Dallas comes in second on the list.

Peter Moore, with Men’s Health, said a number of statistics were looked at.

“The number of fatal crashes that involved either alcohol, excessive speed, or hit and run… then comes seatbelt use,” he said dramatically.

Tabulations were also based on city government and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety information.

“And then you guys are terrible with cell phone use,” Moore said of the Lone Star State ranking. “And you have among the lowest number of years between big accidents.”

And there’s no need for some other Texas cities to breathe easy.

Houston and Austin are both near the top of the list, coming in at numbers four and 10, respectively.

Fort Worth barely missed the top 10 – coming in at number 11. Both Lubbock and San Antonio were in the top 20.

I guess we didn’t’ mention the one city said to be worse than Dallas – that would be St. Louis.

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(credit: CBSDFW.COM)

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Just before 4:30 p.m. all northbound lanes of the Dallas North Tollway, from Interstate-635 to Spring Valley Road were finally re-opened after a serious morning accident involving an 18-wheeler and two vehicles.

From about 9:45 a.m. until evening rush hour, northbound traffic was being diverted onto eastbound Interstate-635. The 18-wheeler was removed from the roadway just before 4 p.m.

As of 3:44 p.m. all southbound lanes of the Tollway, at I-635 , were open.

As Chopper 11 flew over the scene, minutes after the morning accident, at least one car could be seen underneath the trailer portion of the overturned semi. The truck was carrying a 30,000 pound load of cardboard.

Officials with the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) said the only major damage was to a light pole in the center median. The light is functioning, but will have to be replaced.

Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) spokesman Lonnie Haschel said the crash happened as the semi was traveling the westbound I-635 ramp onto the northbound Dallas Tollway.

Haschel said the driver of the 18-wheeler was traveling too fast, crossed all three lanes of Tollway traffic, pushed an SUV through the concrete barrier and into southbound traffic, then fell over and landed on top of another car.

CBS 11 News has confirmed that 49-year-old Greg Meece, of  Sugarland, was injured and taken to Parkland Hospital. Meece was the driver of the car that was trapped beneath the 18-wheeler. Thursday afternoon he was in serious condition in the ICU.

The driver of the SUV was also taken to an area hospital.  That person’s condition isn’t known.

The driver of the semi was not injured, but Haschel said that individual will be charged with “failure to control speed.”

Some alternatives for east/west travelers might be – Beltline Road, Forest Lane, Royal Lane or Walnut Hill Lane. Alternatives for north/south travelers might be – Interstate-35, Lemmon Avenue (which turns into Marsh Lane), U.S. Highway 75 or Greenville Avenue.

Check the area traffic backups, delays and redirects in the CBSDFW.COM traffic section.

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – A problem with cameras provided by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) could impact your commute for days to come.

Late Sunday night a water main break basically froze dozens of Dallas traffic cameras and made accessing hundreds of others impossible.

TxDOT uses the camera system to keep traffic flowing smoothly and to respond to potential trouble spots, now department officials say they have no way of seeing potential traffic problems.

TxDOT spokesman Mark Pettit said emergency crews won’t be able to respond as quickly to accidents and suggests that the public lend a helping hand.

“When you see an incident or a collision out there don’t hesitate to dial 911 and let people know. That’ll get the gears rolling and get people on site sooner and as fast as possible.”

Crews are making repairs but Pettit said there is significant damage.

Live cameras at some 50 Dallas locations can still be seen, but can’t be moved. The damage also means TxDOT can’t switch to look at more than 200 other cameras in the Dallas area. “The water took out one of the main switches that allows our operators, allows the media, allows the public to see the cameras in the Dallas metro.”

There’s no clear estimate on the repair time. Pettit said the cameras could be up and running in 48 hours, or not until March.

“Unfortunately it’s gonna be at least a day or two more. It could last as much as two weeks, depending on the extent of the damage.”

Loss of the Dallas TxDOT cameras will also affect your television traffic report, since most TV stations in the metroplex use them for an aerial views of current traffic conditions.

TxDOT cameras operating in the Fort Worth area were not affected.

The latest traffic information is always available in the Traffic Section on the CBSDFW.COM.

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Some areas to avoid this weekend include Loop 12 north and southbound in Irving. The area near the old Texas Stadium will be down to one lane all day Saturday.

Westbound Interstate-30, at St Francis will be shut down in the overnight hours all weekend.

Bridge beams are going up at Rosser and the Pedestrian walkway on Interstate-635, the LBJ Freeway. The beam installation will take both the east and westbound sides down to one lane from Interstate-35 to Midway, from 8 p.m. Friday through Noon Saturday and from 8 p.m. Saturday night through Noon Sunday from the Dallas North Tollway to Webb Chapel.

Click here for the latest traffic conditions across North Texas.

The signs at all the state borders say, “Welcome to Texas: Please drive friendly”, but that message seems to be lost on drivers who actually live here.

A study on CarInsuranceComparison.com says Texans are the third worst drivers in the nation… only Louisiana and Missouri are worse.

Jerry Johns, with the Southwestern Insurance Information Service, said Texans should, “Ask ourselves why we’re such bad drivers?”

Let’s be clear, we are talking about bad driving.

CarInsuranceComparison.com compared drivers in all 50 states, in different categories. Texas finished third worst overall and finished in the bottom 20 in every category.

Johns said there are varying reasons for the failing grade.

“Contributing factors to this are such things such as inattentive driving, texting while driving, driving under the influence [and] cell phone use,” he explained.

We also have a problem with red light running and speeding.

Besides the negative national designation, the study said poor driving across the state has also led to Texans having car insurance rates that are higher than most states.

So what were the states with the best drivers? Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts, coming in at numbers one, two and three.

I-635 is going to be backed up all weekend basically from I-35 E to the Dallas North Tollway in both directions because of demolition work on the Marsh overpass and a nearby walkway.

>> Check Current Traffic Conditions <<

It’s all part of the massive LBJ Express project, which chef Mark McDaniel with ReMARKable Catering says has created challenges for his business at LBJ and Josey. “Our profit margin has definitely gotten thinner and we have had to hold back on some additional expenses.” “We’ve been looking at getting another catering vehicle and we’ve had to kind of postpone that for right now,” McDaniel said.

McDaniel says he’s still getting plenty of business because his customers don’t have to come to him, but he has had to factor in extra time to maneuver LBJ so he’s not late getting to clients s. Drivers who don’t have to be on LBJ are being told this is a good weekend to stay away.

KRLD’s Matt Thomas speaks with local business owners affected by the construction.

ONLINE:  View maps that illustrate how the lane shifts will work and view a video that shows drivers how to navigate the lane shifts, should they opt to drive LBJ this weekend.

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - You’ve finally made it to the weekend and what do you have to look forward to — major highway shutdowns all across North Texas!

In Dallas, Interstate-30 westbound will be closed from just east of Bass Pro Drive to just west of Zion Road, near Lake Ray Hubbard all weekend. Crews will be installing steel bridge beams for the George Bush Turnpike (PGBT) direct connector across I-30. Everything will shut down around 9:00 p.m. Friday night and won’t reopen until 4:00 a.m. Monday.

There will be a couple of construction issues on interstate-635/LBJ.

LBJ will be reduced to only two lanes, in each direction, between Valley View Lane and Webb Chapel Road. Again, the closure will happen Friday night and run through Monday morning.

“Essentially stay away from LBJ if at all possible, between essentially the [Dallas North] Tollway and I-35,” advised Andy Rittler, with the LBJ Express Project.

Lanes will be shifted significantly so workers can partially demolish the Marsh Lane Bridge and completely demolish the Joe Ratcliff Pedestrian Walkway. The shifts will take drivers from the main lanes to the frontage road and back again.

Rittler said maneuvering freeway won’t be easy. “These are gonna be very aggressive traffic switches and will tend to take drivers in many different directions.”

In Bedford, Bedford Road will be closed, both northbound and southbound, at the State Highway 121/183 intersection. The closure will allow workers to complete a partial bridge demolition. Construction there begins at 11:00 p.m. Friday and is scheduled to wrap up by 5:00 a.m. Monday.

There will be another major closure at the DFW Connector. This weekend westbound Highway 114/121 will be closed from Texan Trail to William D. Tate for bridge demolition.

For those who have to be out and about this weekend, check out the latest traffic conditions and get alternate route suggestions at CBSDFW.COM.

According to TxDOT, Woodall Rodgers Freeway, Interstate- 635/LBJ Freeway and U.S. 75/Central Expressway are ranked one, two and three respectively.

Driver Bill Barnes of Addison isn’t surprised. He is forced to endure the LBJ Freeway everyday. “I don’t question that at all,” Barnes said of the ranking. “I drive it [635] and it is [congested]. It’s like 75 used to be years ago.”

Tarrant County was also represented in the top 10. Interstate-35W, from I-30 to State Highway 183, is number five on the ‘most congested’ list.

To make the list the roadway must be a “daily challenge for motorists”.

There are some differences in the 2010 list and the one this year. “Finishing or starting construction is probably the number one reason for the shift in ratings,” Dr. Tim Lomax, Research Engineer with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), said in a press release. TTI worked with TxDOT to develop the list.

While Woodall Rodgers began construction last year, construction on the LBJ Freeway didn’t start until a couple of months ago and TxDOT say it’s only going to get worse until the project is complete in 2016.

Researchers say some of the differences can also be attributed to slower traffic speeds because of prolonged weather events.

Michael Ray with the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) confirmed that part of the crash started on one side of the toll and ended on the other.

“It appears at least one vehicle went over the barrier there at Keller Springs and it’s affected both sides of the Tollway,” he said.

Thursday afternoon, Ray said investigators didn’t know what triggered the accident. “Right now we’re working the situation to get that buttoned up, get the vehicles out of there, there were already some wreckers on scene. And then relieve the traffic congestion, [and] then DPS will do the investigation and we’ll find out what happened.”

For law enforcement the first concern was to clear the scene. “We’re trying to get a little bit of traffic through there, but for a time we may see both sides of the Tollway diverting traffic until we get all of the vehicles off of the Tollway,” said Ray.

There are no reports of anyone being injured.