How about people tailgating you even when you’re in the right lane and going the speed limit? It’s twice as irritating when a cop tailgates you!

Hey, if you’re a policeman and you’re going to tailgate somebody, put your lights on or your siren on! Don’t just be a jerk about it. Obeying the same traffic laws that you enforce will go a long way toward public perception of law enforcement! Duh!

Morons staring at their phone in one hand and while holding the wheel with the other. Only glancing up occasionally to check the road.

Clueless schmucks gonna kill somebody. Bejeweled and SnapChat can fucking wait.

There are hundreds of things I could name, and I hate the usuals like tailgating and being cut off, but I’ll name some of the biggest ones for me personally (not saying I’m a perfect driver either):

I definitely agree with looking at phones. And yes, some of my friends do it while driving, and I suspect it’s a “millennial thing”, though it’s not limited to them. When I’m in the left turn lane and the light is green and the person in front of me is not going, and I can see that they’re looking at their stupid phone, that’s when I want to bump their car and wake them out of their technological daze.

Another is when people come barreling down a driveway. I don’t know that you’re going to stop. You look like you’re going to keep going and slam right into me. I understand that sometimes it can be hard to see if anyone’s coming from a driveway, especially on a road with two sides of busy traffic, but then you slowly inch out until you can see, you don’t come barreling out and stick way out into my lane.

The last would be red-light runners. Luckily more intersections around here are photo-enforced, but I can’t stand when my light as green, and some jackass is turning left right in front of me. If you’re doing that while my light is green, you obviously ran a red. (I sometimes honk at people doing this, though I notice most people don’t. One time I did honk at someone doing this and the guy next to me gave me a big smile and a thumbs up). Some people think that because they’ve been waiting to turn for a while, they’re entitled to turn on a red light. It’s that entitled attitude that pisses me off the most.

I have almost given up my motorcycle hobby simply because of smartphones.

Tailgaters when they can see I can’t move over and I can’t go faster.

I think I am generally very tolerant of other drivers, but my pet peeve is when people try to undertake and pass on the right on two-lane highways when there is not much room and little to be gained due to traffic ahead. It seems to me they are endangering everyone for the sake of being a few cars ahead of the reasonable drivers who leave enough room to stop in an emergency.

@jca Pass me on the right when they are in a turn only lane, and jump in front of me.

@si3tech I had someone do that to me the other day, except they were also making a left turn from the right-turn lane. I just gaped and then laughed, as it was pretty slow traffic.

@Zaku That’s it exactly! They are in a right turn only lane when they turn left in front of me.

When I am driving on a long 2 lane highway (usually California I-5), and I am passing a long series of trucks, and some simp comes up on my ass and blinks his lights for me to pull over, while I am actively passing much slower trucks!

Tailgating (even if the person being tailgated is going slow in the fast lane, there is usually a reason, and it’s still unsafe).

Not using a turn signal bedore changing lanes or turning.

Cutting people off.

Cutting into line on a freeway onramp.

Idiots that do an unsafe illegal pass just to park their dumb ass in front of me and proceed to then go 5 to 10 kph slower than I was traveling.

Drivers that just have to pull out in front of you when there was no one behind you, you can’t wait an extra five seconds?

Drivers that go down the road looking at their crotch, because that is where their smart phone is.

People that don’t use their fucking turn signals!
They, all of a sudden, just randomly slow down and then come to a near stop to make their turns without any, prior signaling. Drives me nuts!
People that force themselves ahead of you when 2 lanes are merging and you are in the left lane that IS the merge lane.

They can’t just fucking fall back for ONE extra second, nooo, they just have to be FIRST, passing you on the right just to gain one car length in front of you. Jerks!
People that don’t turn their shitty music down when next to you at a light. You have to sit there with your car levitating from their bass and be subjected to their crappy non-music.
Yeah, I’m getting old and I hate rap! lol

Motorcyclists that split lanes and squeeze past you with inches to spare.
People whose damn dogs are lolling their head out of the car and bark at you while you are waiting at a light and they just sit there staring ahead and make no attempt to shut their mongrels up. Tailgating and those that tailgate and stay on your ass trying to force you to drive faster than is safe or the speed limit.

How about the motorcyclists with no license plate? They usually are on a bullet bike. They ride their motorcycles like they used to ride bicycles- which means wherever they want. There’s next to no way to hold them accountable and the police can’t catch ‘em. But then again maybe the police don’t care.

I guess it’s not appropriate to get angry at someone who’s so broken in personality that they deliberately smoke in the presence of someone who gets an asthma attack and a major migraine from breathing their smoke for even a minute.

I’ve seen people do this. It’s just mind boggling. My daughter has landed in the hospital before because of this.

All valid irritants, for sure.

A smaller (and almost as irritating, to me) one is, people who’ve already made their LANE CHANGE into the turning lane, and THEN apply their directional signal.

Thanks, you nitwit, for letting us all know the move you’re “going” to make after you’ve already made it.

You’re already IN the lane with the huge white arrows…..we got it…..

Or the ones who drive for miles with their left turn signal on, then suddenly turn right, or move into the right lane, without signalling.

^^^^I once heard a highway patrolman say that anyone driving with a blinker on for more than a minute should get an automatic reckless driving, because it means they are not checking their instrument panel.

Tailgating. Not only on my tail, but when they are in front of me, or beside me also, tailgating the car in front of them.

Driving slowly in the passing lane (left in America) on the freeway.

People who don’t signal.

People who don’t put their lights on in bad rain and fog.

This isn’t necessarily a driver thing, but traffic intersections that have green lights that run too long, which creates red lights that run too long in the other direction. When I live in places that have a lot of intersections like this, the drivers run yellows constantly, dangerously, and when sitting at red lights they don’t pay attention to the traffic at all for long moments of time.

Pedestrians on their cell phones who walk out into traffic, usually going against the light, completely oblivious that there are cars. Or doing that while walking down the middle of the road in the parking lot.

I just had a great weenie driver moment about 30 minutes ago. Iwaiting to make right hand turn at a red light and apparently the jerk behind me felt I could just blow out into the traffic and resented waiting for me to determine the right moment to go, sooo, he actually puled around me to the left and wedged himself in front of me to make the turn FIRST! haha

I got a few great ones, a while back down in the lower mainland on the freeway saw a small car come down the on ramp stop burn a uturn and drive back up the on ramp, against traffic.

Another time saw a big cargo van come down the on ramp to merge on the freeway this guy with huge ear phones on, head swinging back and fourth like Stevie wonder beating on the wheel with drum sticks,2 drum sticks what was he using to steer the van with?

And another time on the freeway where we are all going 100kph or 60mph, a car just stopped in the slow lane and could see the driver pointing at the exit, I was coming up from behind him and had to lock all 30 tires up to avoid killing this idiot, and no I couldn’t just jump in the fast lane because it was bumper to bumper full of vehicles.

Not to mention the countless other drivers who can’t be bothered to use their turn signals, or yet the other that refuse to dim the high beams at night to on coming traffic.

And yet manufacturers keep making vehicles easier and easier to drive so the average moron can concentrate on their smart phone instead of driving, THANKS!

Many years ago I was driving down the interstate in the middle of very heavy rush-hour traffic. On my right, I pass a guy with his hands interlocked behind his head and he is STEERING WITH HIS KNEES.

What struck me most was, he was ALONE. In almost every case like this, some jackass is showing-off for other jackasses in the car. Not this guy. He was apparently just impressing himself….

Idiots who stall at green lights. I always yell,,it ain’t gonna turn purple!

LOL @NomoreY_A that’s funny because I always yell what colour do you fucking want??

Swinging to the left to make a right turn tends to draw a dirty look from me. I’m pretty laid back driving but I will tell people to put their phones down or get off the road. It’s cute that people think they can use a phone and drive safely but we know it isn’t true. Every holding a phone while driving should be a first-offense ticket. Some states don’t stop people for phone infractions, they only stop for something else and then tack on the phone issue. I don’t think we should fool with our phones if our car is cranked and in gear.

People who bunch up in herds on the highway. It is perfectly possible to leave a very, very wide gap between you and the car(s) in front of you, where people can change lanes safely and easily, and lose nothing on time and speed.
When you crowd other drivers it makes you feel like you’re being forced to do something, which in turn tends to make you, yourself, frustrated and angry and maybe do something impulsively to get around them. The whole thing can be resolved by falling back and just chilling out. Everything will sort itself out eventually.

Oh one more, people that drive for miles down the freeway in ones blind spot.

I don’t get the heard thing either @Dutchess_III but people seem to love driving that way, someone in the front does something quick or stupid no one else has any time to react.

I drive a very busy 2 lane highway over here and always drive in the slow lane unless passing, maintaining the speed limit of 65 maybe a couple miles over while the fast lane drivers are hauling ass at about 75 -80 or more. Pisses me off when am going the speed limit or a little above and people come right up on my ass. Helloooo, what part of the speed limit do you not understand. I always delight in seeing people pulled over which happens a lot. haha

Exactly @SQUEEKY2. Exactly. That’s how you wind up with multiple car pile ups. People also tend to do exactly what the person in front does as if they don’t have a mind of their own. Just this weekend I saw 3 cars crowding a pick up. The first car behind the pick up finally decided to pass, and the other two immediately pulled out to pass too…and the last two didn’t have time to get in before the no passing zone. Only the first one did.
I see the same shit when you have a line at stop signs. The first car goes and the rest mindlessly follow suit. I guess they figure if it’s safe for the first car at the moment, it must be safe for the next 5 cars too.

@Coloma Mindless applies to the cars in your situation who do that. They can’t decide for themselves what speed to go. They count on the car in front of them to determine that. You know, that’s fine IF you keep about 20 car lengths between you and the car in front of you. But no. They have to be right up on your ass for some reason.

Oh, also lines at the drive through. You know you’re a sheep if you pull in line right behind the car in front, and don’t even notice that the line has been drifting further and further out in to the parking lot, obstructing traffic, and that there is 50 feet of empty drive through lane 15 feet to your left.

Has anyone mentioned that many drivers don’t know how to turn left at a signal.

When the light turns green and you are in the left turn lane, you need to get your ass out there into the intersection. Don’t just sit there behind the crosswalk like a toad.

The first car starts a slow roll out in to the intersection (don’t just sit there behind the crosswalk). Wait for traffic to clear to turn on green or yellow lights. If traffic does not clear on the yellow and the light turns red then turn on the red and the second and third cars follow through to make the left turn also.

@gondwanalon that depends on the state. When I lived in a mid size town in Indiana, people got all kinds of offended if you turned left on a green light by moving into the intersection and waiting for a break in traffic before completing the turn.

They want you to sit behind the line and when you get your break in traffic then move out into the intersection and complete your turn without slowing. It seemed a waste to me but that’s how it was. I never bothered to ask a policeman about it though.

Yeah, state laws vary on this left turn issue. MI has blinking red left turn signals, and other left turn conditions that are different than most states. I’m pretty sure on a blinking red left arrow it’s illegal to inch into the intersection. Some other states have blinking red left turn signals, I’m nit sure of their laws.

Most states it’s fine to move into the intersection on a round green light for a left, and almost expected as standard practice, but I doubt the law is to move up like that.

Where I live now we have blinking yellow arrows, which I have said for years makes sense to me, but had never seen it before, not that I can remember. A Michigander still might hesitate to move up into the intersection though. I’d have to ask, we have a lot of them here. My assumption is it’s legal to do it, I do it.

With the miracle that is the internet, none of us can use the excuse that traffic laws differ from state-to-state. For decades I did a few things in traffic which are technically illegal here, but legal and expected in the state where I used to live. Brief internet searches brought a couple of “oops” moments, for sure.

Many years ago it could be 5:15 in one city, 6:05 in another, and 4:55 in still another. Then they made the Standard Time Zones, and all of the train schedules instantly made sense.

Maybe some kind of national standardization should also be applied to our traffic laws…..

@PullMyFinger I’ll ask an Indiana cop about the left turn on green law there and get back to you. I’ll be driving through there sooner or later, anyway, so it’s best to know ahead of time.

I asked a cop friend about people being stuck in the intersection, waiting to turn left when the light turns red here in NY. I asked if they’re in the wrong when they turn on the red. He said any time you run a red light, you’re in the wrong whether or not you were stuck in the intersection. I try to gage the traffic ahead of me and try to assess the timing of the light.

When I was learning how to drive I was at an intersection turning left. My Mom was my “instructor.” I was waiting behind the cross walk, and my mother started screaming at me to move up into the intersection so I could be ready to go when the traffic cleared. I mean, she screamed, like it was something I should have already known and I was being an idiot. It scared me. Jesus. That was like my first time turning left at a stop light.

I remember when I was teaching my daughter to drive, and characteristically she exhibited her mamas stubborn, ” I can do it myself” attitude. We were driving down our small, narrow, one lane road when a guy in a big truck was coming. I told her to slow down and pull to the right to give him extra room and she blurts out ” Mom, I know what I am doing!” There was a huge oak tree right next to the road and I swear, we skimmed past the guy in the truck and the monolithic tree trunk by about 3 inches!

13 years later she has never had an accident, amazing, as while she is a good driver she is very aggressive and rather speedy. Of course, she bought her first brand new car about a year ago so I think she is being extra careful these days. haha

@snowberry Don’t try waiting for traffic to clear behind the crosswalk in L.A.. You’ll probably get shot. HA!

@jca I thought any time there is a red it’s the law that you must clear the intersection, so in turn that means finishing the turn on the red is legal. I actually never looked up the law though in my current state, I might be remembering that law from MD?

I’m just telling what a cop that I know told me. As far as whether something else may be different in another state, I am not sure.

Here’s the rule for CA, for anyone who’s interested: https://youtu.be/mpR0aXP6JLo?t=38s (watch through 1:05 to hear full rule)...

Basically, in CA, you can enter an intersection with a green or yellow light. It’s illegal to enter the intersection on a red light, and it’s illegal to block the intersection when your direction has a red light, but if you’ve entered the intersection legally and keep moving through it, it is actually legal to be “in” the intersection with a red…

Which means for unprotected lefts, you inch your way into the intersection, and once it’s clear you turn (and sometimes that means it’s red when you finally turn).

@jca I wasn’t arguing, more checking myself. The answer above this looks like CA has the law the way I think of it.

I’m pretty sure passing on the right is illegal in NY, unless it has changed. It’s legal in FL and MD unless that has changed in those states.

I don’t know if it’s illegal in Kansas or not, but they sure as hell do it all the freaking time here, on the 6 lanes. It seems like that never really used to happen 20, 30 years ago.

I pass on the right when there’s an idiot in the left lane clueless and going slowly.

I do too, after careful consideration, and I accelerate, like I’m passing on a two lane, to past them ASAP. But that usually happens on four lanes. In Wichita. On the 6 lane in around around the city, people just bonzi that far right lane doing 75, 80, whatever. They SHOULD be in the far left, fast lane.

I got another one ,when the signs say keep right except to pass why do people then drive in the left lane like they are out for a Sunday drive?

They used to read “Slower traffic keep right.” That used to piss Mom off. She said, “Some old guy doing 40 might think he’s just tearing up the road, and not consider himself “slower traffic!” She had a point, but why she had to get mad about it I don’t know. She got mad about everything.

This is a good place to ask a question I have. I posted a rant on FB about driving the other day, and said I leave 20 or 30 car lengths, or more, between me and the car in front, if I’m not going to pass. Someone made the comment, “But if you leave any space some car will move into that space.”
Someone else on here made that same comment a few months ago, as if to imply you shouldn’t leave any space so cars can’t move in and I don’t understand that.

I leave space between me and the car ahead of me, too, and get told the same thing, to which I say, “good!”—everything goes faster and smoother if we give each other space to change lanes when we need to. Fewer people having to slam on brakes, or having to jockey for position, or deciding to make risky last-minute maneuvers, etc.

@Dutchess_III You’re right and wrong about the distance thing, right up here it’s one car length for every 10kph.
Wrong that in heavy city driving leaving that kind of space will just get eaten up by other drivers, that could care less about a safe distance between them and the vehicle in front of them.
One thing you can do when in heavy traffic is always pay attention to the vehicles four or five ahead of the one in front of you if you notice them doing a panic brake or sudden move you will have time to react to it.

I know what the “rule of thumb” is @SQUEEKY2. I have my own. I leave much, much more space than the rule of thumb suggests, and I lose nothing in speed and travel time.

I didn’t say that that kind of space will be eaten up. I keep large swaths of open lane in front of me easily. Two other people have said that tho, that some one will “jump in” to any space you leave, and I’m trying to figure out their logic. The folks just need to change lanes. They aren’t jumping into a space for the hell of it. People need to leave PLENTY of room for others to move in and out of in front of them, comfortably.
The people who said that seem to use it as an excuse to crowd the car in front so no one can get between them, and that makes no sense to me. I was looking for an explanation.

Driving should be a cooperative, not a competition.

Oh no it turned me first at all costs some time ago and to hell with anyone else, oh and the rules of the road are for everyone else but me, because I am special, now excuse me I have to send a text and check an email while blazing through traffic.

And everyone is out to piss me off. They cut my car off just to be assholes. Had nothing to do with the fact that they needed to change lanes and barely had the room because of me.

And as time moves along, more and more of these thoughtless, shallow, self-involved, validation-seeking, ‘Fast-and-Furious’-loving, texting ‘millennials’ are getting their license to drive.

Fasten your seat-belt…..and cross your fingers…..

Fuck..I just ran the gauntlet getting home tonight. I am exhausted. haha
A crazy ride for me. I am now having an ice cold beer, 3 more on standby. lol

@Dutchess_III: I was one of the people a few months ago that was saying where I live, the roads during the commuting hours are so congested, there’s no “leaving 20 to 30 car lengths between you and the other car. There may be 3 car lengths but any more than that and you get cut off. It’s not being an asshat, it’s not being competitive, it’s just the way it is. Thousands of drivers are on the roads each morning commuting to New York city, and other cities and towns outside of Manhattan. Everyone is in a rush and it’s very cutthroat. Ditto going home. The speed limit on the road I take every day is 65 mph. If a driver is not doing 80 in the left lane, he better move over or he will get cut off. It’s a commuter highway with 3 lanes going in each direction. Same thing for the smaller “parkways” that were built in the 1920’s and were not made for the quantity of cars and the speeds that we have today – but there’s no 20 to 30 car lenghths on those parkways either. You can google “Westchester 684” or “Saw MIl Parkway” and see traffic cams to see what I’m talking about.

@jca what do you mean you get “cut off.” You mean people jump in front of you and slam on their brakes? Or they change lanes? Do you ever change lanes? Do people ever make room to allow you to do so? You leave how ever many car lengths in front that you want. It doesn’t affect your speed or drive time. People just tend to bunch together. I guess it’s some sort of instinct, but at 70 and 80 miles an hour it’s a dangerous instinct.

I’m looking at pictures. I see the same thing I see on every highway. Packs of cars, then a big space and another pack of cars. I also see a lot of wrecks caused by packs of cars. It’s up to you to maintain the distance.

@Dutchess_III: When I say “Cut off” I mean if there’s any type of significant space between one car and the other, especially in the left lane, a car will come from the right and edge into that space.

I can’t argue with you about it because I know what I know from over 15 years driving on that road and that’s about it. I can only assure you that unless someone wants to do 60 in the right lane, which I don’t want to do, then we all have to move at the same pace and we all have to maintain our positions.

Here’s a photo (upper left of this article). If you think this is easy riding or you think I’m incorrect in my assessment, then please come take a ride on a weekday morning around 8:00 a.m. and let me know how it goes. http://www.lohud.com/story/news/traffic/2017/04/15/westchester-roads-avoid-scheduled-work-week-april-16/100511034/

They’re simply trying to change lanes @jca. Why can’t you leave them enough room to do it? And you CAN maintain speed, pace AND position and you don’t have to be on top of the guy in front of you to do it.
Do you have to fight other drivers to change lanes?

And what does your link have to do with anything? So, they’re doing construction.

I know you’ve been doing it “that way” for 15 years. And that means nothing at all, either. When I met my husband he was horrible about tail gating and cruising along in the passing late. He’d been doing that for 30 years. Does that make it right?

This. THIS pisses me off!
Cars fall in directly in line behind the car in front of them and shut their brains off and don’t realize the whole line is drifting into the parking lot, blocking cars trying to get through and back out of parking spaces, and leaving the ENTIRE DRIVE THROUGH LANE OPEN.
It’s all the same thing. Do what the guy in front of you is doing. Shut your brain off. Mission accomplished.

And the guy in front of me kept leaving an entire car length between him and the guy in front of him, while there were cars lined up in the street waiting for a chance to get into the parking lot.

I live off of about a 2.5 mile long private road and the Quail & Squirrels on this road are notorious for darting out in front of you. I think there should be laws for wildlife that jaywalk. lol

There is residential street not far from me that I use often. We’ll call it 15th. It starts out going south for a bit, then curves around to the west. You don’t have the option of going straight. It just dead ends there, but it’s all the same street, 15th.
There is another residential street that intersects it just as the curve begins. We’ll call it 16th. There is no stop sign on 16th and time and time and time again people fly off of 16th onto 15th and fly around the curve with out pausing at the intersection, without looking. If it didn’t curve I know they’d be more careful. It’s like they think the curve is an extension of their street, 16, when it obviously is not. It T-bones 15th! Needless to say, I’m on my toes when I come to that intersection, because nobody else is.
I’ve tried to talk to the city about it, getting no response.

@Dutchess_III: The photo in the link is what it looks like every day during rush hour. I know the article is about construction but this is what it looks like every day. It’s very tough to change lanes into the left lane. As I said, I can’t argue about it. You have to come here and drive on it to see what it’s like. I’m not the only one that drives this way on it, everyone does.

It won’t let me look this time without trying to make me subscribe to something. From what I glimpsed of this small section, there were a few people who left room for people to change lanes. Most did not. But, that’s the herd mentality. ”I’m not the only one that drives this way on it, everyone does.” No, not every one does. Most people do. A few people use their own common sense. See my pictures above, of the drive through, for reference. Yes, MOST people do whatever the person in front of them are doing.

Here is video of I5 at rush hour. As you can see, most people are right up on the person in front. Some leave a wider gap to allow for smooth transition of lane changes. One guy even changes lanes in the video and he isn’t crowding anyone because the guy left him room to do it. And I’ve been on I5 during rush hour. I managed to maintain a safe gap without losing speed or pace.

I mean, it’s your call. You’ll just be up in the middle of one of those multi car pileups because of some stupid thing one of the drivers right in front of you did, and you didn’t have time to react.

I just looked at the video you linked and that’s not as busy as our rush hours. I’d say our rush hours on 684 are three times as crowded as that. The traffic in your video is probably equivalent to driving at 7 pm or 6 a.m. – not too bad yet.

I just google I5 in rush hour. That’s Seattle. I’m sure your high way seems much busier to you because you put yourself in the middle of the pack and that’s ALL you can see. The cars packed around you. Bu that’s your choice. You have to drive how you want to drive.

You still haven’t answered my question. Do you ever change lanes? Do you have to fight other drivers to do it?

@Dutchess_III That rush hour is nothing. They are still moving at a good clip. I hit traffic like that during off peak hours.

Unless instructed to switch lanes, like construction or an accident I usually just stay in the lane I am in, I watch lane jockeys switch lanes sometimes 8 to 10 times in about five minutes and most of the time it gets them no further ahead.

Well, again @JLeslie, you’re not in it. I imagine rush hour on I5 around Seattle is pretty busy, don’t you think? I mean, I could look at it and say, “That’s nothing compared to rush hour in Wichita too!” because looking at it and being IN it are two different perceptions. Find me a video of the highway you use during rush hour so we can compare.

Me too @SQUEEKY2. But I usually have to change lanes to get into the lane I want, depending on how many lanes I have to work with. And I just sit back and watch the packs and the fools from a safe distance, while going the same speed as they are.

I get in the left lane and I stay in it for 45 miles until I get to the city I work in, then I change to the right lane and get off the expressway. This is one of the busiest areas of the country, as I indicated it’s commuters going to Manhattan and going to lower Westchester.

Can you please post video of it @jca. Is it only a 4 lane? (2 lanes of traffic for each direction.)

You still haven’t answered my question @jca. To get into the left lane you have to change lanes. Do the people around you close up the gaps so you can’t, as you have indicated you do?

@Dutchess_III I’ve been driving in traffic since I was 16. I grew up in one of the heaviest traffic areas in the country, not saying there aren’t many many heavy traffic areas. You can map Tampa, FL now and see all the red on the interstates. That’s bumper to bumper slow moving traffic. Same with NY, DC,Orlando, probably have the same. It’s 5pm ET. I didn’t find video quickly, I’ll have to search later.

You have a lot of traffic, but it’s fast moving.

I understand. I’ve been driving in traffic since I was 16, too. Bumper to bumper slow moving traffic is one thing. Bumper to bumper traffic moving at 70, 75 mph is a whole other animal. If you’re bumper to bumper, even in slow moving traffic that’s your fault. You can avoid it.

What is the name of the highway you’re referring to @JLeslie? And @jca? I got 684, but I need something more specific. I’m closing in on finding video.

Tampa is I275 near where it meets I4.

Orlando is I4 and surrounding toll roads.

Actually, the FL turnpike usually doesn’t slow down, but the people drive very fast. They barrel down on you. Speed limit is 70 near me going towards Orlando.

NY actually doesn’t probably move as fast as your highways, where @jca is, because the highways are narrower, andin some places very curvy.

D.C. Beltway is I495. Down in the VA near I95 I think it’s 12 lanes (now I need to look that up). Center lanes switch direction during rush hour, changing how many lanes are going in one direction. I lived in the MD side growing up off of I270, which is now ten lanes. The inner four (two in each side) are express lanes.

Edit: crap, now I’m second guessing that the lanes that change direction are in I95 south of I495. I have to look it up. I haven’t driven there in years.

Link for hot lanes. Also known as reversible lanes.

I didn’t mean to say that wasn’t a lot of traffic on the video, I’m just saying there is a lot of fast moving traffic all over the country in heavy congestion areas. There also is a lot of bumper to bumper slower traffic. Usually, if you leave to much distance in front of you people keep going around and getting in front of you. I drive “slow” on the highways here, compared to a lot of cars. I just stay right when I’m not in the mood to go 80.

@Dutchess_III: Google “Westchester 684.” That’s 3 lanes in each direction, usually with a big area in the middle where there’s grass and trees or sometimes just grass. Left lane moves at least 80. As @JLeslie said above, if you leave too much distance in front of you, people keep going around and getting in front of you. Sometimes it’s slow, depending on whether there’s an accident, tow truck, cop or breakdown. Usually when I’m on it, it’s moving decently (hopefully) around 8:45. It’s a modern expressway.

The older ones that are still fast but are hilly and curvy and not made for modern commuting speeds or quantity are “Saw Mill River Parkway,” “Hutchinson River Parkway” and “Bronx River Parkway.”

Trucks are on 684 but not the parkways (Saw Mill, Bronx River and Hutch) because the parkways have low overpasses, arch shaped, very picturesque but not made for large trucks.

When I get on 684, I come down a hill ramp and merge into the right lane, and then signal my way over to the midldle and then the left lane, where I stay. The only time I get ouf of the left lane is if someone is going under 80 and there’s no reason for it, then I may pass them. Otherwise, if they’re going under 80 and it’s because they have slow traffic in front of them, it’s not their fault and there’s no reason for me to pass them.

It’s one of the most populous areas in the country, and in my opinion doesn’t compare to many other places like Seattle or Kansas.

@Dutchess_III When I first drove into the LA Basin at rush hour and bumper to bumper at 70 mph, and survived, I knew I could drive anywhere.

Here is the perfect sound track I used to play when I hit the San Fernando Valley on Highway 101 – Freeway Jam

@jca When my husband drove on the parkways the first time I lectured him before we pulled away from the airport that if a sign gave a recommended speed for a curve he had to abide by it since he doesn’t know the road. Lol. I’m paranoid now since my accident, even though my accident wasn’t in a car.

I STILL don’t understand what is wrong with people going around and getting in front of you. When you change lanes @jca, you’re getting in front of someone. Maintaining a gap is matter of adjusting your speed in micro bits. Back off by ¼th of a mile per hour until your gap is re-maintained then go back to speed.
If they feel better riding up on someone’s bumper, then more power to them. They’re foolish. I promise you that those multi car pileups are due to that. No one leaves them self enough room-time to react.
It doesn’t mean YOU have to be foolish too.

Tulsa around the Sandsprings area is a nightmare too!

Bumper to bumper at high speeds is dangerous.

People changing lanes to get around you is dangerous.

People coming up on car driving only 55 when that lane is going 75 is dangerous.

There are dangers in all. I realize you are not necessarily saying you want to drive slower than traffic, just with more space in front of you. It does not necessarily mean you are slowing down when people get it in front of you, but it might at times.

On a 4 lane highway, where two lanes are going in one direction, changing lanes isn’t a big deal. When 3–5 lanes are going in one direction, the change lane thing has a lot more to deal with. If the opening is to the far right lane to get around someone, but it’s near an on ramp, there can be people trying to merge on trying to predict traffic in that lane. This is one reason why a lot of states don’t have passing on the right. If a person in lane 4 wants to move to lane 3 while a person in lane 2 wants to move to lane 3 it can cause a collision. It’s not easy to see what the guy two lanes over is about to do. The more changing lanes and weaving in and out, the more possibilities for a mistake or misjudgment of that driver or surrounding drivers.

If someone wants to drive slowly they should just stay right, unless, and this is a problem too, they themselves suck at dealing with merging traffic and there are a lot of exits in a row. Then, if there is a center lane, maybe it is better they stay there.

One should drive the average speed on the traffic around you. And if you’re in 3–5 lanes, that’s when it’s time to pick a lane and stick with it, and leave plenty of room in front of you for people to change lanes easily. The biggest danger in lane changing comes in when people don’t leave space and the passing drivers feel that they have no choice but to cut people off in order to change lanes. None of this has anything to do with driving slower than everyone else.

Some seem to be arguing that you should not leave space. I still wonder how those who argue that manage to effect lane changes if it’s standard for no one to leave any space.

Well, space is subjective. You might think enough space is a smaller space than what others picture in their mind, or vice versa.

You don’t need much space if the driver coming over can match his speed really closely.

Something to consider, @JLeslie: Would you believe me if I told you that the yellow or white center lines on the highway are 10 feet long? They are. But the faster you go the shorter they look. It other words, a person passing you sees a much shorter space between the cars than you do. I don’t think a driver should have to worry about “matching speed.” He should just be able to get in easily without a lot of calculating. And then it’s up to you to back off your speed just a fraction until that space is back.

Another thing that bugs me is when people send conflicting signals with their cars. For example, they’re at a stop sign, but their wheels are still slowly rolling.

Hey, I think it would be great if people left a little more space at higher speeds. It’s safer obviously.

To get into a slower lane you kind of have to match your speed. Going into a faster lane you typically accelerate a little to make sure you get well ahead of the car you are going in front of so he doesn’t have to adjust his speed. Of course, it’s not all to the single mph, there is give and take on the road.

The goal in my mind is to be able to predict what traffic will do, not use our brakes on the highway, and have an out or enough stopping time if an emergency happens.

Well, of course you have to adjust speed depending on the circumstances. And having enough stopping time can only be achieved one way and you are in control of it.

On a very crowded highway it’s very difficult to keep extended space in front of you, because fast drivers will use the space to get ahead of traffic. The only way to make it safer is to reduce speed so you have more stopping time, but not go so slowly that you risk getting smacked in the back by a fast moving car.

I’m not arguing saying you shouldn’t leave space, I’m saying, as @JLeslie points out (and as I have too) that fast drivers will fill any spaces by cutting in.

New York doesn’t compare to other places in the country like Kansas not only because of the quantity of cars but because of the New York aggressive attitude (toward many things, not just driving).

I think my work here is about done. If I were such an awful driver, I’d have had accidents and/or tickets, and I’ve had neither on my 100 mile round trip commute I’ve been taking for the past 15 years.

Again, if anybody disputes what I’m saying, I say you don’t know till you’ve tried it. Come take a trip on these roads during rush hour and then we can discuss.

@jca I get what you are saying, and you are just keeping up with traffic,and if you leave a space another driver will just fill it.
But I also understand where @Dutchess_III is saying about leaving a space for safety, maybe instead of a full car length that someone can but in on try a half car length anything to give a second or two if something were to happen.
And as for not having any accidents what about the tanker mishap??? I know it wasn’t deemed your fault in any way but it was still an accident that you were a part of.

@SQUEEKY2: I wasn’t moving and I wasn’t on 684, so I don’t think of that as the same, @SQUEEKY2.

On 684, there may be a little break between cars, depending on traffic, maybe a car lenth or a few, but not 20 or 30 car lengths like @Dutchess_III is talking about.

I think we usually have 2–3 car lengths when traveling in heavy fast traffic. We had a two second rule when I was growing up, I don’t know if they still teach it.

Forget the 20 or 30 car lengths. That obviously can’t happen during rush hour, but 10 or 12 can. There should be 1 car length per mph hour you’re going, going by the book. So if you’re doing 60, that’s six car lengths. 2 – 3 is insane @JLeslie, unless you’re trying to commit suicide. I say leave more than what is suggested “by the book. If you’re doing 70, leave 10.. Simply leave enough for people to move in and out of comfortably so the traffic flows smoothly. What is wrong with doing that??? Somebody leaves enough room for you guys to change lanes, but you don’t think you should do the same?

It’s not about leaving room to change lanes. Someone signals and I’m happy to let them in. With three car lengths they can get over.

@jca makes a point of saying that if she leaves any space at all people will move into it. Therefore she doesn’t leave the space. Makes utterly no sense to me, and I have yet to hear a logical reason for it. People can only “cut you off” if you don’t leave enough room for them to maneuver.
Yes, they can get in with 3 car lengths, which is the distance you should leave between you and the car in front of you…if you’re going 30 mph. 7 or 8 car lengths would be much safer. But for some reason many people just can’t bring themselves to keep that much distance.
Anyway, I’m done. You drive the way you think is safest just because “everyone else does it that way, and that’s the way I’ve always done it.”

Lets get off of rush hour on the freeway.

What are your personal rules for driving on a two lane, 60 – 75 mph highway further out in the country when it isn’t rush hour? Not as many people, but cars can still pile up, one behind the other. Same rules? Stay on top of them so no one can pass you? Lots and lots of people seem to feel that way here.

I don’t think changing lanes to the space in front of me is necessarily cutting me off. It depends how it’s done.

I ask why the need to change lanes in heavy traffic ,unless it’s to get to an exit, most of the time it gets them no further ahead.

So I ask why do lane jockeys feel the need to change lanes all the time in heavy traffic???

Some people are foolish @SQUEEKY2.

People change lanes to get to the far outside left fast lane. If traffic clears up then hopefully they move back in to the center or right lane. I mean, there are valid reasons for changing lane. When I’m in heavy traffic, on a 6 lane, I just stay in the center lane and chill. I’d only change if someone is going so, so slowly that they are a danger. I’ll change lanes to pass, then move back over.

Describe someone cutting you off @JLeslie.

@Dutchess_III Cutting me off is if there was no signal to warn me, and coming in fast, practically from nowhere, causing me to have to brake. They come in fast, and way too close to me, or come into the lane and then hit their brakes, or slow significantly, because their speed wasn’t matched well to the speed of the lane.

Drivers should avoid needing to brake, or causing others to brake, on the highway as much as is possible. Brake lights are scary shit at high speeds.

@SQUEEKY2 I agree in heavy traffic with lots of miles between exits there doesn’t need to be a lot of lane changing, but when there are exits every 1–3 miles then more lane changing happens as traffic gets on and off, and over into the lane that is a comfortable speed. Highways with HOV lanes can cause even more changing. If there are only two lanes in one direction, then people move to the passing lane, and then back over, every time they hit a much slower driver.

Yep, there are selfish, immature drivers out there. Leave lots of room for them to pull their shit without involving you, if you can.

How many lanes are you looking at where there are exits every 1 – 3 miles, @JLeslie? In Wichita, that happens only in the metro area, where it cuts though the city. It’s much closer to exits every 1 to 1.5 miles, and it’s a six lane. I stay in the center lane, leaving the right lane for entering and exiting drivers, and the far left lane for faster drivers. The center lane is really the safest because at some point either the far right or far left lane is going to end in an exit, where the highway drops down to four lane outside of the city. When that happens traffic is quite a bit thinner and it’s no big deal to ride in the far right, and change lanes to let others enter, then move back.

It’s usually a 6 lane highway, 3 lanes each way, but easily can be 2 or 4 lanes in one direction. Usually, when it’s just 2 the exits are further apart.

Very urban areas often have intersecting freeways, and where the interchanges are there are 4–6 lanes in one direction, many exits in a row, and sometimes (although more rare) the merge lane comes into the left lane, which can be a more difficult merge. Some highway interchanges have two lanes entering the highway, and the outer lane quickly disappears, and that lane has to merge into the next lane over, or sometimes that outside right lane becomes the “exit only” lane for the next exit. All sorts of lane changing. The exit only scenario happens a lot in parts of Florida.

It does change a lot. That’s why I think the center lane is the safest place to be, if it’s an option. It’s the one lane that isn’t going to change if you’re going straight through. If you’re not, I say stay in the center lane and don’t change lanes for exiting until about a mile before your exit. Hopefully some one will have sense enough to leave room for you to do so without jumping in unexpectedly. People don’t always notice blinkers either, and they don’t always respond to them when they do.

I agree the amount of lanes makes a difference, but people entering the highway from the right sometimes want to get over to the fast (left) lane, and people entering from a left hand merge need to get off at the next exit or two, which is over on the right. So, in both cases they are crossing all lanes of traffic.

Right. Buy you’re not crossing lanes which causes one less need for concern on the part of other drivers. You have your own space you can control that lets others move in and out, smoothly and easily.

Well, as long as cars are crossing back and forth you have to be alert to what’s going on, because in dense traffic it often requires easing up on the gas here and there, letting people in, etc., but, yeah, you can space out a little more to some extent in the center lane. As long as you are fairly matched in speed with the center lane. If you go too slow people are constantly cutting around you, which is dangerous, but the center is usually near the speed limit, which I think most drivers on the road can maintain.

I’ll tell you, the turnpike here is 70mph, and the left is often traveling at 80–85mph, and I’m just not up for the high speeds most of the time anymore. People drive even faster sometimes. The no stop sunpass lanes for the tolls are on the left, and some of those tolls are still 25 mph to cross through. Many of the speed demons don’t want to slow down enough for the toll and it is scary shit. They aren’t trying to do 80 through the toll, but often as traffic is slowing to 50 as they approach the toll, those guys are still wanting to go super fast, and then hard braking right up against the tail of the cars in front of them right before the toll crossing. It is not good.

I find when I don’t feel good keeping up with traffic, because the traffic is too fast, that I feel more vulnerable on the road. Part of it is cars whizzing around me, and part of it is whatever has me feeling like I want to drive slower is the very thing probably making me feel less confident. It might be that it’s night time, or lane changes from construction, or some other condition.

The more aggressive drivers typically are more up-to-the-second about exactly where the cars around them are on the road. If you just passed a car you know where it is, if you are constantly looking for a faster way forward, you are constantly analyzing traffic. When a driver’s main desire is to get in a lane and not have to worry about traffic so much, then they are more prone to be in a sort of hypnotic state and check mirrors less. I find this with myself for sure. I now drive slower than when I was younger, and I choose slower lanes, because I know I’m not driving at my most heightened I can be, even though I consider myself to still be paying attention to the road and other vehicles.

Yes. Lots of things are dangerous. Too slow is one. I think it is wise to keep up with the average speed of the traffic in front of you, what ever lane you’re in. You can space out more in the fast lane too without losing any speed, but OMG. Someone might want to change lanes to move into the fast lane if you leave too much space!! Horrors.
I realize that if people behind you see quite a bit of space they assume you’re going slower than the traffic ahead. They’re stupid like that. On our two lanes, people will pass you for that reason and they haven’t looked far enough ahead to see that all that accomplishes for them is to get them up on a whole herd of cars that they can’t pass who are doing the same speed. Then more people come up behind them, and eventually they find themselves in the middle of a huge, potentially dangerous situation with no room to maneuver. That’s their problem, not mine. I’m just back here watching the show.