In Seattle, it’s often because of people with poor spatial skills not grasping the concept of relative speeds as it pertains to large objects and/or a solipsistic belief that they are the only cars on the road, as these same people often merge into the middle lane ASAP regardless of whether there is already a car there or not
That is not counting the right lane being clogged with people trying to get off at the next exit a couple of miles ahead or who aren’t daring enough to dart out in front of the people in the middle lane who are going at least 20 MPH faster or the rush hour “metered traffic” when the non-carpool lane gets a traffic light with a “one car per green” law.
In Eastern MA, it’s often because the other drivers are intentionally blocking you and thus leaving you no way to merge and nowhere to go when the lane ends; they can be dangerously rude there.
@john65pennington I drive a car that had only 70 HP a quarter of a century ago, and probably less now. When it was new, it could do 0–60 in about 14.5 seconds (comparable to a Smart ForTwo) and 60–0 in 179 feet on dry pavement with a professional driver (comparable to a Chevy 1-ton pickup) so I know all too well about having to plan my moves. Sometimes I think the only reason I don’t get in more trouble is that the big skull on my hood intimidates people out of cutting me off.
I wonder how much of the jackassery on our roads has to do with the fact that modern cars perform better than the souped-up hot rods of your youth. Most cars nowadays can do 0–60 in under 8 second with ease and do a ¼-mile run in the time it takes me to hit highway speeds, stop in under 150 feet even on slippery roads, and exceed 0.8 lateral Gs in cornering; notably better than cars made in 1985, and far better than 1965.
@Paradox I have to side with @Kraigmo here. Even my slow-as-molasses Corolla can hit the same speeds as the cars in the right lane before the onramp lane ends and merges, even when that speed is 70MPH.
IMAO, if you can’t judge the speeds of the cars around you then maybe you shouldn’t have a license in the first place. Other nations have no issues with roads that don’t even have speed limits, but they also have stricter licensing requirements and thus their drivers are overall better in things such as situational awareness, judging relative speeds, and driving within the performance limits of their vehicle.