Why is it so hard to remember to get gas?

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So I'm stuck on the side of the road waiting for roadside assistance because I ran out of gas. Who do I always seem to f forget to get gas? Even when I know I need it I'll drive past gas stations because I forgot to get off and am focus on getting to my destination.

Anyways mostly a rant while I sit in 113 degree (f) weather. Real feel being 120 and wait for someone to rescue me from my own stupidity.

I think the fuel guage is in a bad spot. I used to have to put a visual reminder (a tiny dalek) higher up, right on top of the dashboard in my line of sight to remind me.
If I didn't get fuel I might be exterminated by tiny said dalek, so I said to myself whenever I saw it.
I remembered to get fuel.

People thought the daleks were something quirky but they had an important job.
Don't underestimate the power of doing 'stupid' things.

I usually do someone similar. I'll wrap my charging cable around the stearing wheel to remind me I need it. Someone's that works others I forget once I start driving.

I'm the opposite. I start to panic at about half-tank. Mine says how much distance I have left and I know from experience it can die when it still says 40 km or under. One time my son brought my car home from a long trip and hadn't noticed he was out of gas. He got home but when I went to use the car after him it said 0 km. I didn't even know if I'd be able to get to a pump.

Hope you're OK and didn't melt to death swrider.

My wife's care has an audible alarm when the level gets low and estimates the distance left.

If it's a repeated problem, there's stuff you can put in the tank to boost the fuel level high enough for the car to actually access it.

I'm lucky I haven't ever run out of gas because my current vehicle only gives me a Low Fuel light when there is 1 gallon left!

Refueling when you hit 1/4 tank remaining is a good strategy.

I am good now. It took about an hour and a half, but it got sorted.

I was less than a mile from the gas station but they only eat there was over a freeway bridge.

I've been trying to fill at a quarter tank, but yeah I'm not good about it.

Supposedly we like routine. Perhaps a routine would help?

=>- Routinely buying gas more often than you would need to? (Would once a week do that?) Over the long-term you'd spend about the same amount of money but more time...possibly offset by not running out of gas.

=>- Routinely check the gas gauge every time you start the car and if it is below a threshold get gas. My threshold is ¹/₄...sometimes I don't immediately get gas at that point but getting gas becomes a thing-to-do. I haven't run out of gas in decades (decades ago I did run out of gas...I didn't like it).

^Once a week (like every monday or like that) is good. For some folks.

I had a car with a gas gauge that suddenly developed a whimsical mind of its own. The arrow would just wander up to full ...and then down to half full, down to empty, and then back up to some random place in between full and empty...without any relationship to the actual amount of fuel in the tank. Thought I was screwed. Unless I got it fixed. But since I had already figured out the car's mileage and knew the size of the gas tank...I just ignored the gas gauge and got into the habit of zeroing the triptometer whenever I filled up the gas tank. And I just got into the habit of going to the gas station whenever the triptometer hit some magic number like '300'. The car got 19 mpg in city driving (21 highway) and had a 20 gallon tank so at its worst mileage it could go 380 miles on a full tank...so 300 left a good cushion. And it worked. Never bothered to (and probably couldnt afford) to get the gauge fixed, but never ran out of gas.

^^A gauge doing that would drive me bonkers.

My car has a bright orange light that shows up when I'm near empty. I've only seen it twice. Last time I did I used the dregs at the bottom of the tank which was bad for the car. I ended up having to get the injectors cleaned.