Robert’s Rants & Rationalizations

If you are turning right on a surface street, move to the far right if it is safe and there is paved roadway available. This will allow traffic behind you to flow without an interruption, which will keep drivers content. Whenever you force the vehicle to slow behind you, you are causing the vehicles behind you to all slow by either lifting off the accelerator or braking…this effect is known as a ripple effect.

Keep everyone happy and content by driving smart, not hard.

When driving during the commute time, more people should consider the slow lane as the laid back lane! The fast lane (the lane on the far left or the one next to the high occupancy vehicle [HOV] lane) should be considered the more aggressive lane because the vehicles are going faster, tend to have minimum distances between vehicles, and the drivers want and try to get somewhere faster than the lanes to the right.

What really gets me is that in the slow lane, some people, during high traffic periods, act like they are in the fast lane. They keep minimum distances partly to not let other vehicles in front of them. Now, this causes some on-ramps to back-up, and with the site of that, the slow lane traffic will slow down or stop, all together.

The department of motor vehicles state that the rule of thumb on distance between two vehicle is one vehicle length for every 10 miles per hour. This allows some space to react when braking so the chances are lower that you will hit the vehicle in front of you before you come to a complete stop, or slow down enough to allow you to get back to the minimum recommended spacing.

…oh, this is just the start of many threaded discussions on driving!

You’re driving in the second from the right lane. Your lane is proceding nicely, meaning, you are going faster than the right lane. A car moves from the right lane to your lane, and you have to let off the accelerator…just a bit. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself putting a new dimple in the rear of their car!

All is nice except for one thing, this driver doesn’t accelerate to the lane’s current speed. Even if they do accelerate, they don’t get up to the speed the rest of the drivers in that lane are driving…those drivers are leaving you and this person behind!

It’s not really the fact that you are left behind. It’s reall that you were driving in your zone…you were comfortable at that speed or around that speed, but the ‘new guy/girl’ is messing things up. Even two miles per hour slower is uncomfortable.

I’m not one to really do anything damaging, but I do think of it…DON’T YOU?

If you move into another lane with vehicles (cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, etc.), adjust to their speed, don’t mess it up for the others.

If you have the patience, wait for the faster traffic to get by, and then make your move. Drive aware!

Scenario:
You are cruising down the freeway/highway/expressway/etc. in the second lane from the right. Ahead is a car merging onto the roadway, and you are slowly approaching and will over-take the car. There is no car within 10 to 20 lengths of the merging car that is in the same lane, but the driver moves over into your lane, anyways. I have to slow down because my speed is slightly higher than that dang car. I just have to throw my hands up and ask, “Why do you have to move into my lane when there isn’t a situation to force you to move from your lane!”

In my area, some of the newer (15 years or younger) are lacking some of the signs that state the obvious…”Slower traffic stay right”. Remember, I was about to overtake the merging car!