The Lakeway Bee

This month's column from Travis County Commissioner Karen Huber: Western Travis County Grand Prix?

Racing through the hills?  I hope not!  It isn’t news that Western Travis County is crisscrossed with two-lane, winding and hilly roads with little or no shoulders.  The remains of Old Bee Caves Road still crop up when heading west out of Austin.  Visiting Lake Travis?  When I was in college, it could take an entire day to come and go and especially be a white-knuckle trip, driving after dark.  Many of the roads we had then, we have now!  They just have several more layers of asphalt.

Decades ago, when the dams were put in place on the Colorado River and the Highland Lakes (including Lakes Austin and Travis) were created, roads were chiseled out of the rocky hillsides along the easiest and most affordable routes.  Until the 1970s, there were no county regulations stipulating safety design as a feature.  By the time the design regulations were put in place, most of today’s roads already existed and Travis County accepted many of them for maintenance.

In Precinct 3, there are over 654 miles of county-maintained roads and nearly 126 miles of roads not maintained by the County, TxDOT, or a municipality.  The County continuously works to upgrade, maintain and have appropriate signage for road safety.   This remains challenging due to the sheer number of roads and the high costs associated with improvements.

Narrow and winding roads with limited sight distances are safe IF drivers observe the laws, but here is the scary thing:  With more families moving to this hilly precinct, many younger, inexperienced drivers are flying around on these unforgiving roads.  There is little margin for error when, for example, the speed is 45 mph and one tries to attempt a sharp curve at even 50 mph.  There can be a false sense of security when there is a straight stretch of newly resurfaced road and a young adult decides to push it a bit.  Unfamiliarity with these roads can bring big surprises when that straight stretch suddenly makes a very sharp turn. 

I am aware of three, single car accidents in recent months where young drivers were speeding, missed the curves and severely damaged their vehicles.  Fortunately, there were no serious injuries in two of them, but the driver of the third died.  These are only the ones I know about – so I have to wonder how often this is happening.  Also, in the two accidents with no serious injuries, a parent showed up before the sheriff’s officers arrived and took responsibility for driving the car even though nearby residents knew that a younger driver had the accident.  We’ve been talking about this in our office and are concerned about what is changing in our culture that parents will make these choices for their children.  I have to wonder if those young adults who were really driving will be influenced to drive more safely in the future.  There are valuable lessons for young drivers in assuming responsibility for their actions.

One 9.3 mile stretch of road that my office has been monitoring has had a total of 71 accidents (2004-2009) with the following reported as causes:  Speeding = 30; wildlife = 8 (remember that deer can hide in foliage close to the pavement increasing the likelihood of hitting them); alcohol or drugs = 5; other driver error = 28.  In not a single incident was the road, itself, cited as the cause of the accident.  Abiding by the law and staying alert would have prevented most if not all of these accidents.

Please talk to the young drivers you know about the nature and challenges of our rural roads.  Encourage them to practice safe driving habits – for their own safety, as well as that of others.  The Travis County Sheriff is part of a program called “Alive at 25.”  Check out the associated website at

www.texasaliveteam.org

or call 854-LIVE (5483) for more information.  Please drive safely on our narrow, hilly, winding roads and encourage others to do so, too.

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