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What's the actual problem with maintaining a constant speed in the middle lane?

This'll be my last reply on this topic, because I figure I'm talking to a brick wall. No offense intended :). I'm sorry that people don't really understand why the whole 'please stay to the right except when passing' rule makes the freeway flow much better. A line of cars bumper-to-bumper in the middle lane on cruise control causes so much congestion. But people do it because they don't want to be inconvenienced by the occasional traffic getting on the freeway.

If it were a four or five lane freeway it would be less egregious. But what it does to I-5 when it's only three lanes is really terrible.

Ah okay. Where I've been the right lane is not occasionally impeded with traffic merging and exiting, it's almost constant, so lots of people hogging the left lane actually causes blockages from people trying to enter and exit.

I also haven't noticed the middle lane blockage problem that much. It's very easy to merge when people are traveling a constant speed in a predictable lane.

I can see where your problem is coming from though. Don't feel like you're talking to a brick wall though it's the nature of the forum it looks like a bunch of people all asked the same question around the same time (I didn't see the others when I hit reply) so you're actually responding to 3 different people, not one person who keeps being unable to follow.

*lots of people hogging the right lane

you're not talking to a brick wall you're just wrong just admit it

At what percentage of the speed limit are these cruisers you’re talking about? Assuming it isn’t >10% under the speed limit, what’s your issue actually?

In the situation you’re describing, if it’s a 3-lane highway and you’re in the fastest lane you need to plan and prepare properly to start transitioning well before you want to exit. If one or two cars at constant speed are preventing you from transitioning in time, the failure is on you.

Having a constant safe speed in the middle lane sounds ideal.

> Assuming it isn’t >10% under the speed limit, what’s your issue actually?

Slower traffic keep right is a thing. You are not entitled to stay in the passing lanes just because you are going at least the speed limit. My issue is that it really mucks up the capacity of the freeway and increases the suffering for everyone using it.

> you need to plan and prepare properly to start transitioning well before you want to exit

I think I didn't make myself clear. It doesn't matter how early you plan, whether 10 seconds or 10 minutes. You will just have to put your signal on and take a spot, even if it puts you much too close to the guy in front with someone much too close to your bumper. Because the cruise controllers drive like a train, and don't care to leave any reasonable gap between them.

Really, the reason traffic sucks in so many places is because people think laws like 'slower traffic keep right' are there to infringe on their rights, when really it's because traffic engineers have studied how traffic flows and made regulations to encourage it to be safe and as little congested as possible.

The middle lane is for traveling at the speed limit. The left lane is for passing. The right lane is for merging and driving slowly.

I'll just go ahead and link you to a drivers ed page since apparently you need to learn how the roads actually work: https://driversed.com/driving-information/driving-techniques...

If you can see that’s the case, what are you even doing in the left lane? Sounds like you should just get in line in the middle with everyone else.

> You will just have to put your signal on and take a spot, even if it puts you much too close to the guy in front

It’s physically impossible to be forced to be too close to the car in front. Keep a safe distance, slowing down slightly if you need to.

i see this thread has really gotten active with you and i mostly agree with it, but I didn't see anyone pointing out your description of cruise controlled cars being a blockade in the middle. I definitely don't see it that way with my adaptive cruise control (i never ever use regular cruise control anymore). Even at the closest follow distance setting, I am always about 2 cars distance from the one i am following. I have only ever used my one particular adaptive cruise control (subaru impreza) so I am not sure if other car models tend to follow closer and block the ability to change lanes.

>You will just have to put your signal on and take a spot, even if it puts you much too close to the guy in front with someone much too close to your bumper

This description makes me think you're talking about stop and go traffic, or at least where the entire highway is mostly saturated. At that point I hardly think any one particular lane is going faster/slower than the rest but that could be wrong. In this case though, I don't use cruise control because I mentally switch over to the mode of "gas and brake the least possible" to even the flow of traffic and not contribute to brake snakes.

edit: oh i see in some other comments you're talking about 3 lane i-5, I have only been on mostly 2 lane sections of i-5 where it's just trucks on the right and people waiting in a line to pass said trucks on the left... but three lanes I haven't had any issues

I’m confused. I usually like to cruise control in the middle lane (at around 3-5 over the speed limit); how does this cause problems for you?

If I were to stay in the right lane I’d be stuck going 5-10 under because of all the semis & constantly having to dodge merging traffic. If I stayed in the left lane I’d piss off everyone who wants to go 20 over. This seems to be how most people drive, and it achieves your graduated-speed-difference standard: the right lane is for semis & getting on and off, the middle lane is for most traffic traveling at a comfortable speed, and the left lane is for passing.

What would you propose I do differently?

> I’m confused. I usually like to cruise control in the middle lane (at around 3-5 over the speed limit); how does this cause problems for you?

If it were one car, it would be a minor annoyance, at worst. But this style of driving is really popular, so it's a steady line of cars cruising the middle lane in a line. It divides the freeway into two one lane roads, bottlenecking traffic and making it difficult for people who are in the left lane to get to the right in order to take their exit.

It may be that the dynamics are different in your area. Between Portland and Salem, Oregon, the exits are several miles apart so there's not much merging traffic.

> What would you propose I do differently?

In my experience the best freeway experience is when people pass only on the left, and there is enough of a speed differential between lanes that when you need to change lanes you can always find a spot you fit in. It gets aggravating when traffic is pacing, especially at high speeds, because it makes it a lot tougher to make comfortable lane movements. It's worse when the left lane is filled with cruisers, because they always bunch up and follow each other with a 1-second separation, making lane switching hard (and when you turn your signal on, at least half of them will just speed up to make sure the gap is even tighter).

I'm not going to tell you how I think you should drive. There are a lot of factors that are not necessarily the same between where I drive and where you drive. But I can tell you that the dynamics on this section of I-5 up here are just awful. It's a well known local phenomenon, everyone I've ever ridden with through that section of I-5 comments on how terrible the traffic gets with passing on the right, left, and locked up down the center.

Thanks for clarifying! I frequently drive that same stretch between Portland and Salem. It can definitely a really annoying drive, especially when there's congestion.

The problem with staying in the right lane for any period of time is all the semi traffic. It is in my experience very rare for the right lane to be going at or above the speed limit; realistically, if I stay in the middle lane I am always passing people in the right lane. I will of course get over if the right lane is clear and traffic behind me wants to pass, but this doesn't happen often. I do get passed on the right occasionally, but only by aggressive drivers who use the 5-second gaps between semis to weave across the road -- not by the normal flow of right lane traffic.

I share your frustration with the difficulty of changing lanes, especially in congestion. However, I would argue this is more of an issue with people following too close than using the wrong lanes -- if the right lane was a solid wall of cars, you wouldn't be able to get in there either. In any case, I usually don't have too much trouble if I give myself a few miles before my exit to get over -- though sometimes that can require forcing my way into an annoyingly small gap.

That all being said, I do agree that there are a few spots where the lane arrangements can become really dangerous, especially during congestion. For instance: the first few miles of I-205 northbound near Tualatin/West Linn, the weird bridge in Oregon City and just about anywhere on or near OR-217.

This is exactly my point, rootusrootus. You string words together, but you do not have a coherent point on how roads should work.

So how the fuck am I supposed to drive to please you? Does everyone need to drive at a reasonable pace, in their proper lane? Or do they need to drive 10 miles over the speed limit trying to go as fast as possible and pass the person in front of you?Oh, should we also have a fucking neural uplink into your brain to make sure you don't have to waste prescious time signaling to get into the lane everyone is SUPPOSED to drive in for long distances?

There is going to be unpleasantness driving. Sometimes car go slow. Try not to shit your pants when you can't swerve into whatever lane you need to be in.

> I try so hard to drive courteously and safely

You don’t need to try that hard. It isn’t that much effort. Just accept the fact that going +5-10mph will hardly save 5-10 mins on a 100 mile drive but going near speed limit (+ 2 to 5 mph) will result in everyone having a safe and easy drive.

People trying “hard” to drive safe are the most dangerous on roads as they think they are constantly changing lanes and going around others for safety reasons but actually result in more danger and annoyance for everyone else.