Driving in Texas

We have been in Texas for four weeks and here is what I have learned so far about driving in Texas.

First, everyone is either a very aggressive driver or just a terrible driver. Sometimes is it hard to distinguish between the two. While we were out over the weekend my husband and I saw the absolute worst driver ever. We drove up to an intersection where an SUV was sitting at a red light waiting to turn left. As we were pulling up, the left turn signal turned green, so we drove past the driver in the second turn lane as she just sat at the green light. We kept looking back, and she was still sitting there until we could see the light was changing, and then she turned. We were stopped at a red light farther down the road, in the left turn lane, as the same woman flew right past us, going straight, right through the red light. Our only conclusion was that she thought red meant go, and green meant stop. SCARY!

The first lesson I learned driving in Texas was Do Not Cross The Double White Lines. This was not a lesson I learned on my own. It was taught to me last year by a very nice Allen Sheriff. I crossed the the lines and was pulled over. Having no idea why I was pulled over, this very nice Sheriff explained to me that there was a sign posted that said very clearly not to cross the double white lines. My response was that I did not see the sign, and because I didn`t know about this rule, I didn`t even know to look for the sign. I was just a sweet new Grandma from Virginia driving in a strange state visiting my newborn grandson. Sappy but true. Just a warning, no ticket. Lesson learned!

Lets`s talk about the service roads. The highways have service roads that run along side of them. You exit the highway, onto the service road and then to the intersection. If the traffic is backed up on the highway, everyone exits onto the service road. Now the service road is a mini highway. The service roads are one way and have businesses along them, so if you are looking for a store or business on  the service road you have two options. If the store is located on the same side as you are driving, you exit before the business, and if it is on the opposite side of the highway, you go past to the next exit onto the u turn lane and go back down the service road to the business.  Clear as mud, right?

US75, in the area we are living, has an HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane. It is suppose to be a special lane for those people that car pool, yet you would be surprised by all the single occupancy drivers that use that lane.  These lanes have an entrance at point A and an exit at point B and there is no getting off in between. Or is there? The lane is sectioned off from the rest of the highway by these skinny rubber built in posts that bend.

Obviously this is not a deterrent for drivers who decide that they want to get off and on the HOV lane without using the entrance or exit. When I talk to my daughter in the morning as she is driving to work she is always telling me about accidents from cars jumping the HOV lane. The worst is the motorcycle driver who is killed because a car jumps out in front of them when they are going 75 mph. My husband saw his first HOV jumper this week.Woo Hoo!

Speaking of jumpers, the last and scariest part of driving in Texas is the fear of falling people. The overpasses in this state look like the old Hot Wheel car tracks and are stacked 5 high in some places. So, I am talking to my daughter one morning while she was driving to work, and she said that several highways were closed. She said. "Must be a jumper!" "What?", I said. She continued to tell me that people drive to the highest level, get out of their cars and jump. Can you even imagine what that would be like? Not only for the poor jumper, but what about the cars below.

 If they land on your car do you then get to use the HOV lane?  Too soon? Sorry, couldn`t resist.