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Generally what I've noticed on the Peninsula (like driving 280 N/S or sometimes 101) and the South Bay is that people drive like they should be in the left-most

Generally what I've noticed on the Peninsula (like driving 280 N/S or sometimes 101) and the South Bay is that people drive like they should be in the left-most lane the farther away they are from their exit. This means regardless of what speed they'll be driving, they tend to gravitate toward the faster lanes and inevitably create traffic. Not only that, but many of these people then cut across all 4 or 5 lanes of traffic at the last possible minute because they realize almost too late that their exit is next and they don't understand that in most cases they can just use the next exit if they miss the first one.

giantrobot 5y ago
Not to defend shitty drivers but many exits up the 280 and 101 on the peninsula don't have easy turn arounds if you miss an exit. If you miss an exit you sometimes have to go a ways out of the way to turn around. This is especially the case on the 101's exits. You can hit lots of traffic, lights, and no u-turn intersections before being able to turn around and fight the same back to the on-ramp.
- spike021 5y ago
  Then that means the driver should plan to be in a lane close to exiting as far back as necessary to avoid dangerous maneuvers. Even if using a GPS, it'll usually say which exit you need to take; just combine that with the sign markers every so often that say the upcoming exits and you'll know how soon the exit you need is coming up. It's really not that difficult.
  - giantrobot 5y ago
    Again, not to defend shitty drivers, but this commentary is largely impractical on the 101. Many exits on the 101 are poorly designed cloverleaf style exits and signage on that freeway is terrible. The cloverleaf exits are very long meaning to get on the off ramp you have to merge into the right lane earlier than the signage suggests. It's easy to get trapped in the faster lanes by assholes that won't let you merge. There's many situations where you simply can't merge right early. The 101 up the peninsula is a terrible freeway and its poor design and signage causes problems for even courteous and attentive drivers. It was interesting to drive on during the early days of the pandemic when traffic was significantly reduced. It became painfully apparent the design of the 101's exits were made for those super low traffic levels and woefully inadequate with today's levels.

giantrobot 5y ago

Not to defend shitty drivers but many exits up the 280 and 101 on the peninsula don't have easy turn arounds if you miss an exit. If you miss an exit you sometimes have to go a ways out of the way to turn around. This is especially the case on the 101's exits. You can hit lots of traffic, lights, and no u-turn intersections before being able to turn around and fight the same back to the on-ramp.

spike021 5y ago
Then that means the driver should plan to be in a lane close to exiting as far back as necessary to avoid dangerous maneuvers. Even if using a GPS, it'll usually say which exit you need to take; just combine that with the sign markers every so often that say the upcoming exits and you'll know how soon the exit you need is coming up. It's really not that difficult.
- giantrobot 5y ago
  Again, not to defend shitty drivers, but this commentary is largely impractical on the 101. Many exits on the 101 are poorly designed cloverleaf style exits and signage on that freeway is terrible. The cloverleaf exits are very long meaning to get on the off ramp you have to merge into the right lane earlier than the signage suggests. It's easy to get trapped in the faster lanes by assholes that won't let you merge. There's many situations where you simply can't merge right early. The 101 up the peninsula is a terrible freeway and its poor design and signage causes problems for even courteous and attentive drivers. It was interesting to drive on during the early days of the pandemic when traffic was significantly reduced. It became painfully apparent the design of the 101's exits were made for those super low traffic levels and woefully inadequate with today's levels.