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VERIFY: Does Texas offer free roadside assistance?

A Facebook post claims if you call a number on the back of your driver's license when stranded on the side of the road, a service truck will be sent to you, paid for with your tax dollars.
Photo: iggy1965 / Getty Images

Our Verify team got an interesting question from a viewer. Juanita Mauricio wanted to know if a Facebook post about your Texas driver’s license is true.

The post says on the back of the license, there is a phone number for emergency roadside assistance. It claims if you call when stranded on the side of the road, a service truck will be sent to you, paid for with your tax dollars.

So is it true? Our Verify researchers went straight to the source, the Texas Department of Public Safety. DPS officials say there is a hotline for stranded motorists on the back of your license, but it is not there to send you a free tow truck.

Instead, operators in Austin will hook you up with the police department where you are stranded to make sure you are safe while you wait for help to arrive. However, you will have to pay for that help yourself.

So we can verify the Facebook post claiming the number on your license for free roadside assistance is false, so you probably don’t want to share that post with friends.

VERIFY: Sources

Texas Department of Public Safety

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