Makes less sense to jam on that accelerator to get in front of someone so you can hit the brakes, and continue the stop and go cycle. It makes about as much sense as getting angry and agressive behind the wheel - does getting there 5 or 15 seconds faster justify stress and anger, especially behind the wheel? Is it worth missing the cues of the driver 2 up - and slamming into the car you misjudged cutting in front of someone? Does it really work, shaking your fist or flippinf someone off - from behind your moving glass cage, where you know its safe?

I'm just curious why driving safer makes no sense... and why people have to be so "desperate" to be first in line, even tho you'll still get 10 feet up the road in the same amount of time?

My husband does that.
I accuse him of having sex with his parking spot. I call it parksex.

It's because of the "blivit". A blivit is when one tries to put two pounds of crap in a one pound bag. Then there is always the jerk who refuses to let anyone in front of him as if he'll get to his destination sooner that way.

...along with all of the idiots in pickup trucks that just HAVE to back in to a parking spot, then go back and forth to position their truck "just so" while everyone else in the parking lot waits. This happened to me this morning and I had another idiot behind me yelling (at me, I think) "Get the f..k out of my way!" He was about 10 seconds away from a full-out road-rage attack when the truck in front of me finally got out of the way and traffic could move. I think I'll name this a "parkiton".

I totally agree, after 24 years in the Bay Area, I moved back to Wyoming. What a relief it is!

Looks a lot the way ants act.
Who really knows who the dominant species were from say, 100 million years up until now? There is still part of our brains that reflect the mindless, strictly reactive beastie in all of us.

Maybe you will rethink that after reading the article on robot decision making regarding car crashes:
http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/1b...

I agree, drivers in Australia and NZ are very courteous and almost everyone lets other cars in the line whether its a merge or just someone entering from a parking lot or side street.
BTW, hogging the 'fast' lane is a ticketable offence in both Oz and NZ. There is virtually no fast lane road hogging based on my experience. (Plenty of speeding tickets are issued and speed cameras are ubiquitous.)

You have to drive overseas for a while to appreciate the advantages of round-abouts, too.

as we drive to Thanksgiving at granny's, we can
enjoy the science of delays even more!!! -- j

I grew up in LA, learned to drive the freeways there, took those skills to Wyoming and now, a traffic jam is six cars at a stop light. Geeze, I love Wyoming!!! LOL

I hate when people zoom past you when obviously there is a long line for a reason! I love when trucks veer into the other lane to block it off. I try that sometimes, but people still fly by, and that makes me super nervous.

Its just an example of wave theory caused by peoples' reaction times and separations between cars in an overloaded freeway.

You're forced to wait until the last few feet by the fact that if you don't, people will pass you in the closing lane and then force their way in front of you.

I've seen better behavior in states that post "Take Turns" signs at these places.

Just wait 'til kids figure out that if they run out in front of you at the right moment, your robo-car will panic-stop. Once it starts happening hundreds of times per trip, maybe something will be done about it, but I doubt it.

Which is why that technique (1) doesn't make sense, ever, and (2) makes everyone behind you desperate to pass you.

It doesn't matter if people run that lane or not, they'll still be in that queue moving over... it's the people who say "the HE!! if I let YOU cut in front of ME, I'll just CUT YOU OFF and SHOW YOU!!!" that cause the jams. And the accidents from not letting someone in (that shuts the highway down. Everyone is so afraid to let someone get in front of them, because, Horrors of horrors, you're less of a tough independent driver because someone got in front of you, and you might be 3 1/4 sedonds later than you were otherwise??

Strangely enough... I've driven in Italy, the UK, Germany, France, Russia, etc... people don't have this weird "no-cutsy's" routine the dolts do in the states - they see someone comig up beside them, they either speed up or slow down to let them in. Traffic slows down, sure, but it works.

Damn Looters! <grin>

I found if I go slower (not my much) than the car in front of me I'm not going from brake to accelerator, the cushion makes up for it. Of course, people come in, cut in front of me, and then hit their brakes...

Part of the phenomenon is the lane next to yours will be moving faster. Always. Of course, everyone will move over to *that* lane, and it slows down. The other rule is this - what we were taught was the "fast lane" and "slow lane" are reversed - I see "trains" of people doing 5 under the limit in the left lane (usually behind a self-appointed traffic regulator) , and people sailing by in the right.

Or go to L.A. People will sit and wait in a left turn lane, green arrow going, no one coming... then when it turns yellow, 5 or 6 cars blow through the left lane. I have asked people, and no one seems to know what's that one about... but everyone does it. (I typically "run" green lights down there, sure enough, the car behind me faithfully stops and waits for a yellow...)

I don't miss driving in commute traffic - not at all!

We get our own, tho. Speed limit is 55. You come up behind someone doing 60 (and you're doing 65 or so) and they slow w-a-a-a-y down to about 40-45, as long as there's a double yellow line. Once the passing lane comes up, they're back up to 70+... until it ends, then back to 40-45.

But bottom line is 2xlane cars into 1 less lane equals a traffic problem until either traffic load is reduced or lanes are increased. Merging sooner spreads out the slowdown, but not using the lanes available for their entire length does not solve the problem.

Yes, I posted this because on Tuesday I was stuck for 15 minutes and after that all cars just accelerated to 65 mph with no evidence of mishap anywhere (on I-10Westbound east of Atlanta.)

I'm ready for Robo Cars!