Cruise Control Set at 55

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I'm surprised by how many peopleI I see entering the freeway traveling slower than 55. I expect people to enter the freeway at 60 or 65 so that I don't have to hit the brakes and disengage my cruise control. 70 would be ideal.
 
Isn't 55 slow enough? I mean the freeway is clear with very little traffic. Why not enter the freeway at 65?
That way you'll overshoot me and leave me alone.
 
Yeah, about 25% of the population don't have a clue about matching speed & merging. About half of them will go to the end of the merging lane and then look--the other half just merge without looking.

Such is one of the joys of driving.
 
Originally Posted By: das_peikko
Isn't 55 slow enough? I mean the freeway is clear with very little traffic. Why not enter the freeway at 65?
That way you'll overshoot me and leave me alone.


My point is that YOUR driving is the only variable that you have control over, you'll never change everyone else's driving.

I agree, that there are a lot of bad drivers out there, make your goal to make it home safe rather than making good time or fuel economy etc.
 
From a traffic engineering point of view, it's best to smoothly merge. Unfortunately, many drivers fail to accelerate, possibly feeling that acceleration is "bad" or "wasteful" and to be avoided.

The problem on many limited access highways is that traffic is over capacity. As long as everyone moves quickly, and follows closely, traffic does not backup. What many don't understand is that just one slower motorist can cause traffic hysteresis, (the accordion effect, or elastic band effect) rapidly leading to a standstill.

It's common around here for folks to enter and exit the 65+70MPH interstate at 43MPH. Despite half mile long ramps. Ramps long enough to allow fully laden trucks to achieve highway speeds.

Furthermore, drivers that insist on 2 seconds of following distance when a highway is over capacity, are very likely the ones causing the accidents behind.

Interesting study:

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/10/3/033001

And some movies from the study that show exactly how it happens in test conditions.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/10/3/033001/data
 
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I always scratch my head at these people. I feel like a rocket ship passing these people getting on the freeway when I'm already at 70-75 merging on the freeway.

Also taking off from a light. I don't feel that I'm really laying into it or anything, but I'm almost always the first one across the intersection.

People also pass like grannies. I'm not afraid to pass, pedal to the floor and I get out of everyone's way.
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
From a traffic engineering point of view, it's best to smoothly merge. Unfortunately, many drivers fail to accelerate, possibly feeling that acceleration is "bad" or "wasteful" and to be avoided.

The problem on many limited access highways is that traffic is over capacity. As long as everyone moves quickly, and follows closely, traffic does not backup. What many don't understand is that just one slower motorist can cause traffic hysteresis, (the accordion effect, or elastic band effect) rapidly leading to a standstill.

It's common around here for folks to enter and exit the 65+70MPH interstate at 43MPH. Despite half mile long ramps. Ramps long enough to allow fully laden trucks to achieve highway speeds.

Furthermore, drivers that insist on 2 seconds of following distance when a highway is over capacity, are very likely the ones causing the accidents behind.

Interesting study:

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/10/3/033001

And some movies from the study that show exactly how it happens in test conditions.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/10/3/033001/data


Sometimes the only way to drive "safe" is to drive a little "dangerously".

People think I'm nuts when I'm hauling a big load on a trailer. I do everything I can to block traffic from entering in on my left as long as I am going the speed of traffic.

Why? If I don't do that, people behind me and to the left of me assume that there is this amazing, clear, highway to heaven in front of me that I am going too slow to take advantage of. One idiot will cut me off and slam his brakes upon realizing there is traffic going the same speed in front of me. The next idiot comes, and the next, and the next, and they all nearly crash into each other. Then, I'm left to plow into them, weighing 12 tons.

People not going fast enough entering the highway are a real hazard. Not just because traffic has to slow to match them, but because these people have a notoriously bad habit of simply choosing to throw themselves into the fast traffic without regard, after choosing not to match traffic.

Refusing to cooperate with a common sense system to make life easier for everyone is becoming all too common these days.
 
When another driver does something that causes me to have to alter my course or speed to avoid a bad outcome I take a review of the times (few I believe) when others have done the same because of my error or imperfect awareness of a situation. My belief is it happens to us all thou to some more than others I would guess.
 
Traffic must be light in San Antone? It would be something if I get to do over 40mph on the freeway here most hours. I don’t use the right lane unless I’m getting off or just got on.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
Yeah, about 25% of the population don't have a clue about matching speed & merging. About half of them will go to the end of the merging lane and then look--the other half just merge without looking.

Such is one of the joys of driving.



+1

So many think its the job of everyone else to move so they can merge. I've never seen so many people who won't look back at the highway while getting onto the ramp initially. Most have no idea to estimate and accelerate to hit a gap in traffic. Instead they slow down when they should have the gas pedal floor-boarded.

I try to merge so no one has to move or brake.
 
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Always bugs me when people don't put their foot down enough when merging, and even worse if they hop over a couple lanes without looking or speeding up at all. Being behind someone like that on the ramp is almost as bad. I'm decent at guessing if I'm trailing a timid driver and will drop back give them more time to get their butts moving and myself more space to accelerate and pass them safely. When I was a new driver, merging was scary for me, but I wasn't afraid to floor it so I never really ran into trouble. Now I relish a chance to clear my car's throat with a hard pull off the ramp up to traffic speed.

While merging drivers are required to yield to existing traffic, I often change lanes to give them more space if I can do so without being a hazard to others. Especially for big rigs since on ramps tend to be tight and merging lanes short around here. But even out in the middle of nowhere with huge long acceleration lanes there seems to be so many people entering an 80mph interstate barely doing 50.

That said, I have a chuckle when an idiot speeding in the far right lane has to slam on the brakes because -gasp!- that's the slow lane with slow drivers.
 
Dang we're good drivers!
crazy.gif


Already mentioned, we can only control our own driving. B1tching about others is a waste of energy.
 
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Dang we're good drivers!
crazy.gif


Already mentioned, we can only control our own driving. B1tching about others is a waste of energy.


I'll waste all the energy I want when my life is threatened on a daily basis due to the stupidity of other people.
 
Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger


I'll waste all the energy I want when my life is threatened on a daily basis due to the stupidity of other people.


Does it do anything other than keep your blood pressure too high?
 
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger


I'll waste all the energy I want when my life is threatened on a daily basis due to the stupidity of other people.


Does it do anything other than keep your blood pressure too high?


If I just kept calm I would already be dead.
 
Originally Posted By: das_peikko
I'm surprised by how many peopleI I see entering the freeway traveling slower than 55. I expect people to enter the freeway at 60 or 65 so that I don't have to hit the brakes and disengage my cruise control. 70 would be ideal.


I've actually seen the same idiot accelerate faster to beat a yellow light than they did to merge onto the highway.

Around here, even if the acceleration lane is 2000 feet long, the morons will merge early at 15MPH below the speed limit and cut off other drivers.


 
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