American Dream

Houston's 47 (to date) accidents between cars and light rail caught the attention of the New York Times. The Times notes, "At an annual sand castle competition this month, no fewer than 11 entries depicted trains and crashed cars, with titles like "Metrozilla" and "Weapons of Mass Destruction."

To minimize accidents, Houston build a fountain next to the tracks that alert motorists by spraying water high in the air when a train is coming. So far, 15 cars have hit the fountain.

Of course, say transit agency officials, all of the accidents were the motorists' fault.