We approached this intersection at Lomas and Broadway this morning about 11:00 AM on a sunny morning. The traffic was light, we were in the center lane heading west.
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I saw a sporty red car coming up fast on my rear. As I expected, the driver swung over in the right lane to pass and then moved leftward as he entered the intersection. Just then a gray sedan in the oncoming turn lane lunged forward. The red one caught the gray one right in the middle, caving in that side of the car. The gray car was pushed up against the corner curb, while the red one came to rest at the divider with its right front fender nearly ripped off.
I thought it was a pretty good demonstration of the current state of traffic affairs. None of the other drivers in the vicinity were behaving inappropriately at the time and the scenario might have accommodated one instance of poor judgment, but not two simultaneously.
If, like me, you tend to travel somewhere close to the posted speed limits you will find yourself being passed by most of the drivers on the road. Speed limits on highways and city streets seem to be treated as mere suggestions, and they are mostly ignored. That means that any small deviations from expected traffic movements become potential sources of accidents as a few milliseconds of response time are lost. I'm pretty sure Albuquerque is one of worst places to drive a car in the country, but I'm guessing the situation is not a lot better anywhere else.
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Same day in northeast Albuquerque:
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