Dallas Traffic

I am in Dallas this week. I was in Dallas last week sort of, I was in Allen which is just north of Dallas. Dallas is very different from Austin. Sure it's much bigger, but the attitude of the people who live here is so very different too. Especially in traffic. People in Dallas are nice enough when you meet them face to face, but on the roadways, oh my! The nicest people suddenly become crazed maniacs when driving in Dallas. Even little old ladies are cut throat on the highways here. It's a dog eat dog world on the roads of Dallas.

Drivers in Dallas do NOT yield to other cars. Not to traffic coming off the highway, not to traffic merging on to the highway and DEFINATELY not to traffic trying to change lanes.

Drivers in Dallas do not use blinkers. Using a blinker is totally optional and if you are changing lanes on the highway, it's not a good idea. They will speed up to cut you off from changing lanes in front of them.

Drivers in Dallas do not use traffic lights. In Dallas, Green means go, yellow means go, and Red means go, with a suggestion, "You might want to stop now at this intersection."

Drivers in Dallas do not follow the car in front of them at a safe distance. Come rush hour, traffic on the highways is LITERALLY bumper to bumper. They stay right on your bumper and if you don't stay on the bumper of the car in front of you, well you get cut off by 6 or 7 cars changing lanes in front of you.

Drivers in Dallas change lanes in order to speed up. They jockey for better positioning on the highway by changing lanes frequently. If your lane starts to slow down, you just zip into the next lane until it slows down. Then you move on over again to a faster moving lane. And be sure NOT to use your blinker.

Once you get the hang of it, it's probably not that bad. My suggestion, if you really want to drive around Dallas, get out there around 3 am when there's very little traffic. You MIGHT be safer. Of course that's if you don't miss your turn and have to make a u turn in the wrong part of town. Good luck and Be Careful Out There!!