4 ms·
Somewhat different from the commuter-oriented topic of the article, I've seen attempts by truckers to enforce a similar pattern in construction zones (traffic r
by drv 16y ago
Somewhat different from the commuter-oriented topic of the article, I've seen attempts by truckers to enforce a similar pattern in construction zones (traffic reduced by one or more lanes) on long stretches of highway: In a situation where one lane has to merge because it is closed in the distance, the "nice" drivers all merge far ahead of time, while the aggressive drivers attempt to go all the way to the end of the lane and then merge ahead of everyone, causing the kind of grinding gears described in the article. To combat this, a couple of big rigs driven in parallel in the open lane and the lane that is closed ahead block all traffic from passing. This prevents the aggressive drivers from attempting to merge at the last second, smoothing out the wave. I've seen this happen several times on cross-country trips; I wonder if the truckers coordinate over radio or just choose to do it independently.
On a related note, I wonder if "lane closed ahead" signs placed too far ahead actually make this problem worse, since many drivers will immediately merge out of the closing lane far ahead of time, causing a wall of traffic if the front of the line has to slow down for aggressive last-second merges.