This is how we should all drive.

[Jesda]

The only reason why the "aggressive" driving is worse in the NYC area is because there are more people and more cars on the road

No, its because New Yorkers are genetically defective.

[elwesso]

I generally do this so I don't have to downshift as often.. Especially in tight stop/go traffic I try and maintain a reasonable distance so I can stay in whatever gear I am in without having to press the clutch.

[obstacle]

driving a manual has helped me to accomplish this "not braking in heavy traffic, but coasting at a standard speed" since hitting the clutch to shift is as annoying as a sarah palin speech.

one of my pet peeves is having other drivers race past me JUST TO GET TO A RED LIGHT when i apply his "not braking" method.

[Mr1der]

slower traffic stay to the right, that's all I really need.

[IBCoupe]

This is exactly how I try to drive, and have been for a while now.

It's also led to a severe hatred of SUV's. In order to follow the average speed of your lane, you've got to see a number of cars ahead. I can't see two cars ahead when an Avelanche gets in front of me. Douchebags. Buy smaller or more transparent cars, dammit!

Also: don't knock late-merging - it's an efficient use of highway, and if folks weren't so anal about being passed, it would lead to no problems at all.

[IBCoupe]

Also, I had to drive down to NY Saturday from CT, and I had to hop on the Merritt/Hutchinson Parkways because of the bus accident that shut down I-95 at the NY border. I successfully employed this technique for most of the trip, until we ran into poor highway planning: two two-lane highways merging at the same place as an immediate on/off ramp, followed shortly thereafter by two two-lane highways splitting up again. Then no amount of gapping or planning on the driver's part can save you. You've just got to grab your ankles and enjoy the nice weather.

I've been driving in and around NYC and Boston highways for my whole driving career, and anyone who says it can't be done over here obviously hasn't tried very hard.

I think a lot of the problems on the road, as someone else pointed out, are due to inattentiveness, and not only inattentiveness to the conditions of your own car. You can avoid a great amount of hassle by keeping track of the other cars around you, and thinking ahead as to what they're going to have to do. Passing someone slowly and he's gaining on someone else? The guy's going to want to cut you off, or he's going to be forced to brake hard. Accelerate or decelerate, and get out from next to him, and you've just avoided creating a seed of congestion that would ripple through the cars behind you.

[zacmil]

I have trouble even imagining traffic jams like that. The only time I've ever dealt with that kind of traffic was once when I drove through Atlanta close to rush hour. I guess that's what I get for living out in BFE.

In Kentucky, that kind of driving would provoke some very interesting responses from the other drivers. We're one of a handful of states where you aren't supposed to travel in the left lane, only pass. Personally, I think it makes a lot of sense, and if everyone were to abide by it traffic would flow much better.

I just try to be a courteous driver. If I see a line of people trying to merge or pull onto the road, I let one or, if I'm feeling particularly generous, two people out; if someone starts to pass me, I slow down a bit and help them out; things like that. If everyone just cut their fellow drivers a break, I think things would go wonderfully. Oh well, I guess I'm just a dreamer.

[Dattebayo]

Also: don't knock late-merging - it's an efficient use of highway, and if folks weren't so anal about being passed, it would lead to no problems at all.

Late merging slows down at least three lanes of traffic, because of others not matching speed properly and/or running out of lane and those bailing out of the lanes being merged into. That's not efficient.

[Ace2cool]

Yeah? It's the same everywhere dude.

No it isn't. Driving behavior at large varies from region to region and is affected by a lot of things. I can predict certain states' plates being on cars without being near enough to see the plates, just from watching behavior (Idaho, California, and Arizona are the easiest). Different types of geography affect it, too. Places with dense cities create a very different kind of driver than places with lots of straight roads and openness. Mixes do yet another thing.

It is absolutely NOT the same everywhere. Anyone who has driven in multiple states can tell you that.

I even took the time to make a map. Aren't I speshul?


^^I have been to every last one of those places in my 2+2, most multiple times.

It is not, under ANY circumstances, the same no matter where you go. Pensacola is different than Atlanta. Atlanta is FAR different from Chicago. Chicago is way different than San Franscisco. Sanfran doesn't hold a candle to Los Angeles. Everyone drives differently in different regions of the country. I hate riding in cars with Californians, just from my personal experience, they loosely follow road signs, go super slow, and don't use turn signals (Unless from Socal, in which case, all rules still apply except they drive like the apocalypse is raining down behind them as opposed to slow). Likewise, someone from Michigan or somewhere up North will have a little more "Go-getter" attitude, and be a little more aggressive, not to mention drive in the rain. People from the South can negotiate winding roads much better, because that's what we learned to drive on.

It's all about where you're from. People here in California don't understand lane restrictions, i.e. if you're going slow, get in the right hand lane. 5 under does not constitute fast lane driving, I don't care what the weather is like. If someone is behind you, move over.

(Oh, and just FYI, that map I made is 7,532 miles, and doesn't account for any of the multiple trips, haha. Total travel time: 5 days, 4 hours.)

[IBCoupe]

Also: don't knock late-merging - it's an efficient use of highway, and if folks weren't so anal about being passed, it would lead to no problems at all.

Late merging slows down at least three lanes of traffic, because of others not matching speed properly and/or running out of lane and those bailing out of the lanes being merged into. That's not efficient.

Given proper spacing (people not being so anal about being passed), matching speed is less important. Late merging makes use of unused roadway - otherwise, there'd be long stretches of empty highway next to slow moving traffic. All those cars merging late? Imagine that many car-lengths added onto the traffic slow-down.

Proper merging is key, but it's improper merging, not the timing of the merging that's at issue.

[RobPaulson]

alrdy do this. people who dont piss me off.

[C-Kwik]

Its not necessarily an issue of cars not being able to match speed to get in when late merging. Its that traffic usually doesn't speed up as more cars merge in (not saying they have to). Think of it like the flow of a fluid. If more cars are trying to squeeze into a fixed orifice, the fluid flow has to speed up to maintain flow. Generally, this doesn't happen. And in some cases, its made worse by terrible freeway interchanges, like those that neck down from 2 lanes into 2 lanes as it merges with a another freeway that is already prone to a lot of traffic.

I'll also note that on a particular on ramp I use everyday, traffic slows because people are trying to early merge, despite the fact that the merge lane goes all the way to the next exit a good mile down the road. Yet, they insist on getting in early and blocking cars behind them from passing because they chose a spot that wasn't actually available so they have to wait for the traffic in the lane they are merging into to start moving so they can make room for this driver. Meanwhile, I end up passing them and find a nice open spot somewhere between the entrance and the next exit where I don't have to slow down significantly at all to get in.

As for the video, I wonder how many of the cars that got in front of him were actually in the lane behind him. I know I pass this kind of driver often.