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Should I slow down to merge right safely, antagonizing the car behind me further? By all means, yes! You should also signal your intent to merge right. If the

by grzm 10y ago

Should I slow down to merge right safely, antagonizing the car behind me further? By all means, yes! You should also signal your intent to merge right. If the traffic to your right is as congested as you suggest, you'll be able to merge right before the following vehicle can pass you on the right, as they require more distance and time to do so than you do just changing lanes. You might say that I should never have been in the left lane to begin with. I've said no such thing, nor would I. I've been very clear, repeatedly, that you should move right if you're impeding traffic from passing you on the left. If that means that you need to move repeatedly between two lanes of traffic and you don't wish to do so, I suggest you modulate your speed to flow with the traffic in one of those two lanes. You need to take into account the environment you're in — the flow of traffic — not necessarily the ideal you may want. As I've mentioned, if you impede traffic from passing you on the left, you create congestion which increases the risk of collision. There's no numerical threshold. If the vehicles are allowed to pass, the congestion is alleviated. Allowing faster traffic to pass is not the same as entitling you to drive at a constant, slower speed while preventing them from passing. If you don't allow them to pass, you create congestion, regardless of their following distance. If you expect them to pass on the right, you also increase risk. If you prevent someone from passing out of spite ("I feel I owe them no courtesy"), you create an even more dangerous situation, as you create tension within yourself which affects your driving behavior in addition to creating congestion. Indeed, if they're tailgating dangerously close, that should be even more motivation to merge right, not because they're driving in a responsible manner (they're not), but because you do what you can to ensure your own safety. On single-lane roads and someone is tailgating, I'll sometimes move onto the shoulder and slow down to let them pass for exactly this reason. I've now repeated myself a number of times and can't think of anything else I want to add. If I've written something you don't understand or disagree with, please feel free to point it out and say so, and I'll do my best to express myself better.

xapata 10y ago
Suppose there are only two cars on a one-lane freeway, with no space to pull over (no passing possible). The cars/driver in front wants to travel at 60, but the car behind wants to go 70. Who should adjust speed? What if there are three cars total and the first two want to go 60, but the last wants 70? What I'm trying to get at is that it's possible the faster driver ought to slow down rather than the slower driver speed up. Practicalities aside, just thinking of the ethics.
- grzm 10y ago
  You've now changed the situation quite significantly. In every case so far, I've been clear in arguing about multi-lane roads where the road isn't fully congested. This isn't some made-up scenario cherry-picked to prove my point: this is exactly the case I'm concerned about, and the one I understand you to have implied in your initial comment. You're now concerned with a one-lane highway. In nearly all cases I've argued that the slower vehicle should merge right, not speed up. The only case I've suggested increasing speed is when the driver of the slower vehicle doesn't want to modulate speed moving between two lanes to allow faster-moving traffic to pass. You're now concerned with the slower driver needing to speed up. Given you're no longer contesting the original supposition, should I assume your agreement? You've now moved on to specifically construct a situation — significantly different from the original — where "it's possible the faster driver ought to slow down rather than the slower driver speed up." You're asking me to argue and potentially agree to this new situation, while not once having conceded or even shown understanding (or asked for clarification) of any of the points I've made so far. That said, I'll continue to do my best to argue in good faith and respond to your new situation. On a single-lane road, a driver should drive the speed they're comfortable with the conditions, including traffic. A following vehicle will need to slow down to avoid rear-ending the lead vehicle. Absolute speeds and number of vehicles above 2 are irrelevant. If the following vehicle is tailgating, the lead vehicle can maintain their speed, speed up, or move out of the way depending on opportunity. Those are the things they can control. They're not under any obligation to chose one over the others; it depends on their assessment of the situation. Practicalities aside, just thinking of the ethics. The rules of behavior really don't change. If everyone were behaving legally and safely (within the min and max speed limits, safe following distances), you still should move right to allow faster vehicles to pass on the left, and for the same reasons: prevent passing on the right, prevent congestion, both of which decrease risk of collision. At this point, I can't think of anything else to add, nor am I interested in discussing new tangents. I sincerely hope you consider changing your driving behavior, as it will improve traffic flow and be safer all around. Be well, and drive safely.
  - xapata 10y ago
    > Given you're no longer contesting the original supposition, should I assume your agreement? That's how a debate works, no? I wanted to look at a different scenario, because I think there wasn't really a difference in opinion to begin with. A good way to conclude an argument is to find a point both people can agree on and work back to the original topic. In this case, it seems you misunderstood my initial comment as that I refuse to change lanes. In turn, I misunderstood your initial reply as telling me to avoid the left lane. Perhaps I also exaggerated my refusal to change lanes in response to a tailgater. I didn't mention that I use my turn signal to let them know I'm looking for a chance to shift. If the opportunity does not immediately present itself, I begin to gradually slow down until I can change lanes. However, I find about half the time they're too impatient and don't give me the chance to shift safely.

by grzm 10y ago

xapata 10y ago

Suppose there are only two cars on a one-lane freeway, with no space to pull over (no passing possible). The cars/driver in front wants to travel at 60, but the car behind wants to go 70. Who should adjust speed? What if there are three cars total and the first two want to go 60, but the last wants 70? What I'm trying to get at is that it's possible the faster driver ought to slow down rather than the slower driver speed up. Practicalities aside, just thinking of the ethics.

grzm 10y ago
You've now changed the situation quite significantly. In every case so far, I've been clear in arguing about multi-lane roads where the road isn't fully congested. This isn't some made-up scenario cherry-picked to prove my point: this is exactly the case I'm concerned about, and the one I understand you to have implied in your initial comment. You're now concerned with a one-lane highway. In nearly all cases I've argued that the slower vehicle should merge right, not speed up. The only case I've suggested increasing speed is when the driver of the slower vehicle doesn't want to modulate speed moving between two lanes to allow faster-moving traffic to pass. You're now concerned with the slower driver needing to speed up. Given you're no longer contesting the original supposition, should I assume your agreement? You've now moved on to specifically construct a situation — significantly different from the original — where "it's possible the faster driver ought to slow down rather than the slower driver speed up." You're asking me to argue and potentially agree to this new situation, while not once having conceded or even shown understanding (or asked for clarification) of any of the points I've made so far. That said, I'll continue to do my best to argue in good faith and respond to your new situation. On a single-lane road, a driver should drive the speed they're comfortable with the conditions, including traffic. A following vehicle will need to slow down to avoid rear-ending the lead vehicle. Absolute speeds and number of vehicles above 2 are irrelevant. If the following vehicle is tailgating, the lead vehicle can maintain their speed, speed up, or move out of the way depending on opportunity. Those are the things they can control. They're not under any obligation to chose one over the others; it depends on their assessment of the situation. Practicalities aside, just thinking of the ethics. The rules of behavior really don't change. If everyone were behaving legally and safely (within the min and max speed limits, safe following distances), you still should move right to allow faster vehicles to pass on the left, and for the same reasons: prevent passing on the right, prevent congestion, both of which decrease risk of collision. At this point, I can't think of anything else to add, nor am I interested in discussing new tangents. I sincerely hope you consider changing your driving behavior, as it will improve traffic flow and be safer all around. Be well, and drive safely.
- xapata 10y ago
  > Given you're no longer contesting the original supposition, should I assume your agreement? That's how a debate works, no? I wanted to look at a different scenario, because I think there wasn't really a difference in opinion to begin with. A good way to conclude an argument is to find a point both people can agree on and work back to the original topic. In this case, it seems you misunderstood my initial comment as that I refuse to change lanes. In turn, I misunderstood your initial reply as telling me to avoid the left lane. Perhaps I also exaggerated my refusal to change lanes in response to a tailgater. I didn't mention that I use my turn signal to let them know I'm looking for a chance to shift. If the opportunity does not immediately present itself, I begin to gradually slow down until I can change lanes. However, I find about half the time they're too impatient and don't give me the chance to shift safely.