What are the other nine doing?
The self righteous priggs are trying to prove some imagined point and driving dangerously.
What's the forum's view on sticking an orange flashing light on the roof so you can use the hard shoulder of the M6 because you're running late for a Dire Straits' concert?
It depends on the location. If its a permanent defile, like the mad mile in to the newly developed traffic jam at Poynton, then i queue up with the rest of the good natured locals. If its on the Motorway, then use all lanes up to the defile point. Simples. Unless you drive an Audi and consider yourself better than the rest of us.... or a white van 👿
as I was taught to do on a defensive driving course by a retired traffic cop...
How is blocking traffic 'defensive'? Why would a retired traffic cop encourage you to break the law? No policeman I've ever spoken to has suggested winding up other motorists is a safe course of action.
Trying to merge...
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Excuse the belt and braces approach with two links, but I can never remember how to do vids...
Traffic, by Tom Vanderbilt, has a chapter on this. Filling both lanes is the most efficient strategy, but it breaks down because people in the destination lane get upset about the drivers using the merging lane, and end up blocking the merge.
Traffic is fluid dynamics, basically.
I've not read that book; recommended?
One car is overtaking. What are the other nine doing?
Also overtaking, as a continuous line of faster moving traffic. Since all 10 cars want to be going faster than they are, and have (sequentially) reached the nearest point to the tractor that will allow them to move out safely, that's what they do
Right up until the bighitter forces his way out into a faster moving (appropriately) closely-spaced line of cars. ... at which time, point falls, as does the average speed of all the cars behind him because he's caused somebody to have to brake.Point stands.
So cougar, I'm interested: What would you do if you were driving at 70 and aproached a tractor in LH lane doing 30 with several cars outside it all doing 50 ? There's about 100 yards from the back of the last car to the back of the tractor.
Last time someone got really arsey with me at a merge, I forced my way in and then left a big gap so about 20 cars could get in...
Merge at the end. You sometimes get some "traffic lord" but it's their ulcer so I dont worry about them.
On my daily commute home (A1 J6 North) this seems to work pretty well. Last 200 yards everyone spaces out ready to merge and at the end of the lane. Job jobbed.
Bloody hell - that's very grown-up !Last 200 yards everyone spaces out ready to merge and at the end of the lane. Job jobbed.
I do what the highway code recommends - I drive to the end and filter in.
So cougar, I'm interested: What would you do if you were driving at 70 and aproached a tractor in LH lane doing 30 with several cars outside it all doing 50 ? There's about 100 yards from the back of the last car to the back of the tractor.
I'd ignore the lot of them. I'd already be in the left hand lane as I wasn't already overtaking anything, and I'd continue to pass the queue on the left as per the Highway Code. They're halfwits.
[b]Rule 163[/b]stay in your lane if traffic is moving slowly in queues. If the queue on your right is moving more slowly than you are, you may pass on the left
On approaching the slower-moving vehicle in the left lane, I'd signal to indicate my intention to change lanes. I'd match my speed with the second lane traffic and attempt to merge. I wouldn't cut anyone up, and would yield to anyone who intentionally boxed me in by accelerating after I indicated.
On finding a gap I'd move out, pass the obstruction, move back left and accelerate back to the speed limit.
there is no (appropriate) gap as they're all safely spaced. You can't move out unless you force your way into an unsafe space or someone slows to let you in.On finding a gap I'd move out
Congratulations, either way you've slowed down the line of traffic. Don't worry though, your progress has been maximised. You may collect your bighitter badge at the next services.
there is no (appropriate) gap as they're all safely spaced.
Someone would let me out, almost certainly. If not, then I'd slow and wait. I'd wait longer than the back of the original queue if that's what it entailed.
Congratulations, either way, you've slowed down the line of traffic.
I haven't impacted that line of traffic at all, as per the above. I'll join the back of the shorter queue and wait my turn. A momentary slowing of one vehicle to increase a gap by a few yards to let me out is negligible in the grand scheme of things; certainly it has less impact overall than the entire contents of a multi-lane carriageway squeezing madly into one lane in the first place because there might be a hazard somewhere in the next time zone.
Is this hypothetical single line of yours any more efficient then, with everyone bustling into one single line as far as the eye can see just because there's a tractor on the horizon? Is that preferable?
It's the same daftness as in the OP. If two lanes queued and merged like a zip it'd be a non-issue.
How insecure do you have to be to form a rolling roadblock in the outside lane incase someone queues for slightly less time than you?!
Think it depends. If traffic is building up, or stationary ie through roadworks, drive to the end and zip in. If the traffic is flowing then try and join the inside lane earlier in good time , as barging it last second just causes traffic to brake and concentener.
I've not read that book; recommended?
No. It's quite a dull tedious read but one or two interesting facts about how traffic behaves. The bits worth reading could be in a pamphlet but instead it's a very long book.
Think it depends. If traffic is building up, or stationary ie through roadworks, drive to the end and zip in. If the traffic is flowing then try and join the inside lane earlier in good time , as barging it last second just causes traffic to brake and concentener.
This. If you do something different you are doing it wrong.
iainc - Member
I drive a BMW, what's a queue?
What you should be in so I can pass you in my Audi 😉 (I actually drive a Hyundai, it's easy to jump into front of queues as everyone assumes your just clueless for driving such a boring car 🙂 )
The above tractor situation describes perfectly roads like the a14 or a50 heavily used by lorries
I once travelled 6 miles at 65mph (yes I counted it on the odometer) in the inside lane, 'undertaking' cars that had followed each other to overtake a lorry, as more cars pulled out the end of the queue got further and further away from the lorry until the back of the queue couldn't even see it
Some cars where even sat in outside lane before moving across at 200yards to exit the slip road!
At the front of the queue undoubtedly another lorry doing 1mph more than the one they where tryi g to overtake, my other pet driving hate - why, they take miles to pass each other for what?
I've not read that book; recommended?
I found a lot of the stuff about road safety interesting, particularly from a cycling viewpoint. It has a lot of examples suggesting that conventional assumptions about traffic management and safety are wrong, and how some of the effective solutions are quite counter-intuitive.
Drive to end, use horn to advise that I am now about to filter
So cougar, I'm interested: What would you do if you were driving at 70 and aproached a tractor in LH lane doing 30 with several cars outside it all doing 50 ? There's about 100 yards from the back of the last car to the back of the tractor.
Why are the folk in the outside lane all doing 50mph? If they were not crapping themselves at the thought of having to overtake they'd be doing 70 and the gaps would be bigger, allowing cars to merge easily therefore keeping the speed of the cars higher.
You have the 'queuers' on the left, the 'mergers' on the right. The troublemakers are those that drive down the right, and then decide to merge before getting to the end of the lane in case they upset everyone. Especially when they stop and block the lane whilst waiting for a gap to move over into.
By merging early, they slow the left hand lane down, their place on the right is taken by the next car, and this is why the left lane always moves slower and people get irate.
I have this on my commute home every day, the left lane queues across a roundabout and causes congestion and blocks buses from getting into a bus lane, the right lane is clear for another 300 metres. Until they erected 'merge' signs I would see road rage and tailgating almost every day at the merge point.
If everyone merged at the pinch point, and [u]not early[/u], both lanes would move the same speed and be the same length. The left may even move quicker as the trucks and buses in the left lane 'claim' more space at the merge point and then the 'queuers' would be in a kerfuffle and decide they should queue in the right hand lane 😆
[i]Why are the folk in the outside lane all doing 50mph? If they were not crapping themselves at the thought of having to overtake they'd be doing 70 and the gaps would be bigger, allowing cars to merge easily therefore keeping the speed of the cars higher.[/i]
So say there is a couple of cars alongside you. You have to slow down before overtaking. Say two minutes earlier a HGV overtook the tractor and slowed the traffic in the outside lane, causing a queue. Unless its dead quiet you can't expect to pass a slow vehicle at 70mph, there will always be a bit of congestion.
I get a fair bit of hatred from other road users for the car I drive anyway (not German, by the way) so I figure I may as well do the correct thing and piss off the queuers by driving to the end before merging.
Traffic is fluid dynamics, basically.I've not read that book; recommended?
It's a great book, it explains the many reasons why traffic very much isn't fluid dynamics. Highly recommend it.
So say there is a couple of cars alongside you. You have to slow down before overtaking. Say two minutes earlier a HGV overtook the tractor and slowed the traffic in the outside lane, causing a queue. Unless its dead quiet you can't expect to pass a slow vehicle at 70mph, there will always be a bit of congestion.
why is the queue still there if people are driving properly.
Shockwave traffic jams anyone?
[i]Don't drive like the empty lane is the back straight at Snetterton and show courtesy before and after someone allows you to merge.[/i]
The problem is that's generally the way I see these lanes being treated. There are two on my route home from work when I drive. M8 to m77 slip road and m77 at Newton mearns where it goes from 3 to 2 lanes. People hammer up the outside of the 3rd lane and just have to get in front of one more car then slam on their brakes as they've forced their way into a gap that's too small. I generally sit in the inside lane And drive pass lane 2 and 3 chaos. I'm very surprised there aren't accidents here on a daily basis.
As for the m8 to m77 merge I join on the inside so have no reason to move out. I let people in that I indicate in a timely manner. If some fanny doesn't show intention of wanting in then why would I leave a gap for them? If indicating is too difficult for them then **** them, it's not a difficult task.
See that "merge in turn" sign on page one? That's the first time I've ever seen that! Is it used nationwide? 😯
So say there is a couple of cars alongside you. You have to slow down before overtaking. Say two minutes earlier a HGV overtook the tractor and slowed the traffic in the outside lane, causing a queue. Unless its dead quiet you can't expect to pass a slow vehicle at 70mph, there will always be a bit of congestion.
And the solution to this dilemma is for everyone to queue in one lane for miles, obviously.
Again; if people were travelling in the left lane by default unless overtaking, [i]as they're supposed to,[/i] then the situation you describe would be a momentary inconvenience. The truck passes, normality returns, and everyone can go back to overtaking at 70mph.
Having two lanes of traffic squashed into one lane with no thought for braking distances means as soon as someone at the front brakes, everyone else brakes harder to compensate, and you get phantom traffic jams. You know, where you sit at 10mph for half an hour then it suddenly dissipates and you wonder, "what was that all about?" You said yourself, a truck passed [i]two minutes ago,[/i] and there's still knock-on problems.
It's retarded. Stop it.
THC, emphasis mine:
264[b]You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear. If you are overtaking a number of slower-moving vehicles, you should return to the left-hand lane as soon as you are safely past. [/b]Slow-moving or speed-restricted vehicles should always remain in the left-hand lane of the carriageway unless overtaking. You MUST NOT drive on the hard shoulder except in an emergency or if directed to do so by the police, HA traffic officers in uniform or by signs.
268
Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. [b]In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right.[/b] Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.
Driove slowly down outside empty lane, with headlights on, look for a new car, near the end of the queue, and overtakeit and indicate lef, they always let you in, as they dont want their nice new car damaged, do they.
or pass down parked vehicles till end of lane, and stop dead, with head swiveling like an ostrich tied to a swivel chair, and panic, saw this the other night on the A55,
I ride to the front on my motorbike and then filter down the single file traffic and still people will pull out to block me.