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The consistent speed thing is so crazy to me as someone who almost always uses cruise control. Why don’t more people use it? (Pretty sure it’s been standard on every car since like 2005?) If people used cruise control and stayed in their lane most of the time (i.e. not switching lanes constantly to try and “get ahead”) I feel like traffic would improve noticeably everywhere.

When I drove in Germany it was eye opening to no longer be the exception as a person actually following the rules and not driving like someone on amphetamines in a rush for a meeting. It’s the same feeling when you work at a company with bad management and then work at one with good management: “You mean I can just trust you to do your job…?” -> “You mean I can trust you to drive a car at high speeds without killing me…?”

>(Pretty sure it’s been standard on every car since like 2005?)

Only have had adaptive cruise control the past few months.

I had regular cruise control for ages. I mostly stopped using it. On roads with any amount of traffic, I found it encouraged driving in a way that prioritized maintaining speed no matter what including getting close or changing lanes when it really wasn't necessary. And if I just constantly overrode it, why bother using it?

Yeah for sure in serious traffic it can be useless but in most situations I still try to use it. You find gaps in traffic with a car in front going the speed you want and then match their speed. I find if you do this you can often find a good gap to just sit in for extended periods of time while the rest of the jabronis go around.

And I think if more people took this approach en masse we’d actually see a lot of dangerous behavior disappear.

Basic cruise control doesn't really work if you need to keep passing other cars, but if you're content to cruise in the slow lane it's pretty chilled-out. Still need to adjust speed occasionally though.

Because it makes you more predictable to other drivers.

Staying in a lane while also maintaining appropriate distances seems better than focusing on maintaining constant speed in traffic. The key is whether you can maintain a reasonable constant speed relative to traffic without changing lanes.

Basically, always driving at exactly the speed limit to the degree possible is a questionable heuristic when there are a lot of cars.

On freeways, yes. But on city streets and roads with many intersections, driveways, turn lanes, etc., I don't think that's really true.

Right, my assumption is that we were talking about highway driving.

> people on the freeway totally obsessed with their phones are easy to spot: lane drifting

Drift, JERK, drift, JERK. It's the mating dance of people who can't stop twittering, facebooking, or texting for even a second.

> most drivers have their phone up in front of their faces

I've noticed this as well (but I'm not in US).

I wondered if it's only common in the US

It was common in the UK too until it was made illegal [1], still happens, but less so.

1. https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law

I believe it is illegal in Michigan as well, but it doesn't appear to be actually enforced. Frankly, it seems few traffic laws are enforced here (Detroit and its suburbs).

I've discussed this with a lot of people, and the general conclusion is that "nobody cares anymore". Not drivers, not police, nobody.

I'm not surprised there is a rise in roadway deaths. I feel some of it is due to the form factor of the cars on the road, but some must be how people just don't care anymore, and I'm not sure how to address that, when even the police don't seem to care.

A big reduction in British Columbia when it started being penalized. Except at stoplights, still way too many people not prepared to go when the light changes.

I stopped cycling since lockdown. There's been a complete shift in attitudes. Every public space is adversarial.

But totally with you on phones. I've always made a habit of making eye contact with people so I know I've been seen (on bike & on foot). It's very difficult to do now - everyone's staring at their knees.

(Not in the US, and yes it's illegal here.)

Likewise anecdotal: At least in the area where I live (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA), there seems to be a sharp rise in drivers who tailgate dangerously close on the freeway, especially in the carpool lane. I can be going 9+mph over the limit, and cars will still come flying up from behind, follow dangerously close for a few minutes, then illegally pass over the solid double white line so they can proceed 2-3 mph faster. And the drivers look so pissed off. Like it was a major insult that they were temporarily forced to drive slightly slower than their preferred speed. Yikes, people. Check your priorities.

>Another potential factor: left lane highway driving. I drove in a 3rd world country this summer and they were very consistent about driving in the right lane and only passing in the left lane. No one at all drove in the left lane. I think left lane driving in the US leads to more risky maneuvers and road rage responses.

I try to stay in the right lane at all times, but according to truckers it's safer to stay in the left lane, as vehicles merging onto a highway from the right act poorly.

In Seattle, the left-most lane is carpool. Which means it is often people who would normally be in the right lane. It completely destroys the idea of certain lanes being faster. "Traffic" is frequently 4 cars all going through speed limit next to each other. People don't get out the way, although they are easy to bully if you apply Chicago driving behavior to them ;)