SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT!

(This is a re-post from a blog entry I just found, made in 2002)

As Atlanta’s traffic woes continue to worsen, many of us have looked for alternatives to sitting in the metro area’s roads that so often resemble parking lots. Public transportation, carpooling, and telecommuting are the usual suspects when talk centers around what we can do to reduce gridlock. These solutions look fine on paper, but they are often unfeasible and as such, so much wishful thinking. As one who has been a professional delivery driver for over eight years, I have seen first-hand the driver behavior that contributes to traffic delays, and at least two of these habits are completely avoidable. As Atlantans, doomed to commuting on a regular basis, we can either continue these idiotic tendencies, or we can try to get the word out and make things easier on ourselves. The problems, as I see them, are as follows:

Left Lane Bandits

I’m not sure if these people are selfish, self-righteous, just plain stupid, or a combination of the three, but they are most certainly a big part of the traffic problem. A motorist driving slower than the flow of traffic in the fast lane causes a chain of events that makes things unstable for everyone on the road. If you happen to be a self-annointed “pace car”, doing your part to keep the speed of traffic down, you are doing a far greater disservice than being helpful. To wit: when there are mulitple lanes, fast drivers will find a way around you anyway. This will entail their weaving in and out of traffic and coming much closer to hitting other cars than they would if you would drive in the lane that suits your speed. Statistics may not be that specific, but I’d be willing to guess that the majority of accidents come as a result of people changing lanes to get around a slower moving vehicle in an improper lane. Obviously, collisions make traffic flow less smoothly. Bottom line: if traffic is ever passing you on the right, you are at that point a menace and a danger to those sharing the road, and you need to move over---pronto!

(As an aside, I can say that I have at least one prominent person on my side in this matter: Trey Anastasio, frontman of the rock band Phish. At their concert attended by 75,000+ to ring in the year 2000, Mr. Anastasio was on live TV for ABC’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. Greeting the viewing audience of untold millions, he delivered this animated message of good will (paraphrasing): “Everybody please remember: right lane slow traffic, left lane fast traffic, right lane slow traffic, left lane fast traffic….” If you ask me, this was probably the best use of national airtime in the history of broadcasting! But I digress…)

Cell Phone Users

This ain’t rocket science! Odds are, when you place or receive a call, you unwittingly become a Left Lane Bandit. When you’re on the phone, get over to the slow lane---please!

Brake Tappers

These motoring pests you seldom, if ever, hear about. Often times heavy freeway traffic could be moving smoothly, except for overly-cautious people who tap the brakes for no good reason. These brake lights cause a ripple effect, and the result is that people ten cars back are now also braking for no reason whatsoever---only because they have no choice. Now please hear me, dear fellow driver, this is important: TAKING YOUR FOOT OFF THE ACCELERATOR WILL MAKE YOUR CAR SLOW DOWN! Not only that, but it will do so without unnecessarily alarming the person behind you! The vast majority of the time, you simply need to stop speeding up to keep a safe distance from the car in front of you, NOT DRASTICALLY REDUCE YOUR SPEED BY BRAKING! Please, use your brakes only when you actually need them, and everyone will be much better off.

Slow On-Ramp Drivers

Nothing good comes from easing your way onto a freeway with heavy traffic. You must attain the speed of the traffic flow as soon as possible in order to easily find a place to merge. If you go slow you will be hard-pressed to find a space and soon you will cause a ripple effect of braking because you have inevitably cut someone off. In addition, you have dragged everyone who are also entering the freeway behind you into your personal hell, and they will also be left scrambling to get into traffic, thanks to you. Being timid in the situation only makes matters worse for you and everyone else.

So there are my little things that I believe would make a big difference in the flow of traffic. Needless to say, none of you reading needed this information. After all, we’re all above average drivers, to be sure! I can only hope that you will link this where you can to help with the solution. As always, thanks for your support!