🚀 go-pugleaf

Rahul Dhesi wrote:
> 
> I don't think I am greatly at odds with you, but I am at odds with
> a number of other people.  There are two different philosphies being
> espoused by people:
> 
> G. Stay right except to pass.  Everybody who is not actively passing
> anybody squeezes into the right-most lane.  The rightmost lane will thus
> have lots of vehicles packed in it with very little following distance.
> The remaining lanes should be idle except for the occasional "passing'
> motorist.  Highway traffic capacity is reduced to the capacity of a
> single lane plus a few per cent.  A 4-lane highway might carry as much
> traffic as 1.2 lanes, for example.  It's a violation of protocol if
> there are two lanes of traffic moving at the same speed:  everybody in
> the left of the two lanes must immediately merge right, even if this
> results in the right lane having vehicles spaced only a fraction of a
> second apart.
> 
Well, maybe we are more at odds than I thought. I don't remember seeing
a single post suggesting that everybody not passing should "squeeze"
into the right lane. There should always be a safe distance between
cars. If you are too close, you are driving dangerously. So now you
might say "but that means the right lane will be slower because everyone
is spread out." Right! So if it's not fast enough for you, overtake - in
the left lane. Believe me, you won't be the only one there. Both lanes
are FULLY UTILIZED. There's no single lane plus a few percent going on
here. In fact if you were to take a photograph of this scene versus the
one you advocate, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. It would
be flowing a whole lot better though. It seems to me you are
deliberately misquoting or misrepresenting responses that don't agree
with you. Not the best way to make friends - or a convincing argument.

> H. Move with the speed of traffic in your lane.  The rightmost lane is
> slowest, and the leftmost lane is fastest.  However depending on traffic
> conditions adjacent lanes can be moving at the same speed -- thus you
> are not required to be always passing vehicles on your right.  Highway
> capacity is the total capacity of all lanes.  Change lanes when you wish
> to go noticeably slower or faster than the average speed of traffic in
> your lane.  Maintain a 2-3 second following distance.  No lane is left
> idle.  Instead, we use all available highway capacity, and thus keep
> following distances as large as possible.  Final effect:  few lane
> changes, large following distances, no accidents, but both slow and fast
> vehicles are easily accomodated.

What is so good about "few lane changes?" You seem to cling to this like
it's the holy grail of driving. This is horrible, mindless, discourteous
driving and has zero effect on safety except maybe to decrease it due to
road rage. There's nothing good about that. Properly done (hell - it's
not difficult) lane changes are totally safe. No accidents? Forcing
people to overtake to the right (it doesn't matter whether they should
or not - they WILL on your road system) can only INCREASE accident rates
as it's always harder to see someone coming up on your right than your
left. Fast and slow vehicles? Suppose there are one hundred vehicles all
wanting to do slightly different speeds? They can't in your version of a
highway. There are only as many speeds as lanes. They can do any speed
they like on a disciplined road system (assuming it's not at capacity at
the time) where folks follow the simple and courteous "keep right"
rules.

> 
> >However, when you are the lead car in the left lane, ie. the slowest,
> >you should make an effort to be courteous and allow following traffic
> >to pass you by pulling over as soon as is practicable. You might even
> >consider accelerating to make this easier. Obviously, in a situation
> >where you ARE lead car, traffic cannot be congested so you have no
> >excuse to block the lane.
> 
> It would be short-sighted to only look at the one vehicle ahead of you
> and one vehicle behind you.  What I do is look as far ahead as I can
> see, and as far behind as I can see, and estimate the average speed of
> all those vehicles in my lane.  Then I either drive at that speed or
> consider changing lanes.

Ok, now you've completely lost me. My original comment, repeated above,
makes no mention of a single car in front or behind. (You must stop this
misquoting stuff, Rahul.) It makes the point that you should not hog the
left lane just because you think you are going fast enough to be there.
BTW, it matters not whether you are doing the speed limit or even
greater. Yield to following traffic. You have no right to "police"
others. They may have a medical or other emergency. Or they may just be
in a foul mood and armed to the teeth. Either way, let 'em go. But back
to the point you DO make. You're telling me now that you analyze the
traffic by looking as far ahead and behind as you can see, then estimate
the average speed of all the observed traffic in that lane before
deciding to stay in lane or leave? Perhaps we've found the root of your
lane changing problems. Sounds way too analytical to do on the fly.

Here's all you need do:

Decide if you are comfortable in your present lane at your present speed

If you'd rather/need to go faster, check your mirror to see what's
coming up on your left.

If there's a vehicle coming, wait 'til it passes. Don't force it to
brake.

If nothings coming, or after it passes, indicate your intention and,
after an over-the-shoulder double-check, pull into the lane to your left
and overtake.

If there are no further vehicles to overtake, return to the lane to your
right after making certain no-one has crept up on you from the right.
(This latter check wouldn't be necessary if everyone followed proper
form.)

To change lanes to the right if you feel you're going too fast, use the
method in the line above.

Easy right?