This last week in Houston has seen some horrific traffic crashes resulting in death, and tragically, alcohol and speed have generally been involved. Last week, in separate incidents, 2 drunk drivers managed to kill 5 people by driving the wrong way on the 45 North freeway. It seems that this aspect of today’s world has no passport as such tragedies can be observed world over.
I had my first night time freeway experience here on Saturday night. I drove home after a day visiting friends in The Woodlands, about 45 minutes north of Houston. This freeway has 6 lanes of traffic going in one direction; and everyone appears to need to get to wherever it is they are going faster. So you have 6 lanes of drivers travelling at 70 mph plus, all zigzagging in and out of lanes in order to get ahead. Sadly, here its not against the law to text or talk on a phone while driving, so you can also observe cars veering across lines while the driver is inevitably preoccupied with his or her phone. Add to that inexperienced drivers speeding, and potentially drunk drivers, and I can assure you, that driving on a Houston freeway late at night is more than a hair raising experience. It definitely is a white-knuckle drive!
