Observation over our 1500 mile trip

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wander2039

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There was alot of cars on the side of the road! I'd say about 90% were flat or destroyed tires. The other 10% nothing to appeared to be wrong- out of gas, mechanical? This was on a variety of roads.

-169 thru Kansas
-old 66 from Tulsa to OK (very few on this one)
-I35 from OKC to Ft. Worth and back
-Highway 82 from I35 to Sherman
-69/75 North (horrible road)
-540/71 North

Seems like there was a car/truck every 10 miles. Sign of the economy? Most of the cars/trucks were newer and at least in half way decent shape. I remember on our past trips seeing a few but nowhere near this many.

On a side note I'm amused that of the 5 states we were in TX drivers actually drove the speed limit the most. And in Arkansas it's acceptable to stay in the left lane regardless how fast your going. And Oklahoman's don't like being passed by someone from MO. Oh I love road trips!
lol.gif
 
I made a road trip on one of the first warm spring days. Westbound on the Mass Pike in the Berkshires I noticed ELEVEN broken-down Taurus/Sables, most with steam coming from under the hood. Was the mid-late 1990s and the cars were mostly first generation. This was back when the 3.8s were blowing gaskets at a ridiculous rate.

Do they inspect cars in Kansas? Did you notice mostly (highly priced) 18-20 inch tires that went out?
 
No inspection in KS not sure about any of others except MO. Normal tires don't recall any low profile's. Can't remember any particular model or even make seemed to fairly even amongst all of them.
 
169 actually seemed like a good road? Compared to I35 (yawns) and 69. We went in the morning so all the trucks were going the other way. I wouldn't mind taking it again. It's interesting to see the Amazon warehouse down near the OK border.
 
Lots of folks running their tires longer and buying cheaper tires that wear out faster can account for the flats.

Around here when a vehicle is pulled off to the side it's usually somebody on their cellphone.
 
Around here if I see a car pulled over with it's hood popped its usually either

A. Chrysler Minivan, usually with steam coming from under the hood.

B. Strangely, Honda CR-V.




Or someone pulled over on their cell phone. In NY, if you get pulled over for talking on your cell, it's 2 points on your license.
 
I drove to Florida twice last year and am always amazed at the number of cars stuck or with flat tires on the side of perfect highways in perfect weather, especially in the south.

I'd love to see those tires and the maintenance (neglect) these vehicles get.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick R

Or someone pulled over on their cell phone. In NY, if you get pulled over for talking on your cell, it's 2 points on your license.


I think TX has that law also. I didn't see any on the phone down there. The driving reflected it.
 
Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
Originally Posted By: Nick R

Or someone pulled over on their cell phone. In NY, if you get pulled over for talking on your cell, it's 2 points on your license.


I think TX has that law also. I didn't see any on the phone down there. The driving reflected it.


We can talk on our phones but many cities prohibit texting
 
Oklahoma has no state inspection either. I'd bet with sciphi on this one. Tires have jumped up almost 17% last year and of course you know where fuel is and where it's going. Local news did a story on this and found that most were people that ran out of gas. They claimed that the owners where trying to push it because they thought that fuel might come down shortly. Yeah, right!!!!
 
Sounds like a fun trip. Last year we took 169 down to Tulsa. There appeared be lots of tiny, old, run-down houses (shacks) in Southern KS / Northern OK. It was sad. I couldn't help but wonder why we keep sending our money to other countries.

At the time, my kids collected key chains. It was our first time in OK. We drove all over Tulsa looking for an OK key chain, and couldn't find one. We stopped at ~10 convenience stores/gas stations/auto parts stores, etc. No OK key chains! We did find Sooners key chains at one QT, but my daughters aren't "Sooners" fans.
 
Originally Posted By: kkreit01
Sounds like a fun trip. Last year we took 169 down to Tulsa. There appeared be lots of tiny, old, run-down houses (shacks) in Southern KS / Northern OK. It was sad. I couldn't help but wonder why we keep sending our money to other countries.

At the time, my kids collected key chains. It was our first time in OK. We drove all over Tulsa looking for an OK key chain, and couldn't find one. We stopped at ~10 convenience stores/gas stations/auto parts stores, etc. No OK key chains! We did find Sooners key chains at one QT, but my daughters aren't "Sooners" fans.


I agree. Not just all the empty houses and smaller businesses but the huge warehouses! Hard to think about all the jobs that were lost when they closed. Alot of good real estate going to waste. But back to the houses we sure wouldn't mind having a couple I seen abandoned but it would be a 2 hour drive to KC to work.. no jobs down there.
 
Some things are just easier change in the comfort of your own garage, hoses,belts,slow leaks, & even burnt out bulbs. I'll bet plenty(ladies & guys) hardly know how to change a tire.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
It is very uncommon for me to see cars on the side of the highway.


Well you are in Cali.. probably stolen/stripped as soon as the owner leaves...
 
And in Arkansas it's acceptable to stay in the left lane regardless how fast your going. And Oklahoman's don't like being passed by someone from MO. Oh I love road trips!


When I lived there, you could actually get a ticket for not moving over for speeders. They wanted the "slow" drivers out of the way, even if they were going the speed limit.
 
Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
Originally Posted By: The Critic
It is very uncommon for me to see cars on the side of the highway.


Well you are in Cali.. probably stolen/stripped as soon as the owner leaves...


I am not sure where you gained that impression? Most of the populated parts of CA are actually very, very nice. The crime-filled image of CA that you have is only applicable to a few areas.
 
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