Why do most people in Texas use the left shoulder when their car breaks? (Houston: live, office)

[Dopo]

I've been wondering this for several years.
I lived in San Antonio and Houston, and I CANNOT understand why people get on the left shoulder of the highway when their car break.

I remember seeing one guy in San Antonio, his car broke on I-35 on the way to Austin.
He was on the left shoulder, had jacked up his truck and was working under it.

Some other day I was driving in Houston, a truck was doing about 50 on a 65 on the left lane.
I was getting p....ed off and started flashing my lights.
All of a sudden he put the blinkers on and stopped on the left shoulder
Why do you drive on the left lane if your car is about to break?


Anybody got any good explanation for this?

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I've been wondering this for several years.
I lived in San Antonio and Houston, and I CANNOT understand why people get on the left shoulder of the highway when their car break... ...Anybody got any good explanation for this?

It's not really very common. You just notice it more than others do because it pisses you off more.

Social scientists call it something like "observational bias error."

[TexasHorseLady]

I can think, in all my 47 years of driving in Texas, I can count a handful of times that I saw someone stopped on the left shoulder (it is something rare enough that you remember it when you see it), and in all cases but one there was a police officer behind them making sure everyone saw them. My first thought was that their car broke down while they were in the left lane and they couldn't get across the lanes of traffic because everyone was in too much of a hurry to let them do so, so they HAD to stop on the left shoulder.

And what OpenD said.

[Topaz]

Yeah, you can barely change lanes here when you are going 75 because of all the people going 90 so trying to change lanes when your car is slowing because of a breakdown is probably darn near impossible.

[DanielWayne]

Yeah it's probably because the jack*@#$% riding their bumper won't let them change lanes even though they can clearly see the car is in distress. Left lane shoulder is probably the only viable option.

I was with some friends coming back from lunch when my friends truck suddenly stalled while turning at a light. The guy behind us started honking and honking. Now really... Stop and think... Do you really think somebody would purposefully stop in mid-turn underneath a stoplight on a busy highway? Jackholes abound.

[Trae713]

Some people are just too scared to get over, even when they can. I've seen that many times.

[TexasHorseLady]

And yet, with all this, I've still seen it only a handful of times in over four decades of driving in Texas. Where the heck is the OP seeing it all the time?

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I've been wondering this for several years.
I lived in San Antonio and Houston, and I CANNOT understand why people get on the left shoulder of the highway when their car break.

I remember seeing one guy in San Antonio, his car broke on I-35 on the way to Austin.
He was on the left shoulder, had jacked up his truck and was working under it.

Some other day I was driving in Houston, a truck was doing about 50 on a 65 on the left lane.
I was getting p....ed off and started flashing my lights.
All of a sudden he put the blinkers on and stopped on the left shoulder
Why do you drive on the left lane if your car is about to break?


Anybody got any good explanation for this?

I think in most cases it's due to not being able to get over to the right shoulder. I'd rather be stuck on the side instead of the middle of the road.

However, as Texaslady pointed out. I haven't noticed this as a common problem.

[ETex2]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

And yet, with all this, I've still seen it only a handful of times in over four decades of driving in Texas. Where the heck is the OP seeing it all the time?

I don't think he is seeing it since it's just not that common. But if you are in the left lane and in heavy traffic when your car breaks down, it happens.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I can think, in all my 47 years of driving in Texas, I can count a handful of times that I saw someone stopped on the left shoulder (it is something rare enough that you remember it when you see it), and in all cases but one there was a police officer behind them making sure everyone saw them. My first thought was that their car broke down while they were in the left lane and they couldn't get across the lanes of traffic because everyone was in too much of a hurry to let them do so, so they HAD to stop on the left shoulder.

And what OpenD said.

Yup!