Comment on Bruh, chill
pjwestin@lemmy.world 3 weeks agoYeah, you should always wait until there’s a safe amount of space to change lanes, but realistically, you’re very rarely going to find a gap that has enough space to merge in with safe follow distance behind and in front of you (assuming 55-60 mph speed limit, that would be 100 feet plus the length of your car). You’ll probably find a gap with a little extra room, maybe 60 or so feet, match speed and merge with about 30 feet in front of you, then drop speed for a little bit until you hit 50 feet. The car behind you will do the same, and so on.
That happens all the time on the highway and it’s not a big deal, but if some asshole is forcing cars to do that every 2 minutes because they’re tailgating the left lane, that’s gonna start slowing down the middle lane. It’s also gonna cause people to start doing stupid shit like following to closely or jumping into the left lane at the earliest opportunity, even if there isn’t enough room to do that safely.
Mustakrakish@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’m confused by the assumption finding an appropriate gap is rare. You should have one you’re aiming for already, and generally it will be in the front of a line, so you just speed up a bit and merge into that space.
pjwestin@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
What you are describing is how people use the left lane during light traffic; a temporary labe to overtake one or several vehicles. During heavier traffic, most drivers don’t do that. They use the left lane as a, “fast lane,” rather than entering and exiting the middle lane repeatedly (which, strictly speaking, isn’t how you’re supposed to use that lane, but it’s how the vast majority of drivers use it). That’s usually when some asshole decides the, “fast lane,” isn’t fast enough and starts tailgating, forcing people to merge into the already crowded middle lane and slowing traffic even further.