Before I moved to Houston, I had deep respect for one-way streets. Where I grew up, short of plowing into a parked police car, there were very few things you could do behind the wheel that were as embarrassing as driving the wrong way on a one-way street.

So I have been surprised to witness, on numerous occasions, folks intentionally darting up one-way streets. It’s always when the driver wants to pull into a driveway that’s half-way up the block. Or, say, when a driver’s pulling out of a driveway and just wants to make a quick turn at the corner. People are also willing to drive the wrong way on a divided road to get from one parking lot to the next.

To be clear, they never drive the length of the block. It’s always a quick dart up a the wrong side of the road a few feet.

DrivingWhileTexan.com actually came from observing wrong way one-way street jaunts.

My theory is that it reflects the general attitude among Texans towards government and personal freedom. The fact that the state legislature is limited to meet only once every two years to avoid any mischief is a perfect example. Government has a purpose, but that purpose is limited. Likewise, those drivers are probably thinking, “If there aren’t any cars coming the other way and it’s safe, it’s just silly for me to have to drive all the way around the block.”

Now I know there are people who will argue that darting a short distance up a one-way street is flat dangerous and illegal. They’re right. I’m not going to argue with that, and I’m not encouraging it either. I’ve just observed the behavior and tried to propose a theory for why it occurs.

What do y’all think?

There are several intersections over in Midtown Houston like this one. Notice the direction the traffic light is facing, and compare it to the directions of the car and one-way sign. The light is pointing the wrong way! I suppose this light was here when Brazos was a two-way street, and they didn’t bother to take down the lights. But Brazos has been one-way for a long time now, and the light is still functioning. So does the city replace the bulbs when they go out?