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flyingron

flyingron

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FlyingRon
Back in the 80's there was a big furor in the Washington Post over a doctor who wrote a letter to the editor that he gets in the left lane and drives exactly 55 continually (this compounded by people who pace him in the right lane).

Twice here in NC I ran into our local version of the idiot. You are driving down the freeway and the sign says "right lane closed ahead." People start to move to the left lane and that slows down. Then this guy gets into the right lane and paces the car next to him in the left lane to prevent people from passing. This was a particular annoyance as I knew I was exiting PRIOR to the lane closure. I ended up having to pass this idiot on the shoulder. I didn't give it much thought until it happened to me again. Now I'm not one to zip up the close lane and try to dive in at the last minute, but this behavior just causes both lanes to snarl up and make it impossible for people to merge.
 
If I know there is no exit between me and the closure I’ve been known to do the same thing. Both lines would move much better if everyone merged early prior to reaching the closure and maintained a reasonable speed.
 
Grum.Man said:
If I know there is no exit between me and the closure I’ve been known to do the same thing. Both lines would move much better if everyone merged early prior to reaching the closure and maintained a reasonable speed.
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There are studies that show that merging at the last moment is actually better and more efficient.

Blocking a lane so folks don't pass (or merge from an on-ramp into slow traffic) still happens in the DC area on the Beltway and I66. I've also seen it in various places up the I95 corridor, with New Jersey perhaps being the worst.

Some of those ride the white line blocking two lanes so no one can get by.
 
You're not encouraging a safe merge. You're essentially jamming up both lanes behind your self-righteous posterior. Leaving the lane open allows people to find gaps and smoothly merge together.
 
Walboy said:
Why did you HAVE to pass on the shoulder? Did you pass simply because you were annoyed at the pace of the the traffic?
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I was annoyed at the obstraction of the one self-appointed highway behavior cop. There was no obstruction in the lane ahead between this clown and the exit.
 
IIRC, the practice of blocking an open lane (and it's open all the way to the point where it's not) is obstructing traffic. As such, I wish the police would be kind enough to zip up to the vehicle doing the blocking, pull it over and issue a citation. A few hits on the insurance bill as a result of blocking traffic just might help ease the issue.
 
Your always goigtohave the self righteous driver,controlling traffic,can be very frustrating just have to relax,there’s not much you an do.
 
The last time someone passed me on the shoulder a cop pulled them lol. It annoys me that some people feel they are more important than others and pass all the people who safely merged early when the signs told you to merge just so you could save your self a few minutes at the cost of everyone else in line. Try that in. Grocery store and see what happens to you.
 
Grum.Man said:
The last time someone passed me on the shoulder a cop pulled them lol. It annoys me that some people feel they are more important than others and pass all the people who safely merged early when the signs told you to merge just so you could save your self a few minutes at the cost of everyone else in line. Try that in. Grocery store and see what happens to you.
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Read the FHWA document I posted. The Feds say a last-minute zipper merge is better.
 
Anymouse said:
IIRC, the practice of blocking an open lane (and it's open all the way to the point where it's not) is obstructing traffic. As such, I wish the police would be kind enough to zip up to the vehicle doing the blocking, pull it over and issue a citation. A few hits on the insurance bill as a result of blocking traffic just might help ease the issue.
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About 18-20 years back, there was some putz who sat in the left lane of the Ohio Turnpike, doing 65. people were passing him on the right. Troopers cited him for obstructing traffic and some other stuff.

Putz appealed his convictions. He claimed the only way he could have obstructed traffic if everyone else was speeding. The appellate court upheld the convictions, telling Putz that it wasn’t his job to enforce the traffic laws.
 
wsuffa said:
Read the FHWA document I posted. The Feds say a last-minute zipper merge is better.
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The feds say a lot of dumb stuff. That only works if everyone does their part which they don’t. The “zipper” will work just as well 2 miles back as it will at the cones. The truth of the matter is you have good people doing their part to get in line early and safely while “me first” people bellow down the closing lane going 30 mph faster and cutting in line taking advantage of trucks and cars providing a safe following distance.
 
Last time I saw I95 was 2014, 50 miles south of DC, we were south bound heavy traffic but running 45, but the north bound at 05:30 was a parking lot.

Never again.
 
Grum.Man said:
The feds say a lot of dumb stuff. That only works if everyone does their part which they don’t. The “zipper” will work just as well 2 miles back as it will at the cones. The truth of the matter is you have good people doing their part to get in line early and safely while “me first” people bellow down the closing lane going 30 mph faster and cutting in line taking advantage of trucks and cars providing a safe following distance.
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And when you're driving a motorhome or pulling a trailer, people don't want to be behind you and will dart in front and slam on brakes. Can't tell you how many people I've almost rear ended in the Winnebago because people take advantage of the fact that I've left the following distance a 23,000 lb vehicle needs.
 
wsuffa said:
Read the FHWA document I posted. The Feds say a last-minute zipper merge is better.
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Then the road should be designed so that the lanes merge symmetrically instead of closing a specific lane and giving priority to the other one.
 
Zipper or Buffer aside, obstructing a lane doesn't promote either and causes safety and congestion issues.
 
flyingron said:
Zipper or Buffer aside, obstructing a lane doesn't promote either and causes safety and congestion issues.
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Yep. Around Atlanta (for most of the perimeter highway and most of the interstate once it is ~5 miles outside the perimeter) we have a lot of 3 lane interstates. Slower drivers won't stay in the right lane because they don't want to deal with merging traffic. So we're effectively down to 2 lanes. And then you get the morons who gravitate immediately to the left lane any time they are on the interstate. With the middle lane inevitably occupied by (slow) semi's and other work vehicles, your only "fast" path is to pass on the right, which I hate doing.

Lane discipline is a lost technology...
 
flyingron said:
Zipper or Buffer aside, obstructing a lane doesn't promote either and causes safety and congestion issues.
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If people weren't going fast enough in the right lane to cause a dangerous speed differential I'd agree with you. You know traffic is slowing down ahead but you're not slowing yourself. It's a different issue when it's an exit lane but there are two near me that have very few people exiting when there is traffic - they get to the end and suddenly realize it's an exit only and then force their way in.

I merge early and drive courteously, I wish more people did
 
kyleb said:
Yep. Around Atlanta (for most of the perimeter highway and most of the interstate once it is ~5 miles outside the perimeter) we have a lot of 3 lane interstates. Slower drivers won't stay in the right lane because they don't want to deal with merging traffic. So we're effectively down to 2 lanes. And then you get the morons who gravitate immediately to the left lane any time they are on the interstate. With the middle lane inevitably occupied by (slow) semi's and other work vehicles, your only "fast" path is to pass on the right, which I hate doing.

Lane discipline is a lost technology...
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Haha, reminds me of an incident when I was a new driver thirty years ago. I was diving home from work in my boss's work van (he let me take it home occasionally for the next day's job). I think I was in the middle lane on the Garden State Parkway. I forget how slow I was going, but obviously it was too slow. I got pulled over by a NJ State Trooper and told that I needed to pick it up a bit! After a few speeding tickets over the years, I still get a chuckle when I recall my first ever traffic stop. :D
 
Stephanie B said:
About 18-20 years back, there was some putz who sat in the left lane of the Ohio Turnpike, doing 65. people were passing him on the right. Troopers cited him for obstructing traffic and some other stuff.

Putz appealed his convictions. He claimed the only way he could have obstructed traffic if everyone else was speeding. The appellate court upheld the convictions, telling Putz that it wasn’t his job to enforce the traffic laws.
Click to expand...

There is hope!!
 
While not *exactly* the same situation, I used to live in a city that had a spur interstate which dumped two lanes of high-speed traffic into an intersection with a traffic light at the "end" of the interstate. Rush-hour traffic would result in both inbound lanes at a standstill for a half-mile or more as the traffic light would slowly work through its paces.
There were almost always people in a bigger hurry than everyone else, and those folks would run the right shoulder next to the guardrail at 55 to 60 MPH to get to the traffic light.
More than once I watched a large box truck or an eighteen-wheeler straddle the white line to stop the insanity.
 
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