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Highway System

Seventeen interstate highways serve Texas. Speed limits, caution areas, stops, and directions are well marked along the 79,000 miles of state-maintained highways, with more than a million signs to keep drivers on track. Passing is illegal where there is a continuous yellow stripe on the driver’s side of the center line. The maximum speed limit on rural state-numbered highways is 70 mph during the day and 65 mph at night for passenger cars. Lower speed limits are posted on all other country roads and city streets.

Safety Belts

Texas law requires safety belts to be worn by drivers and front-seat passengers in all vehicles. Children under age 4 or under 36 inches tall are required to be restrained in child safety seats. Anyone under age 15 is required to wear a seat belt, no matter where they sit in the car. Fines between $25 and $200 may be levied for failure to abide by this law.

Alcohol Consumption Laws

Legal drinking age: 21

Alcoholic beverages cannot be consumed while operating a motor vehicle, aircraft, or watercraft. Open containers of alcoholic beverages are not allowed in vehicles. Driving while intoxicated is punishable by fines and/or confinement in jail. If found guilty of driving while intoxicated, you may be issued a fine not to exceed $2,000 and confined in jail for a term of at least 72 hours. Fines and confinement increase with each successive offense. If serious bodily injury is caused to another person, the fine is increased by $500 and the minimum term of confinement is increased by 60 days. Fines and confinement are also increased if a person operating a motor vehicle is observed consuming alcohol. Although establishments serving alcohol are not required by law to check identification for proof of age, visitors may be asked for such identification.

Under state local-option laws, areas where alcoholic beverage sales are permitted or barred are decided by the vote of the people within a county or justice-of-the-peace precinct. Approximately 50 of the state’s 254 counties are “dry,” which means alcohol is served nowhere. In general, most major cities and most South Texas counties are “wet,” but the rest of the state is mixed. In some cases, alcoholic beverages are available only in package stores and private clubs (guests of most hotels and motels with private clubs are automatically members). Some establishments sell mixers and ice and allow visitors to bring their own liquor. A number of cities have both wet and dry precincts. Liquor stores are closed on Sundays, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. If supermarkets and stores sell beer and wine, they may not do so before noon on Sunday. Restaurants may serve mixed drinks, beer, and wine on Sunday after 10 a.m. Bars that do not serve food may sell alcohol on Sunday only after 10 a.m. Closing hours for bars and clubs vary from city to city. Liquor stores must close by 9 p.m.

Driving Laws

Valid driver’s license required. Drivers must be a minimum of 25 years of age in order to rent an automobile.

Speed limits: 30 mph in any urban district unless otherwise posted, 70 mph during the day and 65 mph at night for passenger vehicles on numbered state highways outside urban districts unless otherwise posted, and 60 mph on county roads unless otherwise posted.