Man Stranded 6 Hours in Texas Heat by Progressive Roadside Assistance

Finding out the hard way that it's better (and more affordable) to handle some things yourself

It was a bright Texas highway, hot wind in his grey hair…

…he glided along highway 820 with the window down.

Cigarette smoke emanated from the Dodge’s interior, just another little symbolic middle finger to climate activists by the driver.

Suddenly the fuel guzzling Hemi V8 bogged down and sputtered to a stop. The Mopar equipped planet destroyer had failed its owner on a barren stretch of slab just outside White Settlement, Texas. There were no trees, no bushes, and no buildings for several hundred feet. Just a dry, pale, weed covered median and ditches. A bumper-to-bumper river of oblivious Texas drivers blasted by at 85 mph inches from the driver side door as the vehicle coasted to a halt on the shoulder.

The Texas air had reached a 107 degree peak for the day. It was 5 pm, and there were still several hours ahead before the temperature dropped below 100. “No worries,” the driver thought to himself, “I’ll just call the handy roadside assistance number on my Progressive Insurance card.” After a few minutes listening and re-listening to the automated menu system over the noise of eighteen wheelers blasting by every few seconds, the driver was able to finally select the right keys to press to request a tow truck.