4 ms·

>Doing this almost always triggers a tail-gaiting session and a driver becoming enraged at me ( I am not in the turning lane, for the record ). Or the fast/lef

>Doing this almost always triggers a tail-gaiting session and a driver becoming enraged at me ( I am not in the turning lane, for the record ). Or the fast/left most lane I hope. I cruise control in middle lanes and still have people tailgate like there isn't one or two open lanes to the left of me

rootusrootus 5y ago
One of the most annoying behaviors on the section of I-5 nearest where I live are people cruise controlling in the middle lane. I try so hard to drive courteously and safely, but middle-lane cruisers force me to make exceptions to that philosophy, just so I can make it from the left side of the freeway to the right. It also causes other traffic to resort to high speed passing on the right and left simultaneously because they are aggravated with the moving blockade. So I have no sympathy for people who cruise control unnecessarily in the middle lane. I wish the cops would write them tickets mercilessly until they stop. Traffic on the freeway flows smoothest (and safest!) when there is a comfortable difference in speed between the lanes, predictably from slowest to fastest as you go farther left.
- throwawaylinux 5y ago
  What's the actual problem with maintaining a constant speed in the middle lane?
  - rootusrootus 5y ago
    This'll be my last reply on this topic, because I figure I'm talking to a brick wall. No offense intended :). I'm sorry that people don't really understand why the whole 'please stay to the right except when passing' rule makes the freeway flow much better. A line of cars bumper-to-bumper in the middle lane on cruise control causes so much congestion. But people do it because they don't want to be inconvenienced by the occasional traffic getting on the freeway. If it were a four or five lane freeway it would be less egregious. But what it does to I-5 when it's only three lanes is really terrible.
    - honkycat 5y ago
      you're not talking to a brick wall you're just wrong just admit it
    - throwawaylinux 5y ago
      Ah okay. Where I've been the right lane is not occasionally impeded with traffic merging and exiting, it's almost constant, so lots of people hogging the left lane actually causes blockages from people trying to enter and exit. I also haven't noticed the middle lane blockage problem that much. It's very easy to merge when people are traveling a constant speed in a predictable lane. I can see where your problem is coming from though. Don't feel like you're talking to a brick wall though it's the nature of the forum it looks like a bunch of people all asked the same question around the same time (I didn't see the others when I hit reply) so you're actually responding to 3 different people, not one person who keeps being unable to follow.
      - throwawaylinux 5y ago
        *lots of people hogging the right lane
- 3np 5y ago
  At what percentage of the speed limit are these cruisers you’re talking about? Assuming it isn’t >10% under the speed limit, what’s your issue actually? In the situation you’re describing, if it’s a 3-lane highway and you’re in the fastest lane you need to plan and prepare properly to start transitioning well before you want to exit. If one or two cars at constant speed are preventing you from transitioning in time, the failure is on you. Having a constant safe speed in the middle lane sounds ideal.
  - rootusrootus 5y ago
    > Assuming it isn’t >10% under the speed limit, what’s your issue actually? Slower traffic keep right is a thing. You are not entitled to stay in the passing lanes just because you are going at least the speed limit. My issue is that it really mucks up the capacity of the freeway and increases the suffering for everyone using it. > you need to plan and prepare properly to start transitioning well before you want to exit I think I didn't make myself clear. It doesn't matter how early you plan, whether 10 seconds or 10 minutes. You will just have to put your signal on and take a spot, even if it puts you much too close to the guy in front with someone much too close to your bumper. Because the cruise controllers drive like a train, and don't care to leave any reasonable gap between them. Really, the reason traffic sucks in so many places is because people think laws like 'slower traffic keep right' are there to infringe on their rights, when really it's because traffic engineers have studied how traffic flows and made regulations to encourage it to be safe and as little congested as possible.
    - honkycat 5y ago
      The middle lane is for traveling at the speed limit. The left lane is for passing. The right lane is for merging and driving slowly. I'll just go ahead and link you to a drivers ed page since apparently you need to learn how the roads actually work: https://driversed.com/driving-information/driving-techniques/choosing-lanes/ https://driversed.com/driving-information/driving-techniques...
    - 3np 5y ago
      If you can see that’s the case, what are you even doing in the left lane? Sounds like you should just get in line in the middle with everyone else. > You will just have to put your signal on and take a spot, even if it puts you much too close to the guy in front It’s physically impossible to be forced to be too close to the car in front. Keep a safe distance, slowing down slightly if you need to.
- NobodyNada 5y ago
  I’m confused. I usually like to cruise control in the middle lane (at around 3-5 over the speed limit); how does this cause problems for you? If I were to stay in the right lane I’d be stuck going 5-10 under because of all the semis & constantly having to dodge merging traffic. If I stayed in the left lane I’d piss off everyone who wants to go 20 over. This seems to be how most people drive, and it achieves your graduated-speed-difference standard: the right lane is for semis & getting on and off, the middle lane is for most traffic traveling at a comfortable speed, and the left lane is for passing. What would you propose I do differently?
  - rootusrootus 5y ago
    > I’m confused. I usually like to cruise control in the middle lane (at around 3-5 over the speed limit); how does this cause problems for you? If it were one car, it would be a minor annoyance, at worst. But this style of driving is really popular, so it's a steady line of cars cruising the middle lane in a line. It divides the freeway into two one lane roads, bottlenecking traffic and making it difficult for people who are in the left lane to get to the right in order to take their exit. It may be that the dynamics are different in your area. Between Portland and Salem, Oregon, the exits are several miles apart so there's not much merging traffic. > What would you propose I do differently? In my experience the best freeway experience is when people pass only on the left, and there is enough of a speed differential between lanes that when you need to change lanes you can always find a spot you fit in. It gets aggravating when traffic is pacing, especially at high speeds, because it makes it a lot tougher to make comfortable lane movements. It's worse when the left lane is filled with cruisers, because they always bunch up and follow each other with a 1-second separation, making lane switching hard (and when you turn your signal on, at least half of them will just speed up to make sure the gap is even tighter). I'm not going to tell you how I think you should drive. There are a lot of factors that are not necessarily the same between where I drive and where you drive. But I can tell you that the dynamics on this section of I-5 up here are just awful. It's a well known local phenomenon, everyone I've ever ridden with through that section of I-5 comments on how terrible the traffic gets with passing on the right, left, and locked up down the center.
    - 5y ago
- thumbsup-_- 5y ago
  > I try so hard to drive courteously and safely You don’t need to try that hard. It isn’t that much effort. Just accept the fact that going +5-10mph will hardly save 5-10 mins on a 100 mile drive but going near speed limit (+ 2 to 5 mph) will result in everyone having a safe and easy drive. People trying “hard” to drive safe are the most dangerous on roads as they think they are constantly changing lanes and going around others for safety reasons but actually result in more danger and annoyance for everyone else.

rootusrootus 5y ago

One of the most annoying behaviors on the section of I-5 nearest where I live are people cruise controlling in the middle lane. I try so hard to drive courteously and safely, but middle-lane cruisers force me to make exceptions to that philosophy, just so I can make it from the left side of the freeway to the right. It also causes other traffic to resort to high speed passing on the right and left simultaneously because they are aggravated with the moving blockade. So I have no sympathy for people who cruise control unnecessarily in the middle lane. I wish the cops would write them tickets mercilessly until they stop. Traffic on the freeway flows smoothest (and safest!) when there is a comfortable difference in speed between the lanes, predictably from slowest to fastest as you go farther left.

throwawaylinux 5y ago
What's the actual problem with maintaining a constant speed in the middle lane?
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  This'll be my last reply on this topic, because I figure I'm talking to a brick wall. No offense intended :). I'm sorry that people don't really understand why the whole 'please stay to the right except when passing' rule makes the freeway flow much better. A line of cars bumper-to-bumper in the middle lane on cruise control causes so much congestion. But people do it because they don't want to be inconvenienced by the occasional traffic getting on the freeway. If it were a four or five lane freeway it would be less egregious. But what it does to I-5 when it's only three lanes is really terrible.
  - honkycat 5y ago
    you're not talking to a brick wall you're just wrong just admit it
  - throwawaylinux 5y ago
    Ah okay. Where I've been the right lane is not occasionally impeded with traffic merging and exiting, it's almost constant, so lots of people hogging the left lane actually causes blockages from people trying to enter and exit. I also haven't noticed the middle lane blockage problem that much. It's very easy to merge when people are traveling a constant speed in a predictable lane. I can see where your problem is coming from though. Don't feel like you're talking to a brick wall though it's the nature of the forum it looks like a bunch of people all asked the same question around the same time (I didn't see the others when I hit reply) so you're actually responding to 3 different people, not one person who keeps being unable to follow.
    - throwawaylinux 5y ago
      *lots of people hogging the right lane
3np 5y ago
At what percentage of the speed limit are these cruisers you’re talking about? Assuming it isn’t >10% under the speed limit, what’s your issue actually? In the situation you’re describing, if it’s a 3-lane highway and you’re in the fastest lane you need to plan and prepare properly to start transitioning well before you want to exit. If one or two cars at constant speed are preventing you from transitioning in time, the failure is on you. Having a constant safe speed in the middle lane sounds ideal.
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  > Assuming it isn’t >10% under the speed limit, what’s your issue actually? Slower traffic keep right is a thing. You are not entitled to stay in the passing lanes just because you are going at least the speed limit. My issue is that it really mucks up the capacity of the freeway and increases the suffering for everyone using it. > you need to plan and prepare properly to start transitioning well before you want to exit I think I didn't make myself clear. It doesn't matter how early you plan, whether 10 seconds or 10 minutes. You will just have to put your signal on and take a spot, even if it puts you much too close to the guy in front with someone much too close to your bumper. Because the cruise controllers drive like a train, and don't care to leave any reasonable gap between them. Really, the reason traffic sucks in so many places is because people think laws like 'slower traffic keep right' are there to infringe on their rights, when really it's because traffic engineers have studied how traffic flows and made regulations to encourage it to be safe and as little congested as possible.
  - honkycat 5y ago
    The middle lane is for traveling at the speed limit. The left lane is for passing. The right lane is for merging and driving slowly. I'll just go ahead and link you to a drivers ed page since apparently you need to learn how the roads actually work: https://driversed.com/driving-information/driving-techniques/choosing-lanes/ https://driversed.com/driving-information/driving-techniques...
  - 3np 5y ago
    If you can see that’s the case, what are you even doing in the left lane? Sounds like you should just get in line in the middle with everyone else. > You will just have to put your signal on and take a spot, even if it puts you much too close to the guy in front It’s physically impossible to be forced to be too close to the car in front. Keep a safe distance, slowing down slightly if you need to.
NobodyNada 5y ago
I’m confused. I usually like to cruise control in the middle lane (at around 3-5 over the speed limit); how does this cause problems for you? If I were to stay in the right lane I’d be stuck going 5-10 under because of all the semis & constantly having to dodge merging traffic. If I stayed in the left lane I’d piss off everyone who wants to go 20 over. This seems to be how most people drive, and it achieves your graduated-speed-difference standard: the right lane is for semis & getting on and off, the middle lane is for most traffic traveling at a comfortable speed, and the left lane is for passing. What would you propose I do differently?
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  > I’m confused. I usually like to cruise control in the middle lane (at around 3-5 over the speed limit); how does this cause problems for you? If it were one car, it would be a minor annoyance, at worst. But this style of driving is really popular, so it's a steady line of cars cruising the middle lane in a line. It divides the freeway into two one lane roads, bottlenecking traffic and making it difficult for people who are in the left lane to get to the right in order to take their exit. It may be that the dynamics are different in your area. Between Portland and Salem, Oregon, the exits are several miles apart so there's not much merging traffic. > What would you propose I do differently? In my experience the best freeway experience is when people pass only on the left, and there is enough of a speed differential between lanes that when you need to change lanes you can always find a spot you fit in. It gets aggravating when traffic is pacing, especially at high speeds, because it makes it a lot tougher to make comfortable lane movements. It's worse when the left lane is filled with cruisers, because they always bunch up and follow each other with a 1-second separation, making lane switching hard (and when you turn your signal on, at least half of them will just speed up to make sure the gap is even tighter). I'm not going to tell you how I think you should drive. There are a lot of factors that are not necessarily the same between where I drive and where you drive. But I can tell you that the dynamics on this section of I-5 up here are just awful. It's a well known local phenomenon, everyone I've ever ridden with through that section of I-5 comments on how terrible the traffic gets with passing on the right, left, and locked up down the center.
  - 5y ago
thumbsup-_- 5y ago
> I try so hard to drive courteously and safely You don’t need to try that hard. It isn’t that much effort. Just accept the fact that going +5-10mph will hardly save 5-10 mins on a 100 mile drive but going near speed limit (+ 2 to 5 mph) will result in everyone having a safe and easy drive. People trying “hard” to drive safe are the most dangerous on roads as they think they are constantly changing lanes and going around others for safety reasons but actually result in more danger and annoyance for everyone else.