Houston drivers are unique. We like to say that if you can drive in Houston, you can drive anywhere. If you’ve ever been in the car with a Houston driver (or you are one of these said drivers), you know what I’m talking about. Houston drivers don’t know how to drive defensively — it is offensive driving all the time. Most of us didn’t learn how to drive on a simple, quiet road. Drivers' education took place on the massive roads of Houston, where there is no mercy. So, while you may think you know how to drive, think again. Houston drivers are a different breed.
You could call this stereotyping, so let’s play along. We’ll start with Texans. Texans claim, “Everything is bigger in Texas,” and they're right. Texans go all out for everything: super-sized HEBs, massive cookouts, the largest rodeo in the world, the largest medical center in the world and the largest state in the continental United States. So why would the largest city in Texas (and one of the largest cities in the country), Houston, be an exception? Driving is just one of the many aspects in which Houstonians really go “all out.”
Houston is one of the most spread-out cities, so it really takes a while to get places. Add to that the insane traffic due to Houston being a car-dependent city (our public transportation system isn’t as widely used as it should or could be), and traveling in Houston is a beast. You would think with our massive freeways (the widest freeway in the world is located in Houston at Interstate-10 and Bunker Hill) and fairly simple city layout, it would be easy to drive around Houston. This is a possibility, but you have to factor in the impatience that all Houstonians seem to possess — not to mention the “need for speed.” With speed limits touching 65 and 70 miles per hour on our freeways, Texans (and especially Houstonians) know how to get from Point A to Point B very efficiently.
From our immense looped highways like 610 and the beltway to our smaller, pothole-filled roads like Harwin and Gessner, Houstonians have seen it all — and likely driven on it. There’s nothing stopping us from slowing down, except for the rare “ice storm” that shuts down the city, since no one knows how to drive in “winter" conditions. So, if you’re a fellow Houston driver, I salute you. And if you’re an out-of-stater who hasn’t gotten used to Houston drivers, then good luck. You’ll need it.
