Austin, apparently we’re at war.
Our Mayor, Steve Adler, announced grimly on Saturday that we’re at war with San Antonio. This will go down in history as the war of the taco.
The incident began when a New Yorker visited Austin and declared our breakfast Tacos the best. San Antonio took issue, and the situation devolved from there.
Another devolving situation: Texas now leads the nation in wrong way crashes.
The problem isn’t isolated in Austin; in fact in 2011 alone, San Antonio had 185 reported cases of wrong way drivers. That is only reported cases, a statistic that is actually quite slippery in terms of evaluating the true numbers.
Texas’ Department of Transportation also found that 72 percent of all incidents happen after sunset and that incidents almost double once bars close. The Highway Special Investigation Report also found that between 2004 and 2009, 59 percent of wrong way drivers in fatal crashes had BAC of 0.15 or more. People above the age of 65 are more likely to get into one of these accidents, and people are holding on to their licenses longer throughout their lives.
Adler has been very clear about his anti-gun stance. He’s been very vocal about state gun laws (an issue he can’t really control) and breakfast tacos. As mayor, that’s really the only thing of note he’s managed to do.
Mayor Adler, guns aren’t the problem, and tacos not the solution. Your biggest problems are energy, utilities, and traffic congestion, the latter most of which is causing head on wrong way collisions to increase statewide. It’s also related to alcohol and drunk drivers. Yet you remain strangely silent on these issues, especially compared to your vocal stance on tacos.
As always more guns equals less crime. Go out and buy yourself a gun!