Texas drivers share road rage ‘war stories’ driving on I-35

Patience is a virtue while driving on I-35. Whether you’re in traffic or being cut-off by speedy drivers, road rage is something almost every Texas driver knows all too well. 

Central Texans are sharing their takes on road rage in the Lone Star State, where people are saying it’s important to take defensive driving and safety more seriously on the road. 

Reddit user, TypicalAd7612, recently posted in the Austin subReddit sharing his experience seeing multiple road rage incidents on I-35 while on his commute to work in which he headlines, “road rage is out of control.” The post got over 350 comments from Austinites agreeing with his frustration and adding the not so nice encounters they’ve dealt with while driving in Central Texas. 

Redditer, garthvader8, talked about people who run red lights saying, “The blatant running of red lights is infuriating. Such a dangerous thing to do for what? To MAYBE get somewhere SLIGHTLY faster? I’ve almost been broadsided several times to the point where I wait a few seconds after the light has turned green and after I’ve thoroughly checked both sides of perpendicular traffic.”

Austin transplant, chromaticluxury added, “I moved here 15 years ago from NYC and told people it’s crazier and scarier to drive here than it is there. There seemed to be general disbelief. I think it would be believed now and it’s only gotten worse.” Others like andythepirate expressed frustration with authorities saying, “the laws are there; the enforcement is not.”

Road rage can also be a scary situation in a state like Texas where you never know how people could react. Some Redditers are cautious of retaliation if they do respond to the hate with one user, The_Metal_East, writing, “I rarely honk at anyone in Texas these days since there have been so many road rage shootings as of late.” A Redditer, Real_Elephant_1406, who drives for a living added, “I hate the drivers here too. I wanna move so bad. I’ve been doing Uber fulltime here for years. I’ve had enough”

User leakleaf wrote, “A woman yesterday actually followed me for 4 miles on 35 doing this, pulling up next to me, hanging out the car telling me to ‘pull over let’s go’ What did I do? Merged in an open space, in almost stand still traffic, probably 50 feet from her car.”

Despite the annoyance that this may cause Texas drivers, it’s also a learning lesson for some to be aware and drive safely no matter what. Redditer autobahn put it like this, “Road rage is out of control but drivers are also worse than ever. I see so so so so so many people just driving like absolute idiots and fools. So yeah, people need to chill, and also people need to take responsibility for their driving.”

In August, Forbes Advisor ranked Texas No. 8 in the top 10 states with the most confrontational drivers. Studies have found that road rage is responsible for 30 deaths per year, and aggressive driving is a factor in over 50% of all fatal motor vehicle crashes, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. 

Forbes’ No. 2 state, Rhode Island, tied with drivers from Texas for being most likely to experience honks of frustration (79%). And despite their reputation for southern hospitality, five of Forbes’ top 10 states with the most confrontational drivers were in the South, including West Virginia, Virginia, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Texas.