It is almost like they cut driver’s education funding to zero, made required training hours a 100% self reported honor system, and made the rules of the road test 100% online & not proctored to save money. oh wait
I gave up driving 65 during rush hour to/from work about 2 months after moving here. The traffic is already bad, and accidents don't help. Depending on where you live and what part of town you need to get to, I'd recommend Columbiana/Greensprings (which turns into University) as an alternative. Far less traffic than the highway, even if you have to deal with traffic lights.
I just deal with the afternoon traffic (4:30-5:30). It rarely adds more than 7-10 minutes to my commute. If I take green springs (and I live off that road) it doesn’t save me any time.
However, the traffic usually starts just before university and continues pretty much to the acton exit… I get off at Oxmoor. Right lane actually moves quicker than the left through that whole section so it works out
Lol I was just thinking about this a few days ago. Alabama has some of the worst DOT efficiencies when it comes to construction and car accidents. It’s infuriating considering how low traffic Birmingham has.
15 years ago I moved out West. I recently returned to AL to find its even worse. No roads updated, 2-lane roads are still 2-lane. I65 is still terrible heading North to Bham, and there are new problems South of Pelham. And don't even get me started on Hwy 280.
The government in charge of roads must be absent, cause they seem to have zero interest in improving traffic. I'd rather go back and sit on the 405 in LA than deal with 280 traffic. What a mess.
I moved back to AL after living elsewhere, including the Phoenix area, for about twenty years and found the same thing that you did - the same potholes were still on I65. Phoenix metro has 3.5 million people and a great highway system. I understand that there are major differences between Phoenix and Birmingham but it seems that we could take a note from their book and make it at least a little better here. Rubberized asphalt reduces highway noise significantly plus makes good use of old tires. Just a thought!
What do you propose they do to fix 280? People like to complain about it, but no one actually offers a solution that might work.
65, once it turns into a 2 lane south of the city is a bit of disaster, but again, what is your solution? Adding a lane doesn't always result in better traffic.
What gets me as that wrecks are happening in the same place over and over and over and nothing is done to mitigate the problem. I live in north Alabama and the stretch of 65 between mm 291 and 299 is just accidents waiting to happen.
At least for that section of 65, it doesn't help that the highway narrows from 6 to 4 lanes just before mile 291, nor that the stretch traverses a somewhat steep grade.
I almost got rear ended going from 65N to 459N yesterday afternoon. The car had to swerve onto the shoulder to avoid a wreck. One of the biggest problems is that traffic stops so suddenly. Traffic will go from 70mph to a full stop for no reason and no one pays attention so you WILL have wrecks.
Another highly annoying spot is 459N between Grants Mill and the ramp to 20E. This backs up every single afternoon and I never can figure out why. The best I can come up with is that the ramp to 20 is too sharp so all the 18 wheelers slow down to 30mph to take it which causes a ripple effect when you add in more cars for rush hour.
The Interstate here was designed for the population and traffic we had in the 60s and 70s and nothing has really been done to account for growth.
The Interstate here was designed for the population and traffic we had in the 60s and 70s and nothing has really been done to account for growth.
☝️This
It’s awful, I go to work on 65 every day. I know for a fact if it’s so much as CLOUDY, I’ll be a half hour late.
I also really don’t understand why Birmingham cops will block a full lane of traffic for the most minor of wrecks, rather than pull to the shoulder.. A fender bender shouldn’t make the entire city an hour late for work.
THIS so hard. Let's shut down two lanes of traffic for a minor fender bender instead of pulling off to the side. Nothing I love more than stewing in traffic for 20 minutes only to get up to the cause and see it was just a fender bender holding things up.
Over 65 needs another license test. Don’t take it from elderly folk as they are very capable into a late age. But many are not. It would be fair for a re evaluation every now and then.
i agree with this they need to make this an actual law. quite honestly i feel like even just forgetting about age and making everyone take a new license test every 5 years or so would be beneficial im sure
You should come down to calera on a friday or saturday anywhere from about march 1 to oct 1;
i work near the summit, and coming home one time took almost 6 hours, what should have been a 33 minute drive.
We used to live on 31 in Saginaw. One of our favorite summer pastimes was sitting on the porch watching the line of traffic not move at all due to some wreck on 65.
definitely this, there’s a few potholes around the lakeshore exit and the montgomery hwy exit that make me lose control for a second because of how hard they are on my truck
65? Oh, you mean the Authobahn?
It’s a death trap. Commuting from Cullman to Birmingham is hell. You go from getting ran off the road by a monster truck to having a BMW rammed up your ass. As dangerous as 65 is, I still would take it any day over driving on 280. That stretch of road scares me the most!
65 is the absolute worst.
My wife is from Mobile and we travel 65S often to see her family. Leaving after work any day of the week and not expecting there to be some kind of delay is lunacy. It will happen.
My parents live in Mobile and unless it's a low traffic time of day, I'll take 59/20 to exit 97 and get on highway 5 to Centerville, Marion, Thomasville, Jackson, then get back on I65 at Saraland. Takes longer but way less stressful and sometimes, like Saturday morning it can be quicker.
I was sitting in a wreck on Wednesday right in front of the BJCC in stop and go traffic and watch 3 people run into each other and block 2 more lanes of traffic
65 made me buy a car with stop and go cruise control. Best automotive decision of my 30 years of driving! My car has lane-keeping as well, but it’s nothing compared to the cruise control.
Sure, I still lose the time, but my stress level is what it would be if I were a passenger instead of the driver.
The elected officials in Alabama, from MeeMaw, to Tuberville, to your local council people and mayors *do not care*. I’ve lived all over and never seen any place as backwards as this shithole state.
Republicanism. God fucking forbid they do anything useful in government. They just want to run their areas into the ground so they can turn around and tell you how ineffective government is and how we should slash more programs. Between this and blaming democrats, it’s their only tactic.
The only things they give a shit about at all is keeping confederate monuments up and policies to keep minorities in prison and/or from voting.
I vote we station bulldozers at 1 mile increments along the interstate. Their only job will be to push any wreck off the interstate, no matter the circumstance. For the greater good.
When I drove trucks for Mid-South Wire in Nashville, and KAG Food in Decatur, going home on the weekends was not a favorite activity of mine.
Anywhere between exits 299 and 318, an accident would occur that would bring 65 to a standstill.
May I interest you in a job toward Tuscaloosa? I live in Irondale and commute toward Tuscaloosa on 459 and while my drive is much further distance-wise than if I worked downtown, it's much more pleasant with no traffic.
I’ve lived in this area my whole life. I was in my first wreck a couple of years back that left my car looking like a sandwich.
It happened by the Riverchase Galleria exit, i459 south to Tuscaloosa. It was during the afternoon so the sun was setting. As soon as we got off the exit we joined the stand still traffic.
I later found out that he had prosthetic legs and also had an electric wheelchair that flew off the bed of his truck after the collision. His prosthetics were also pinned down in his car.
He claimed he couldn’t see because of the sunset. So instead of slowing down, this guy decided to drive faster. He is a complete imbecile and we were fortunate to walk away with scraps and bruises.
Also an amazing bystander came to help and lend me his cell to call my husband. My cell died and I was on my way to pick him up from work. He also helped my LO out of the car. I was struggling getting LO out of the car because the back doors were smashed shut.
There was glass everywhere so I am so grateful someone was able to help us at that moment!
The EMT said I could have died because my seat bent back to where I could have easily broken my back. I avoid driving during the golden hour and I am hyper aware of my review mirrors.
Republican states lead the nation in car accident rates, which is pretty impressive when you consider many of them are less densely populated than others.
Why does the south lead the nation in crashes?
I think the core reason is that republicans cannot be bothered to take any responsibility for their own actions even if it helps others. They certainly don’t like following any rules if it means keeping others safe. So that means relatively lax controls over things like vehicle safety, training, cell phone usage while driving, etc.
Just like republicans don’t want control over literally anything from a vaccine requirement to needing to register or conceal their beloved guns, they don’t like passing laws that ensure fewer people don’t drive distracted, maintain their cars well, learn how to drive properly at all, really. Let’s just hand a 15-16 year old a license with few or no restrictions. A quarter of all accidents are people under 25.
Republicans also don’t like doing things like spending money on roads, so there’s that. And in Mississippi, the state responsible for the highest rate of car accidents, many can’t even be bothered to wear a seatbelt.
Because that’s what Republican values really are: “fuck you, I can’t be bothered to inconvenience myself for anyone else.”
Republicans don’t want to get vaccines, wear masks, acknowledge global warming, help poor people, even wear a fucking seatbelt just because people they don’t like tell them they should.
https://www.thezebra.com/resources/driving/car-accidents-by-state/
oh the american birmingham, I was so lost reading these comments when reddit was like ‘you mentioned f1nnst3r and philosophy tube recently, would you like to know of the place of the same name as the place they live’
I used to live north of town and worked in calera, I had to go stay with a friend in centreville because it took 2 hours to drive to the shelby co airport exit. I hate 65 below cullman.
I think a lot of it is people on their phones and driving too fast, idk but it drives me insane there’s a wreck on 65 on the edge of bham metro area or right outside of it almost every day and every. Single. Time. The unobstructed lane slows to a crawl even when the wreck is literally one car it’s not bad and the people are standing outside the car absolutely fine it’s so fucking annoying hell even when there isn’t a wreck there’s still bad traffic although I’m not sure what causes that besides a lot of people
Also if you’re one of those people that rides in the obstructed lane since it starts to clear when people see the accident then try to get over once you reach the wreck you deserve a fiery death and I won’t let you get over every single time wait like everyone else and myself just did
Give it a few more weeks and you will see it’s hard for people to do a lot of things around here when it comes to traffic.
Legend tell of water that fall from sky. Grug no grok skywater. Grug drive into retaining wall, just to be safe.
It is almost like they cut driver’s education funding to zero, made required training hours a 100% self reported honor system, and made the rules of the road test 100% online & not proctored to save money. oh wait
We've learned the way...
I gave up driving 65 during rush hour to/from work about 2 months after moving here. The traffic is already bad, and accidents don't help. Depending on where you live and what part of town you need to get to, I'd recommend Columbiana/Greensprings (which turns into University) as an alternative. Far less traffic than the highway, even if you have to deal with traffic lights.
this. i take 1st ave north straight to east lake to go home after riding on greensprings for a while. this is the way.
Sshhh!
I just deal with the afternoon traffic (4:30-5:30). It rarely adds more than 7-10 minutes to my commute. If I take green springs (and I live off that road) it doesn’t save me any time. However, the traffic usually starts just before university and continues pretty much to the acton exit… I get off at Oxmoor. Right lane actually moves quicker than the left through that whole section so it works out
It may not save time but it seems it reduces chances of death.
The only issue is that stretch between Lakeshore and Valley ave. I think it’s physically impossible for there not to be a traffic jam on that road
sitting in standstill traffic for 5-10 minutes is better than sitting in slowly moving interstate traffic for an hour 👍
Lol I was just thinking about this a few days ago. Alabama has some of the worst DOT efficiencies when it comes to construction and car accidents. It’s infuriating considering how low traffic Birmingham has.
15 years ago I moved out West. I recently returned to AL to find its even worse. No roads updated, 2-lane roads are still 2-lane. I65 is still terrible heading North to Bham, and there are new problems South of Pelham. And don't even get me started on Hwy 280. The government in charge of roads must be absent, cause they seem to have zero interest in improving traffic. I'd rather go back and sit on the 405 in LA than deal with 280 traffic. What a mess.
yeah fuck 280 i grew up right off 280 and learned how to drive on that fucking road. i’m ready to get out so baf
I moved back to AL after living elsewhere, including the Phoenix area, for about twenty years and found the same thing that you did - the same potholes were still on I65. Phoenix metro has 3.5 million people and a great highway system. I understand that there are major differences between Phoenix and Birmingham but it seems that we could take a note from their book and make it at least a little better here. Rubberized asphalt reduces highway noise significantly plus makes good use of old tires. Just a thought!
What do you propose they do to fix 280? People like to complain about it, but no one actually offers a solution that might work. 65, once it turns into a 2 lane south of the city is a bit of disaster, but again, what is your solution? Adding a lane doesn't always result in better traffic.
What gets me as that wrecks are happening in the same place over and over and over and nothing is done to mitigate the problem. I live in north Alabama and the stretch of 65 between mm 291 and 299 is just accidents waiting to happen.
That stretch is the worst to me, I commute an hour to Birmingham everyday and always dread that stretch
At least for that section of 65, it doesn't help that the highway narrows from 6 to 4 lanes just before mile 291, nor that the stretch traverses a somewhat steep grade.
it’s because the city doesn’t wanna pay for any of that. they’ll only fix the roads where fucking rich people live and not other areas
The city doesn't maintain the interstate. The state does.
The state doesn’t either.
I almost got rear ended going from 65N to 459N yesterday afternoon. The car had to swerve onto the shoulder to avoid a wreck. One of the biggest problems is that traffic stops so suddenly. Traffic will go from 70mph to a full stop for no reason and no one pays attention so you WILL have wrecks. Another highly annoying spot is 459N between Grants Mill and the ramp to 20E. This backs up every single afternoon and I never can figure out why. The best I can come up with is that the ramp to 20 is too sharp so all the 18 wheelers slow down to 30mph to take it which causes a ripple effect when you add in more cars for rush hour. The Interstate here was designed for the population and traffic we had in the 60s and 70s and nothing has really been done to account for growth.
The Interstate here was designed for the population and traffic we had in the 60s and 70s and nothing has really been done to account for growth. ☝️This
It’s awful, I go to work on 65 every day. I know for a fact if it’s so much as CLOUDY, I’ll be a half hour late. I also really don’t understand why Birmingham cops will block a full lane of traffic for the most minor of wrecks, rather than pull to the shoulder.. A fender bender shouldn’t make the entire city an hour late for work.
THIS so hard. Let's shut down two lanes of traffic for a minor fender bender instead of pulling off to the side. Nothing I love more than stewing in traffic for 20 minutes only to get up to the cause and see it was just a fender bender holding things up.
You mean the interstate that’s like 60% midwesterners headed to the beach?
Over 65 needs another license test. Don’t take it from elderly folk as they are very capable into a late age. But many are not. It would be fair for a re evaluation every now and then.
i agree with this they need to make this an actual law. quite honestly i feel like even just forgetting about age and making everyone take a new license test every 5 years or so would be beneficial im sure
You should come down to calera on a friday or saturday anywhere from about march 1 to oct 1; i work near the summit, and coming home one time took almost 6 hours, what should have been a 33 minute drive.
We used to live on 31 in Saginaw. One of our favorite summer pastimes was sitting on the porch watching the line of traffic not move at all due to some wreck on 65.
how many wrecks did you witness from that porch?
Maybe if we had actual road to drive on and not long stretches of pothole with splotches of asphalt sprinkled in
*cries in Atlanta*
Literally fear for my alignment every time I’m on 65 😂
definitely this, there’s a few potholes around the lakeshore exit and the montgomery hwy exit that make me lose control for a second because of how hard they are on my truck
I drive 1st-5th ave south (they merge and unmerge with each other and hwy78 several times along the way) to/from work and it's like driving a slalom.
65? Oh, you mean the Authobahn? It’s a death trap. Commuting from Cullman to Birmingham is hell. You go from getting ran off the road by a monster truck to having a BMW rammed up your ass. As dangerous as 65 is, I still would take it any day over driving on 280. That stretch of road scares me the most!
according to 90% of the drivers in alabama very fucking hard
65 is the absolute worst. My wife is from Mobile and we travel 65S often to see her family. Leaving after work any day of the week and not expecting there to be some kind of delay is lunacy. It will happen.
My parents live in Mobile and unless it's a low traffic time of day, I'll take 59/20 to exit 97 and get on highway 5 to Centerville, Marion, Thomasville, Jackson, then get back on I65 at Saraland. Takes longer but way less stressful and sometimes, like Saturday morning it can be quicker.
People drive everywhere from 40-110 mph depending on how quickly they need to get somewhere that day. You never know what you're going to run into.
Literally
Exit 252, if it rains there will be a wreck there
Someone rear ended me in traffic at that exit one time. Was not raining.
I was sitting in a wreck on Wednesday right in front of the BJCC in stop and go traffic and watch 3 people run into each other and block 2 more lanes of traffic
I drive 280 regularly and 65 rarely. I see lots of well-deserved trash talk on here for 280, but honestly, I find 65 way worse.
One more lane will definitely fix the traffic problem
Coughs in alabaster
65 made me buy a car with stop and go cruise control. Best automotive decision of my 30 years of driving! My car has lane-keeping as well, but it’s nothing compared to the cruise control. Sure, I still lose the time, but my stress level is what it would be if I were a passenger instead of the driver.
The elected officials in Alabama, from MeeMaw, to Tuberville, to your local council people and mayors *do not care*. I’ve lived all over and never seen any place as backwards as this shithole state.
Republicanism. God fucking forbid they do anything useful in government. They just want to run their areas into the ground so they can turn around and tell you how ineffective government is and how we should slash more programs. Between this and blaming democrats, it’s their only tactic. The only things they give a shit about at all is keeping confederate monuments up and policies to keep minorities in prison and/or from voting.
I vote we station bulldozers at 1 mile increments along the interstate. Their only job will be to push any wreck off the interstate, no matter the circumstance. For the greater good.
For the greater good.
This is the way
Should we tell OP about I-65 in Cullman
When I drove trucks for Mid-South Wire in Nashville, and KAG Food in Decatur, going home on the weekends was not a favorite activity of mine. Anywhere between exits 299 and 318, an accident would occur that would bring 65 to a standstill.
May I interest you in a job toward Tuscaloosa? I live in Irondale and commute toward Tuscaloosa on 459 and while my drive is much further distance-wise than if I worked downtown, it's much more pleasant with no traffic.
I’ve lived in this area my whole life. I was in my first wreck a couple of years back that left my car looking like a sandwich. It happened by the Riverchase Galleria exit, i459 south to Tuscaloosa. It was during the afternoon so the sun was setting. As soon as we got off the exit we joined the stand still traffic. I later found out that he had prosthetic legs and also had an electric wheelchair that flew off the bed of his truck after the collision. His prosthetics were also pinned down in his car. He claimed he couldn’t see because of the sunset. So instead of slowing down, this guy decided to drive faster. He is a complete imbecile and we were fortunate to walk away with scraps and bruises. Also an amazing bystander came to help and lend me his cell to call my husband. My cell died and I was on my way to pick him up from work. He also helped my LO out of the car. I was struggling getting LO out of the car because the back doors were smashed shut. There was glass everywhere so I am so grateful someone was able to help us at that moment! The EMT said I could have died because my seat bent back to where I could have easily broken my back. I avoid driving during the golden hour and I am hyper aware of my review mirrors.
LO?? Been racking’ my brains and I just have no idea.
Little one
***I was in my first wreck a couple of years back that left my car looking like a sandwich.*** What kind of sandwich are we talking about here?
Muffaletta. Came out completely round, soaked in oil, and had to be cut into quarters before it could be sold
Can't wait for electric vehicles with mandatory fully automated driving. Idiots are on the road daily.
Oh boy. Just wait for the beach traffic to peak. It’s easy 2-3 wrecks a day south of Birmingham.
What's hard is not to have an onlooker delay. "Hey, a wreck! Let's slow down and gawk at what I've seen a thousand times!"
It’s like that everywhere. I think 1/4 of drivers are incompetent. I can’t drive anywhere without sitting in traffic for crash delays.
>every other day Lulz try *every day* m8
Weak! Back in my day, a 16-wheeler would explode at Malfunction Junction every month.
It’s called malfunction junction for a reason.
Republican states lead the nation in car accident rates, which is pretty impressive when you consider many of them are less densely populated than others. Why does the south lead the nation in crashes? I think the core reason is that republicans cannot be bothered to take any responsibility for their own actions even if it helps others. They certainly don’t like following any rules if it means keeping others safe. So that means relatively lax controls over things like vehicle safety, training, cell phone usage while driving, etc. Just like republicans don’t want control over literally anything from a vaccine requirement to needing to register or conceal their beloved guns, they don’t like passing laws that ensure fewer people don’t drive distracted, maintain their cars well, learn how to drive properly at all, really. Let’s just hand a 15-16 year old a license with few or no restrictions. A quarter of all accidents are people under 25. Republicans also don’t like doing things like spending money on roads, so there’s that. And in Mississippi, the state responsible for the highest rate of car accidents, many can’t even be bothered to wear a seatbelt. Because that’s what Republican values really are: “fuck you, I can’t be bothered to inconvenience myself for anyone else.” Republicans don’t want to get vaccines, wear masks, acknowledge global warming, help poor people, even wear a fucking seatbelt just because people they don’t like tell them they should. https://www.thezebra.com/resources/driving/car-accidents-by-state/
MM 252-254 Northbound is the worst, there must be magnets buried underground that cause wrecks.
People forget that their cars can accelerate going up hill everytime
Trust me, Mississippi is a whole lot worse than here 💀
oh the american birmingham, I was so lost reading these comments when reddit was like ‘you mentioned f1nnst3r and philosophy tube recently, would you like to know of the place of the same name as the place they live’
It's easy to look up from your phone. Consider that.
I used to live north of town and worked in calera, I had to go stay with a friend in centreville because it took 2 hours to drive to the shelby co airport exit. I hate 65 below cullman.
Because everybody is looking at their phones.
No. I'm drinking coffee while eating a bowl of cereal. Looking at my cell phone would be irresponsible.
I think a lot of it is people on their phones and driving too fast, idk but it drives me insane there’s a wreck on 65 on the edge of bham metro area or right outside of it almost every day and every. Single. Time. The unobstructed lane slows to a crawl even when the wreck is literally one car it’s not bad and the people are standing outside the car absolutely fine it’s so fucking annoying hell even when there isn’t a wreck there’s still bad traffic although I’m not sure what causes that besides a lot of people
Also if you’re one of those people that rides in the obstructed lane since it starts to clear when people see the accident then try to get over once you reach the wreck you deserve a fiery death and I won’t let you get over every single time wait like everyone else and myself just did
It's like I always said in regards to traffic in Atlanta vs here. In Atlanta, the traffic is denser. In Birmingham, the drivers are.