Houston, We Have a Driving Problem

Are we surprised? Houston has officially landed on a new list of America’s most stressful cities to drive in, coming in at No. 10 with a stress score of 90.14. The list, based on a survey of residents in 40 major U.S. cities, ranked Atlanta No. 1, followed by Nashville, Philadelphia and San Antonio. Now, anybody who has spent any amount of time driving around Houston probably doesn’t need a study to explain why. You can leave the house with a perfectly good attitude and somehow arrive at your destination questioning every decision that led you to get behind that steering wheel.

Houston is BIG. Our roads are BIG. Our highways are BIG. And somehow, there is always somebody who thinks their turn signal is a suggestion. And then there’s construction. Then there’s traffic. Then there’s the person who realizes they’re about to miss their exit and suddenly decides they have nine seconds to cross four lanes of traffic. Houston has dealt with traffic problems for years. A previous ranking from HiRoad placed Houston No. 10 among the worst U.S. cities to be stuck in traffic, while a Texas A&M study previously found Houston among the major metro areas where drivers spent significant amounts of time in traffic. 

So maybe this new ranking isn’t completely shocking. But here’s the thing about Houston: we still love this city. We’ll complain about the traffic and then drive 45 minutes across town for brunch. We’ll say, “I’m never getting on the freeway again,” and then do exactly that tomorrow morning. We’ll complain about somebody driving 85 miles per hour and then wonder why everybody else isn’t moving fast enough. It’s part of the Houston experience!

But seriously, the ranking is also a reminder to slow down, pay attention and give yourself extra time. You can’t control what everybody else is doing on the road, but you can control how you respond to it. So Houston, congratulations…I think? We’re officially one of the most stressful cities to drive in. And I’m sure every Houston driver reading this just nodded their head and said: “Yep. Sounds about right.” – Kandi Eastman