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Wrong Way Wreck On South 35 This AM


Wally Pryor

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11 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I'm pretty sure that's his blood on the divider. If he walked away he was probably missing some vital organs.

Ejected from the sedan and died. 

Driver of the truck also died.  Passenger in it has life threatening injuries. 

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Jesus this shit is scary. I sometimes have little drills in my head while driving like, ok what do you do if you see a car coming down the interstate going the wrong way towards you? I would like to think I would be able to avoid a crash, but who knows. 
 

How drunk do you have to be to get on the highway going the wrong direction? 

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1 hour ago, SubliminalHorn said:

Jesus this shit is scary. I sometimes have little drills in my head while driving like, ok what do you do if you see a car coming down the interstate going the wrong way towards you? I would like to think I would be able to avoid a crash, but who knows. 
 

How drunk do you have to be to get on the highway going the wrong direction? 

They do it on purpose. 

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1 hour ago, SubliminalHorn said:

Jesus this shit is scary. I sometimes have little drills in my head while driving like, ok what do you do if you see a car coming down the interstate going the wrong way towards you? I would like to think I would be able to avoid a crash, but who knows. 
 

How drunk do you have to be to get on the highway going the wrong direction? 

Driving south on 35 in the mid 1960s, a car speeding southward in the northbound lanes passed me around 32nd Street. By the time I reacted and started speeding up & honking my little MGA horn, it was out of sight after 19th street. That was about 2am, IIRC.

Didn’t see anything in the paper or the TV afterwards, so apparently that idiot got away with it.

Undoubtedly there are lots of those incidents where luckily nobody is close by or they manage to get out of the way without colliding.

 

Edited by Armybrat
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2 hours ago, SubliminalHorn said:

How drunk do you have to be to get on the highway going the wrong direction? 

I remember one when I was in school on 10 out near Boerne.  Kid in a 350KR going wrong way killed an entire young family, or most of them anyhow.  Law/news got to his facebook before they were able to pull it down and there were all kinds of partying posts etc.  Kind of verified what everyone knew, but it was a pretty bad look. Dont know whatever happened with it, but I'm sure it didn't go well.  He of course walked away from the accident.

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The only thing I have close to this was driving north on an access Road just north of Yarrington in Kyle.  It was a couple of months after they changed it from 2 way to 1 way.  It's broad daylight, I had just exited I35  and this guy is driving south bound towards me.  He was treating it like a two way so I stayed right.  I was flashing my lights and honking my horn.  He gave me a the finger and assorted go to hell looks as he passed.  Damn kid.  I wish I could have seen the look on his face when he figured it out.  But then again, he may never have.

 

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2 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Driving south on 35 in the mid 1960s, a car speeding southward in the northbound lanes passed me around 32nd Street. By the time I reacted and started speeding up & honking my little MGA horn, it was out of sight after 19th street. That was about 2am, IIRC.

Didn’t see anything in the paper or the TV afterwards, so apparently that idiot got away with it.

Undoubtedly there are lots of those incidents where luckily nobody is close by or they manage to get out of the way without colliding.

 

Nah, He got caught.

 

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3 hours ago, SubliminalHorn said:

Jesus this shit is scary. I sometimes have little drills in my head while driving like, ok what do you do if you see a car coming down the interstate going the wrong way towards you? I would like to think I would be able to avoid a crash, but who knows. 

Towing a travel trailer adds some complexity. 

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2 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Driving south on 35 in the mid 1960s, a car speeding southward in the northbound lanes passed me around 32nd Street. By the time I reacted and started speeding up & honking my little MGA horn, it was out of sight after 19th street. That was about 2am, IIRC.

Didn’t see anything in the paper or the TV afterwards, so apparently that idiot got away with it.

Undoubtedly there are lots of those incidents where luckily nobody is close by or they manage to get out of the way without colliding.

 

If you drove north of 32nd St back in your early years, weren't there bands of Comanches ready to attack?

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Related (sort of). In our city there was a bad intersection that TxDot made worse (imagine that). It was configured thusly: A highway exiting northbound (one lane) that came to a stoplight. At the stoplight, there was another highway exit (same highway) for southbound traffic that once exiting now faced west. The regular southbound traffic could either turn right (heading west) or continue south and either a) enter the highway or b)take a southbound frontage road adjacent to the highway. The east bound traffic could turn right (south) or turn left and head north on the regular street. Sound confusing? It was especially for out of towners, older folks, anyone drinking, and new young drivers. In other words anyone who already may be at a higher risk while driving. Oh, and did I add that the yellow striping was worn away to be nonexistent? Or that there was no barricade between the southbound on and northbound off ramp?

We had a new driver in the family and I was riding shotgun during all of his practicing. He kept getting mad because we kept returning to that intersection (when I was giving directions)

HIM: Why do you keep making me return to this intersection? I hate this intersection!

ME: Precisely why it is important to learn how to navigate it. So you're not a danger to yourself and others.

Over the course of the driver's practice portion, I made him drive all over the place, but especially the worst intersections in town. We knew he had the option of choosing a different route, but we also knew that wasn't the only crappy intersection he would ever meet. I also took him out at pitch black a few times and got him lost on some country roads with big ditches and no lighting. Teens that grow up in town have trouble with those, too and I think I scared the shit out of him enough that if he ever got cocky about it (what teenage boy doesn't?) that he would at least remember a few of the tips he learned.  The time I sat silent when he made a left turn into the wrong lane and made him figure out what to do (no one was coming, thank God) he got so mad at me, but again, I know Mom won't always be with him.

 

The addendum about that intersection is that there were enough fatal accidents and specifically enough with people heading the wrong way onto the highway that TxDot came and repainted the stripes and put in a barricade to make it easier to traverse.

Edited by Mrs Whiggins
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8 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Related (sort of). In our city there was a bad intersection that TxDot made worse (imagine that). It was configured thusly: A highway exiting northbound (one lane) that came to a stoplight. At the stoplight, there was another highway exit (same highway) for southbound traffic that once exiting now faced west. The regular southbound traffic could either turn right (heading west) or continue south and either a) enter the highway or b)take a southbound frontage road adjacent to the highway. The east bound traffic could turn right (south) or turn left and head north on the regular street.

giphy.webp

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Funny quotes a gifs aside, when we hit the road, we’re all one mistake, one bad decision, or one split second of bad luck away from it all suddenly and unexpectedly ending. 

When it’s me, I’ll be looking down (or looking up) and expecting nothing but the best from Surly.

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Worked with a TV anchor in Midland in the mid-80’s who missed more than a year of work after getting hit head on by a wrong way driver. Brian’s entire scalp was ripped from his head, like a skin comb over, but after the long convalescence, seemed to be ok. I did see he died a few years ago at a relatively young age, so I wonder if there were some lasting effects.

Anyway, his advice was to always drive in the right lane when you can, especially at night, because if an asshole is coming at you from the other direction, there’s a better chance he’s also in what he presumes is the right lane. I think about this all the time.

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As much as I enjoy the faster traffic pattern that comes with diverging diamonds up here in cedar park, I’m honestly amazed we don’t have more wrong-way accidents...not necessarily on the highway, but the 1431/35 seems like it’d be easy for someone to get confused.  
 

Then again there’s tons of wrong way signs, the reflectors are red, and the signs point the wrong way...you’d think people would get a clue but here we are.  Just awful.  

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20 hours ago, South Austin said:

Funny quotes a gifs aside, when we hit the road, we’re all one mistake, one bad decision, or one split second of bad luck away from it all suddenly and unexpectedly ending

After rehearsal Wednesday night, I chatted with the keys player about random stuff just catching up, because we hadn't been in the same room in a few weeks. There was a tremendous car accident @ 620/Quinlan Park that night and she happened to text me a "heads up, here's how to get around it" because it had 620 shut down big time. I texted her to say thanks later and she pointed out if we hadn't hung around chatting after rehearsal, she might have been IN the accident-- she saw it happen a few cars ahead of her.

That was sort of an "oh yeah, PHEW, thank God" thing at first but the more you really think about how close that was, it's eerie.

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6 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

After rehearsal Wednesday night, I chatted with the keys player about random stuff just catching up, because we hadn't been in the same room in a few weeks. There was a tremendous car accident @ 620/Quinlan Park that night and she happened to text me a "heads up, here's how to get around it" because it had 620 shut down big time. I texted her to say thanks later and she pointed out if we hadn't hung around chatting after rehearsal, she might have been IN the accident-- she saw it happen a few cars ahead of her.

That was sort of an "oh yeah, PHEW, thank God" thing at first but the more you really think about how close that was, it's eerie.

Keys player? Her? Pics aren't showing up.

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I avoid driving late at night, but if I absolutely have to, I try and stay in the right lane. The thought being that even if some drunk ass is driving the wrong way on the highway, they are more likely to be in the fast lane (that being their right side of the road). 

Also, who drives drunk these days? You can get almost anywhere in a city for around $15. So stupid. 

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On 7/24/2020 at 2:51 PM, SubliminalHorn said:

Jesus this shit is scary. I sometimes have little drills in my head while driving like, ok what do you do if you see a car coming down the interstate going the wrong way towards you? I would like to think I would be able to avoid a crash, but who knows. 
 

How drunk do you have to be to get on the highway going the wrong direction? 

I was taught in driving Ed that very inebriated drivers will follow visual cues - car lights.  Makes sense.  Theoretically you might switch off your headlights and pull off to the side of the road.

 

But the drunk might swerve off the road to avoid cars behind you, and run into you instead.  So it's all conjecture.  And far easier said than done.

 

I say this because I had a car opposite direction on a country road swerving left and right at a mild 30mph.  I slowed to a stop to ascertain his trajectory before making a move.  By the time he got close enough, I gunned it away, but he still tagged my rear fender.

 

This was in the middle of the day.

 

At highway speeds, at night, it's probably all in the hands of God.

 

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In college I was taking a coed back to her apartment by Barton Creek Mall. It was about 3am and I should not have been driving either. Guy was coming North bound on the south bound lanes of Mopac at Barton Skyway. I made drunk to decision to just pull in the grass. Right after I did he tagged a car that was probably .25 mile behind me. I did not stop and render aid. Still think about that every so often.

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I was exiting Mopac at Windsor northbound and had to swerve to miss a guy coming up the on ramp in the wrong direction.

I called 911 and heard numerous screeching of tires but no accident 

Always wondered if I should have rammed him to prevent a worse accident later on.

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On 7/24/2020 at 9:19 AM, Judge Roybeanbag said:

I realize one size doesn’t fit all but I pretty much avoid driving after 11pm or so. Doesn’t help that because of old age  my night vision sucks.

I was out driving last year at night. I started griping about how dark it was and why didn't they use better lights. Then it hit me. My once excellent night vision sucks now.

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10 minutes ago, blacklab said:

I was exiting Mopac at Windsor northbound and had to swerve to miss a guy coming up the on ramp in the wrong direction.

I called 911 and heard numerous screeching of tires but no accident 

Always wondered if I should have rammed him to prevent a worse accident later on.

That intersection is a fucking death trap at 2 a.m.

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I lived a few hundred yards from it for 19 years.

Not sure why but the southbound one was the deathtrap. Every couple of months someone rammed the barricade going south. The barricade spent more time wrecked than it did in one piece.

Don't ever remember someone fucking up on the northbound exit, but you have a few curbs and some grass before you hit anything so there may have been a bunch I never noticed.

Just looked at google street view. 7 of the 12 pictures going back in time show the southbound barricade with damage.

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6 hours ago, LebongJames said:

In college I was taking a coed back to her apartment by Barton Creek Mall. It was about 3am and I should not have been driving either. Guy was coming North bound on the south bound lanes of Mopac at Barton Skyway. I made drunk to decision to just pull in the grass. Right after I did he tagged a car that was probably .25 mile behind me. I did not stop and render aid. Still think about that every so often.

 

memory is a bit hazy (especially since my weed guy lived right by there), but to be going the wrong way on that stretch you had to drive a hell of a long way going the wrong way to get there

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3 hours ago, blacklab said:

I lived a few hundred yards from it for 19 years.

Not sure why but the southbound one was the deathtrap. Every couple of months someone rammed the barricade going south. The barricade spent more time wrecked than it did in one piece.

Don't ever remember someone fucking up on the northbound exit, but you have a few curbs and some grass before you hit anything so there may have been a bunch I never noticed.

Just looked at google street view. 7 of the 12 pictures going back in time show the southbound barricade with damage.

Had a friend hit the femce of this house, completely sober in the afternoon.  It had just started raining and he was going way too fast.

34382EF1-3B7A-4EE0-9088-3784E523881B.jpeg

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On 7/24/2020 at 12:07 PM, VolenteHawk said:

I don't even know how to get on 35 going the wrong direction.

 

I blame two way access roads.

 

On 7/26/2020 at 9:04 PM, conVINCEd said:

Had a friend hit the femce of this house, completely sober in the afternoon.  It had just started raining and he was going way too fast.

34382EF1-3B7A-4EE0-9088-3784E523881B.jpeg

 

Aggy civil engineering at its finest. Thanks TXDOT!

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