Think You Can Pass On The Right Shoulder In Texas?

Driving in Tyler, Texas, can be a bit of a challenge. Oh, who am I kidding? It's a challenge EVERY SINGLE TIME you get on Loop 281 in Longview or S Broadway in Tyler.

Whether it's to make a burger run to Whataburger, a grocery run to Walmart, or just head to work, the challenges drivers face every day are not just happening in Tyler, they're also happening in Athens, Gilmer, Jacksonville, and Lindale too!

Two weekends ago, while on my way to Longview for a station appearance, I was on Hwy. 31 East, leaving Tyler and heading towards Kilgore. I was in a 'pack' of vehicles and witnessed a car in front of me pass another car on the right-hand shoulder.

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I was shocked this happened because we were doing the speed limit. Several years ago, TXDOT made huge safety improvements to this once extremely deadly road by adding specific alternating passing lanes every few miles for both directions of travel to allow for slower traffic to move right and faster traffic to pass on the left.

After witnessing this, I was wondering if the move the driver completed was legal or not.

Can you drive on the right shoulder of a roadway?

Technically, the answer is yes, but what he did was illegal. According to the Texas Transportation Code Chapter 458 Section 058, driving on an improved shoulder has to be done safely and if the following conditions are met:

• to stop, stand, or park
• to accelerate before entering the main traveled lane of traffic
• to decelerate before making a right turn
• to pass another vehicle that is slowing or stopped on the main traveled portion of the highway, disabled, or preparing to make a left turn
• to allow another vehicle traveling faster to pass as permitted or required by an official traffic-control device
• to avoid a collision

However, to blatantly use the improved right shoulder to drive on and pass another vehicle is illegal, and the move I witnessed that Saturday morning was pretty dangerous. That particular driver could have been issued a citation if it were witnessed by a law enforcement officer.

The bottom line is that using the improved right shoulder of the roadway to pass another vehicle is against the law, but it is permissible under certain circumstances.