People love to joke that Oklahoma drivers move at a relaxed Sunday stroll. And sure, that might be true in a few sleepy corners of the state. But there is one stretch of highway where that stereotype falls apart the moment your tires hit the pavement. It is the closest thing we have to a lawless Autobahn, and you already know exactly where I am going with this.
I-44 between OKC and Tulsa is wild. Completely unhinged. Eighty-seven miles of unpredictable traffic that somehow feels both empty and overcrowded at the same time. It is the long, unscenic kind of Oklahoma drive too. You know the type. Just miles of flat grass, concrete, and the occasional billboard that looks like it survived the Dust Bowl.
That whole corridor from the turnpike gate near I-35 all the way to the Gilcrease Loop does something strange to people. Traffic pours out of OKC every night, even more when a holiday weekend rolls around. Mix in the parade of semi trucks moving everything America buys and suddenly you are in the middle of controlled chaos that is not really controlled at all…