Texas Speed Limit Increase...Dieing to Get There!

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"Uh...Jaimee, why is everyone passing us like we are sitting still?" questioned my 15-year-old from the passenger side of my car. "I mean, I know you drive slow (stink eye given), I mean the speed limit, but this is ridiculous!"


I looked around and was flabbergasted...Holy! Moly! I was stunned to see the speed limit on Interstate 30 between Greenville and Texarkana had increased to 75 m.p.h. The shock continued that the night time speed limit sign of 65 m.p.h. was gone as well. I was scared stiff watching Tractor Trailers speeding by me at sometimes more than 75 m.p.h.


Hubby Dearest's response to my concern was laughter. It really had been a long time since I adventured out on my own. Since my sister's death in March 2011, the panic attacks and uneasiness behind the wheel have kept me to only making treks to and from work with an occasional visit with near-by friends. This would be the first time for me to be "on-my-own" in more than a year. I was forcing myself to start living again, which is ironic because it seemed the likelihood of being killed in a car accident had just increased. It made me want to dart back into my hole and hide some more.


According to a story from August 2011, which I found on the Huntsville Item, "In Texas, speed limits are set by a method known as the 85th percentile, which considers the speed the majority of drivers are traveling."


So for all of you, like me, whose mothers used to say, "If all of your friends jumped off a cliff, would you join them?" I guess the answer is "YES" if you live in Texas because, apparently, out of 100 drivers, 85 or more of them always drive more than 70 m.p.h. on Texas highways.


TxDOT Traffic Operations Division Director Carol Rawson said, on NewsTalk 1290 back in January, "Posting new speed limits on 1,500 miles of interstate highway is a major milestone in implementing the new law. Texas’ economic strength depends on the efficient and safe movement of people and goods. These new speed limits increase highway efficiency while maintaining the safety of the transportation system.” Ummm...economic strength...safety??? You can't get money out of dead people, Texas!
With a little more research today (Thank You, Star-Telegram), I also found out "... Texas is famous (safety advocates might say infamous) for its 80-mph limit on 521 miles of I-10 and I-20 in far West Texas." Are you kidding!!!!!! No way, thank you very much!

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/01/26/3691627/many-texas-highways-will-soon.html#storylink=cpy

The conspiracy theorist that I keep hidden in my bonnet most of the time says this is the petroleum industry's way of selling more gas. I was averaging 30.3 m.p.g. in my Altima at the time I spotted the speed limit change. I tried out the new speed limit for about an hour of white knuckle anxiety and the mileage dropped to 28.6 m.p.g. Ha! I slowed back down to 70 and used financial excuses to put off my daughter's huffing complaints.


All joking aside, Texas is leading the country in distracted driving deaths and injuries. And, yes, Darling Daughter counted and pointed out which speeding bullets were zooming past us where the driver was distracted by a cellular device (not counting wrangling kiddos, dashboard dining or playing with your controls). Out of 100 cars...65. Twenty more percent and maybe we will pass a law okaying distracted driving! I think I will investigate telecommuting soon!

Avoid Tired and Emotional Driving

As Hubby Dearest and I prepare to teach our Darling Daughter how to drive in the next year, we are sharing the horror stories of our own learning experiences. This has brought to mind another biggie in distracted driving...emotional and tired driving. I personally LOVE the "Menace Like Me" commercial where the scruffy man says he's a teenage girl who just got a text message about a friend and the boy she likes, "And now I am emotionally compromised. Whoopsies!" BANG! Hits a car.



Within the first year of my learning to drive, I wrecked my mother's truck, my father's truck and my sister's car. Two of those were the same accident. In both situations, I was under pressure and could have been considered an emotional driver and distraction to myself. I am lucky no one was hurt. Some drivers and passengers and by-standers are not as lucky.

When our minds are focused on something other than driving, we are more prone to accidents. Make sure you are calm and attentive before getting behind the wheel each and every time.

You Are Going Blind!!!!

LOOK OUT!!!!

An Australian study from 2005 showed researchers that drivers using hands-free devices while driving are still four times more likely to be in an accident, the same chance as someone holding their cellular phone while talking and driving. "Motorists are more accident-prone and slower to react when they talk on cellular telephones - even hands-free models - because 'inattention blindness' makes the drivers less able to process visual information," University of Utah researchers found in 2003.

I figured out this weekend the reason why everyone is subject to inattention blindness. It doesn't have to be the electronics in your car. For me, it was the chatty teen sitting right next to me. It dawned on me as we were happily going to see our friends on Saturday that I hadn't really seen where we were going even though my "eyes" were on the road. My mind was preoccupied with girl child telling a story, and we straight up passed a store at which we wanted to purchase a Giant Metal Chicken for our Sosie's birthday. I was astonished that we had to back track more than two miles to make our purchase. That is more than two miles of heavy traffic that could have taken us out. I am just amazed that we weren't.

Inattention Blindness happens to EVERYONE so don't get all judgy on me (I feel bad enough as it is). Always the brainiac, I researched this to learn more about it. My favorite research comes out of Harvard, The Invisible Gorilla Test. The study asked people to watch a video where two teams wearing black and white t-shirts pass a basketball around. They were told to count the number of passes made by one of the teams. In the video someone walks through the players wearing a full gorilla suit. After watching the video, the subjects were asked if they saw anything out of the ordinary... 50% of the subjects did not report seeing the gorilla. This research showed that what is in our sight area is not seen if our mind is focused on another task.

That scares the crap out of me! I think about how many times I became bored on the long trip from DFW to East Texas to see my family and zoned out. Unless there is a needed potty break in Sulfur Springs or Mount Pleasant, you could drive on Interstate 30 and never see the crepe myrtle grower outside of Greenville or the Rainbow Ranch. There's an exit 1993 that I have always looked for because that was the year I graduated from high school. Those are just a few of the scenes on the side of the road...what about those tractor trailers that are on the road with me? What about that road rager? The gal putting on her make-up or yelling at her kids? The idiot with the dog in his lap? Distractions, distractions, distractions...they are EVERYWHERE!

Texans Lead the Way in Every Way...Or So I thought

Gayla in 2010
(1972-2011)

Maybe because it's part of being born and raised Texan, but it has always been my understanding that Texans lead the way. We are initiators, founders, leaders by our very birth. With men like Jim Bowie, Davie Crockett, Dwight Eisenhower and LBJ and women like Melinda Gates, Laura Bush and Lady Bird Johnson, Texans should be the most generous and forward-thinking people on the planet. We should see a challenge and tackle it to the ground, hog tie it, have a "Come-to-Jesus" with it and call it done. So why is it that so many of my fellow Texans laugh at me when I talk to them about making their driving space a distraction-free zone? Have we become a society of shallow, what-about-me-ers who cannot make it from point A to the corner of point B without the distraction of a phone call or text? Are we all really so important to the world turning that it cannot wait until we are parked safely out of harms way?

I have lost so much because of distracted drivers so I know the cost. As angry as I feel some days, I only have to remember that somewhere in Oklahoma, there is a 50-something year old man who has to live with the fact that he took the life of a 38-year-old woman last year. He lives with the image of my beautiful sister's lifeless form haunting his nightmares for the rest of his life. He will always know that because he couldn't wait to answer that call or return that text, our Gayla will never be see or do all the amazing that this world has to offer.

The next time you give your attention to something other than operating your vehicle safely, ask yourself if it is worth it to live in a nightmare for the rest of your life.

Welcome Texans Against Distracted Driving!

Earlier this month Gov. Perry vetoed legislation that would have made it illegal to use a cellular device while driving a vehicle saying it would basically be telling adults how to behave. I thought that is what laws did in part...set the standards by which we should live. I can disagree with our Governor all day and into next year, but his point finally gave me what I was looking for...a plan for bringing awareness to the great citizens of Texas. He is correct in that we need to educate, educate, educate! Therefore, I am dedicating my energy and time to doing just that. I am beginning with this blog where I will post information about distracted driving. Also, like us on FaceBook to keep abreast of the information I find. Be blessed, be safe, and be distraction free while operating your automobile! (I'll come up with a catchier catch phrase in the near future).