If you’ve been keeping up, the last two Traffic Guru columns
featured a timely British study which describes how good driving
manners can keep traffic moving. The first article, which appeared
in early September, took on “lane hogs” that fill up the passing
lanes - leaving the slow lane underused. Last week, I lit into
tailgaters that trigger brake-light slowdowns.
Mark Jessop of
Barrie writes on lane hogging: “Your article on highway congestion
was very good. I commuted to Toronto from Barrie for 18 months and
I've seen firsthand what you describe. Firstly, such an article
should be published in the front section of the paper -- not in the
automotive section where you preach to the choir. Lane hoggers
unfortunately don't read this part of the paper.
“Secondly, we
are cursed in Ontario with disappearing right lanes that become exit
lanes. Forcing Joe Slow to move left every time there is an exit
contributes to making him stay in the centre lane. Other Joe Slows
merging on the highway at 80 km/h then keep him there.”
The more vintage
the highway, the more effort is required to anticipate vanishing
lanes. Many inner-city highways across North America were designed
in the 1950s, and careen worse than roller coasters -- exits are too
close together or peel off at very tight angles. Engineers were
trying to squeeze six lanes of traffic into a pre-car urban
environment, and often plain ran out of room. Although a lot of nice
buildings did get demolished, sometimes you just had to go around an
obstacle -- at a 90 degree turn.
The problem of
six lane roads suddenly becoming four can be found in a lot of
downtowns, and those of us in the choir just have to accept the fact
with grace. That same virtue will also help us cope with drivers who
can’t overcome their fear of the slow lane, and tolerate tailgaters
with no clue that such habits are in fact slowing their own journey.
I just spent a
month on the west coast of the U.S., where I found similar
conditions. If you’ve been to Seattle, you know how congested roads
and aggressive driving can feed each other. There were some
spectacularly wonky expressway ramps there, but the geography is
difficult and many of the highways were built in an earlier era.
While driving in
California, I tried to determine the local driving habits -- but
instead noticed all the similarities. The slow lane was at times a
no-go zone -- often reserved for exiting vehicles and aged Bugs
beetling onto the highway at full power. Just like at home, those
travelling at or above the speed limit congregated in the right
lanes and stayed there. Most of the time, California’s eight, ten
and twelve lane roads seemed chronically full -- apparently too full
for good driving manners to survive.
To combat our
bad habits, I no longer expect much help from the authorities. For
example, the number of police officers who patrol the crowded
highways of Toronto, including the 400, has barely grown over three
decades. On my irregular visits to California, I have not seen a
Highway Patrol officer nail a misbehaving driver since Erik Estrada
was a big star. Instead, the CHiPs were too busy dealing with
wrecks. On one 45-minute Interstate trip, I passed three separate
crash scenes.
Such a high
level of mayhem might be blamed on poorly-trained drivers or heavy
traffic. Yet if motorists were to learn how congestion itself is
worsened by lane hogging and tailgating, then more might decide to
smarten up -- and start singing harmony.
Ed Drass,
National Post
Have a question
for the Traffic Guru? Contact him at
edrass@nationalpost.com