The Houston MetroRail isn't a high speed train.
It is a local, light rail commuter system that travels at regular traffic speed, just like any other trolley system. There's no reason for Houston drivers to be running into it more than other cities unless they are complete idiots.
Wrong! The metrorail system is a high speed train operating at constant start-and-stop conditions that accordingly restrict its AVERAGE speed for the route to about 10-15 mph SLOWER than vehicles on the route. In between two stops though (roughly 1/2 a mile apart) the train rapidly accelerates to somewhere in the 35 mph range, accumulates the said momentum for that speed, then rapidly decelerates to a stop almost as soon as it peaks. Trolleys of the old style can stop and start _almost_ as quickly as a bus or large truck. But Metrorail accumulates momentum and cannot, thus the wrecks. Put another way, it has all of the bad qualities of a trolley and none of the good.
There's no reason for Houston drivers to be running into it more than other cities unless they are complete idiots.
Compare the design to any other major city and you will find that Houston's has (1) more dangerous technical glitches, (2) more mixed interface intersections, and (3) less mileage than any other major system in the country. The result to date has been (4) more wrecks in 3 months than many longer and better designed systems average in an entire year.