sign”.

    Places outside of Texas do in fact exist.

    PS: Your Suburban doesn’t make up for your small penis.

  11. Addlepated Says:

    I’ll tell you what to do, you take some frigging responsibility for yourself and learn the laws of the area you’re in. I’m so very happy that places outside of Texas exist, sweetheart. They are not here. When I am there, I will do what _their_ laws require.

    I’d be willing to bet that my penis is larger than yours. And the funny thing is, I’m female.

  12. MD Says:

    Even better, then.

    What if Oklahoma has a rule that we should drive on the left side of the road whenever approaching a 4-way stop; but they don’t put up any signs telling us. Would it be our responsibility to read up on their fucked up law before we went there; or would it be their responsibility to clearly call out their deviation from standard practice?

    That’s how stupid this frontage road rule is, to people outside the state. And if you’re going to deviate that much from standard practice; you’d better at least put up a damn sign about it.

  13. Addlepated Says:

    Ok, you go ahead and use the “But it’s ok where I come from” mindset wherever you travel.

    Arizona allows you to carry a handgun openly. Try that in California. New Hampshire doesn’t have a seat belt law. The other 49 states do. Texas requires insurance of 20/40/15. Arkansas is 25/50/25, but Oklahoma and Louisiana are 10/20/10. New Mexico is 25/50/10. States seem split about half and half between a BAC limit of .08 vs .1% Do you see signs up for all these laws?

    Do you want to live in the United States, or the United State?

    And thank you for not resorting to personal attacks in the last comment. Insulting another in the course of an argument generally degrades your statements to the point of being laughable.

  14. MD Says:

    None of those laws directly affect the interoperation of traffic the way that Texas’ charmingly obtuse relic does. Are you seriously telling me that you expect somebody travelling through the state on I-10 to have read up on the entire traffic code before doing so?

    Did _you_ do the same thing the last time you drove in another state?

    Put aside your rant for a moment and think objectively. There’s a reason states use the national highway design standards; and there’s a damn good reason San Antonio put up those yield signs.

  15. MD Says:

    Furthermore, in response to this statement in the original comment:

    “If you do not get your damned car the hell out of my way when I’m exiting the highway, I will run you down. And I drive a Suburban.”

    I dare you. Go ahead. Go right ahead. I’ll even buy tickets for the seats at your arraignment.

  16. Addlepated Says:

    Yes, actually, if I’m going to drive in another state I read over the traffic laws. It’s a matter of taking responsibility for one’s self, a concept that (quite obviously, judging from the comments here) seems to be sorely lacking in today’s society.

  17. MD Says:

    You’re either a liar or the most anal-retentive person I’ve ever met; since the concept that you would read each state’s vehicle code from front to back before going on a road trip is otherwise too ludicrous to contemplate.

    And I still dare you to run somebody over in this situation with your Suburban. Let’s see how the police regard your efforts to enforce this law for them.

  18. Incitatus Says:

    MD, I a new yorker who reccently moved down here to the austin area can for one call you the single most irresponsibly arrogant driver I’ve ever seen defeding oneself. During my move I did take the only responsible action that a driver would, and I read and printed copies of pertinant traffic law changes for each state i drove through. It’s not called being anal, it’s called being responsible. And if your going to be lazy and irresponsible, that’s no reason for you to call fault on the state. What makes you even more irresponsible is that you would have an extended stay in a state without even considering to check the law.

    And newsflash, just because you don’t agree with it, does not make it any less illegal. more so, it makes it more dangerous for others to have to deal with negligent and wreckless drivers such as yourself.
    And guess what, it is wreckless driving, because your failure to obey the simplest of traffic laws can in turn cause a very serious accident.

    You sir, are not fit to drive. My only hope is that you loose your license before you get someone killed.

  19. miss_caro Says:

    Mr. MD said: “What if Oklahoma has a rule that we should drive on the left side of the road whenever approaching a 4-way stop; but they don’t put up any signs telling us. Would it be our responsibility to read up on their fucked up law before we went there; or would it be their responsibility to clearly call out their deviation from standard practice? ”

    Well how about we take into consideration that not only are there other states than Texas, but there are other countries than the USA – so when someone comes from somewhere else and drives in the USA, you all expect them to have read up on the law, to know that they should drive on the OTHER side of the road to everywhere else in the world.

    So yes, we all expect you to read up on other state’s driving laws before you go driving there. Much like you would another country.

    You wouldn’t fly into another country without reading what is legal and what is illegal to have in your suitcase, would you? See, you take the time to find out what is right, and what is wrong, and you don’t go to jail. Same thing in a different state, a cop’s not going to let you off just cos you’re not ‘from around here’.

    Besides, if you have to yield at a friggin intersection, then you have to yield. People should not rely on road signs to tell them how to drive- and if they did, they don’t deserve a license at all. Driving is a right, not a priviledge, and if people only had to rely on road signs to tell them what to do, there would be no such things as driving tests.