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A Needed Change in our Driving Culture


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Lane Courtesy should be ingrained in our driving culture as a 24/7 practice by everyone on the road. Yet with the summer driving season upon us and vacation traffic flooding the highways, it is apparent that there is much work to do to educate the motoring public about the value of Lane Courtesy.

Clearing the left lanes to give right of way to faster vehicles improves traffic flow, reduces congestion, helps alleviate incidents of tailgating and road rage, and lowers accident rates.

Given all of these benefits, why don’t we see more official efforts to promote Lane Courtesy? Part of the answer stems from the misguided notions that slower is always safer and that faster drivers pose the highest safety risk. Here’s an example:

Last year Florida enacted a highway safety law that barred left-lane drivers from going 10 mph or more below the speed limit. Since then only 68 drivers statewide have been cited for this offense. In contrast, for 2013 police wrote more than 270,000 speeding tickets in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties alone.

We’re not surprised by these numbers. Many police officers aren’t comfortable pulling someone over for driving too slowly in the left lane or even someone who’s going the speed limit but still holding up traffic. The police are much more focused on drivers who are traveling above the speed limit, whether they pose a safety risk or not. In a recent news story, Florida State Patrol Sgt. Mark Wysocky said officers have no problem warning slowpokes but “so many people are going above the speed limit the focus tends to be on speeding.”

First, officers wouldn’t be ticketing so many drivers if Florida Gov. Rick Scott hadn’t recently vetoed a bill to increase highway speed limits to 75 mph which more accurately reflects actual travel speeds. Second, the 2013 law mentioned above sets such a high threshold for what constitutes a left-lane violation, it’s practically meaningless in promoting highway safety.

The point is this: Driving educators and police agencies need to work together to foster voluntary Lane Courtesy compliance, not compliance through heavy-handed enforcement. To achieve this, drivers at all experience levels will need to acknowledge the widespread benefits of keeping right.

Nevertheless, some states are trying for compliance strictly through regulation. Georgia recently toughened its left-lane law by making it a violation to “drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation.” The law includes exceptions for things like weather or road conditions, and for turning or exiting to the left. Still, the intent is unequivocal.

Virginia is considering a similar measure, and a Maryland bill has gone a step further by reserving the left lane for passing only, with only a few exceptions. Unfortunately, each of these bills has been stuck in committee for months. (Note: Most states have laws governing left-lane use, but the requirements vary from state to state. Learn more here.)

Given officialdom’s apathy over Lane Courtesy, do such laws matter much in the first place? Motorists don’t go out of their way (literally) to follow them, and police don’t go out of their way to enforce them. So, what’s the answer?

The NMA has long advocated for driver education curriculums that emphasize Lane Courtesy and for public awareness campaigns directed toward both novice and experienced drivers.

NHTSA should scrap its ubiquitous Click it or Ticket campaign along with all other federally funded enforcement efforts, including its offensive “voluntary” roadside saliva/blood sampling operation. Use the tax money saved to implement a nationwide Lane Courtesy campaign that’s at least as high-profile and long-lasting as Click it or Ticket and that permeates driver educations classes. Our highways would be safer for it and driving would become more enjoyable.

- See more at: http://blog.motorists.org/needed-change-in-driving-culture/#sthash.hgbD0SuB.dpuf

 

Source: http://blog.motorists.org/needed-change-in-driving-culture/

 

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I wish they did enforce this rule, it would make driving less frustrating.

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I hope this happens out in Long Island. Some of the people out there drive like crazy.

I was on the Southern State last weekend and OMG people are just slow. I realize there are a lot of curves but they aren't that sharp also NYSDOT added a bunch of solid white lines around almost every curve so that people can't change lanes. They have to stop catering to dumb people because everyday there are accidents on that parkway, and I think there have been  more since they added the solid lines and people are cruising at like 50MPH, there's more congestion because people can't change lanes to get around the slow pokes

 

They're punishing the good drivers who would normally change lanes to keep traffic flowing, now it's congested more. As for the LIE and NSP there are slow pokes in the left lane also. I get "claustrophobic" when I'm trapped on the highway.

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The fast lane is pretty bad here in Brooklyn, like on the Belt Parkway. Even though the speed limit is 50 on the Belt with people averaging 60-65 on it regardless, there are many people doing 40-45 on the left lane and it's really annoying. This would obviously cause the many notions of quick lane swerving/switching to get passed the slow left lane driver.

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Well for the time being, there's a lane shift near the merge of Gowanus.

Most traffic on the belt parkway I'd assume would be slow drivers on the left/passing lanes. Then again a lot of entrance ramps are connected to the exit ramps so that makes merging a PITA at times. (ie. the Kings Plaza exit/entrance Queens bound)

 

The worst of all is that draw bridge, wonder if they are going to remove that and build a higher bridge like they did near Canarsie.

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The problem with the cloverleaf entrance exits that use the same lane are sometimes the markings on the road.  They have solid lines so that no one can change lanes except for a brief section and that screws things up. usually, If I see a car coming a round and we're about to meet up, I cut behind the car so they are free to accelerate and merge and I'm free to slow down and go around the loop. Preventing lane changes until both cars block each other from making moves actually causes congestion.  The same thing happens at exits 22N and 28A on the Southern State Parkway. 

 

In the name of "safety" they actually make things worse. They thought they had problems at the Jones Beach Water tower, they started drawing solid lines and arrows everywhere and accidents increased because they restrict fluid movement which would allow cars to go around adaptively. 

 

As for the draw bridge, they're planning to to replace that bridge by 2017.

Take a look : http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/beltpkwybrgs_eng.pdf

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Come on, you and I know most people do not follow the rules of the lines. When it comes to me, I usually try to merge to the middle lane when I see a car trying to come in, but that's just me.

 

Good to see the old bridge being replaced, then again, good to see the Belt being rehabilitated as well.

 

I still think the speed limits of some of these parkways/expressways should be raised and the lane structure should be enforced more. But with this mayor and his "plan" for pedestrian safety is not going to let that happen.

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Whenever I see cars entering the highway and I'm in the right lane I move over unless I'm being blocked. It makes things easier for everyone. And I agree the speed limits should be raised along with lane structure being enforced, keep that left lane clear except for passing.

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