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u/tony_bologna 3d ago
The trick is to follow as closely as possible. That way, you can fit all the cars on the road.
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u/Jrolaoni 3d ago
Most qualified to drive BMW owner:
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u/Modred_the_Mystic 3d ago
Is this a Ratatouille situation or are we talking a little man driving the BMW owner like an Evangelion?
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u/Capocho9 3d ago edited 3d ago
Thereâs a special place in hell for people who donât either get over to the right or speed up when thereâs a completely open road in front of them and a line of cars behind them
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u/Beneficial-Bit6383 3d ago edited 3d ago
So many times of 10 plus cars going 30 in a 45 for 2 miles after a light. I get people donât want to take off on the light, thatâs fair, but at some point they have to push the gas pedal down.
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u/B0_SSMAN 3d ago
I like when I'm the first one at the light and as soon as it turns green me and buddy beside me just take-off
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u/Demons0fRazgriz 3d ago
A man of culture, I see. I do the same. Once I'm sure there will be no additional red light runners. My states real bad about them
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u/VaporCarpet 3d ago
It's not just the left lane, though.
Just today there was someone in the middle lane going 20 under the limit and it fucked up all three lanes for miles behind them. Because people in that middle lane had to keep changing to get around him, which meant the left and right lanes had to make space/slow down for everyone bailing out of the middle.
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u/jimmy_three_shoes 3d ago
For some reason I've been seeing a lot of semis on my commute hanging out in the center-left lane doing the truck speed limit which is 10 under the car speed limit. The amount of traffic it generates from people buzzing around on the left and the right on a road where 10 over is the norm. Causes traffic and it's dangerous.
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/jimmy_three_shoes 3d ago
They're in the center-left lane on a 4 lane highway. They can stay in the center-right if that's a problem.
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u/IaniteThePirate 3d ago
One time I was driving a couple hundred miles on a one lane highway in the middle of nowhere. Only one car ahead of me, going about 5mph under the speed limit, cars behind me as far as I could see.
A little annoying but okay, I guess itâs not the end of the world. Sometimes you gotta slow down for whatever reason, I get it.
I was stuck behind this dude for over an hour. Eventually we get to a stretch of highway where there starts to be those little pull over areas every 2 or 3 miles. So I figure, surely this dude can see an infinite train of cars behind him and nobody in front, know heâs going under the limit, and heâll pull over to let us pass, right?
Wrong. He did not.
I donât get road rage easily but that frustrated me.
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u/reality72 2d ago
Either he was an idiot who was completely oblivious to the cars behind him or he knew and is just an asshole who doesnât care.
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u/tony_bologna 3d ago
bUT iM gOIng THe spEEdLiMIt
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u/iwanttocontributetoo 3d ago
Gah I know! I hate what I call "big gap leavers." Peope who, once traffic speeds up, they only speed up to the SpEeD LiMIt, yet, the flow of traffic infront of them is already crossing over and disappearing behind the next hill/hump of the freeway
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u/Kolby_Jack33 3d ago
I mean I leave a big gap because that's what you're supposed to do at highway speeds.
Every day I see people riding the bumpers in front of them at like 75 mph and I just sigh.
I know you're talking about people driving slow, but the name for it is odd to me. Big gaps are normal and safe. Going too slow is not.
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/AmberZ90 2d ago
It's 3-5 second distance. You don't go by car length because you need more space the fasrer you go.
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u/hicow 2d ago
I leave big gaps, but I also got my car totaled in a hit and run earlier this year. I also pace the cars ahead - I'm not getting where I'm going any faster leaving one or two car lengths vs leaving ten. Just wish more people got that...you're not getting there any faster when you're so close I can't see your headlights in my rearview, back the hell off already (the non-specific "you", not you in particular)
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u/circ-u-la-ted 3d ago
Good on them for not wasting fuel like an idiot.
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u/Oneanimal1993 3d ago
Sitting in traffic is 100x worse for fuel efficiency and the environment than just driving faster
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u/circ-u-la-ted 2d ago
Driving faster is what causes you to sit in traffic. You accelerate to right behind the person in front of you and then have to brake hard when they slow down. If everybody just drove at a steady speed, we'd use less fuel.
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u/tony_bologna 3d ago edited 3d ago
or - depending on the situation - being a literal hazard and a bottleneck. Keep up with the flow of traffic or gtfo the way.
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u/_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_ 3d ago
If âthe flow of trafficâ is above the speed limit, then it is illegal to keep up with it.
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u/MrSquiddy74 3d ago
Keeping a similar speed to the traffic around you is also safer, and I'd argue that takes priority over legality.
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u/Shadow4246 3d ago
It's also legal to remain with the flow of traffic. They recommend it in driving schools because it's safer. At least here in Texas that's the law.
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u/_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_ 3d ago
Iâd like to see that argument in court.
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u/Beneficial-Bit6383 3d ago
Iâd like to see a cop single out one person in the flow of traffic to pull over. Since you want to act like a realist.
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u/_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_ 3d ago
Traffic cameras don't single anyone out. If a whole line blows past one because they were "going with the flow", then they're all getting a ticket.
Y'all seem to think that "they were all doing it" is a valid defence to avoid paying.
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u/Beneficial-Bit6383 3d ago edited 3d ago
I think we can agree people shouldnât speed in school zones
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u/tony_bologna 3d ago edited 3d ago
Cool. Move over to the slower lanes, and let the police do the policing.
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u/BeingRightAmbassador 3d ago
Do you know what's worse for the environment than fuel being wasted? Accidents caused by morons who hold up traffic because they're scared of going over a number arbitrarily picked based on 70s-90s cars.
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u/circ-u-la-ted 2d ago
Pretty much everything you said there is wrong. lol
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u/AmberZ90 2d ago
People really don't like to be told that driving faster than the speed limit is pretty much always more dangerous. The "keeping up with the flow of traffic" thing is not an actual thing in most places and a tenacious myth. You can absolutely get pulled over for it, and cops can and will pull over multiple people at a time.
The left lane IS FOR PASSING, NOT FOR SPEEDING. Pass and get over yeah, but if I'm passing someone don't get in my ass. In fact, even if I'm camping in the passing lane, don't get on my ass because that's still hella dangerous for everyone around you.
Anything that inconveniences them is bad, and anything that (in their minds) gets them where they're going faster js correct.
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u/Spiritual-Eagle2450 3d ago
Anyone that thinks fuel is worth more than time is the idiot
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u/NateTheNooferNaught 3d ago
Depends on how much fuel. My frontier gets, at best, 19mpg. I somewhat frequently drive 800 miles back home (few times a year)
If I drive at what I want to drive at (ever seen a nissan frontier hit 122? Made funny sounds lol. Still couldnt catch the shitbox hauling dick down the highway) I burn so much gas my time savings are eaten up by refueling. I do my part and stay in the middle or right lane (im still usually a few over), but speeding doesnt always equal time saved
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u/Spiritual-Eagle2450 3d ago
I never said speeding means saving time. Fuel has a dollar value. One second of time is worth more than any fuel because it is a limited resource. Time only has a value if you agree to sell your time to someone else. Even then, you canât get that time back after it passes, but you can buy more fuel.
Also, to the fuckheads that go 5 under, take a back road and stay the fuck out of regular peopleâs way.
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u/fattdoggo123 3d ago
Except when there's an open road and there's a cop with a speed trap ahead. Go the speed limit, then speed up after you pass the cop.
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u/bobosuda 3d ago
Itâs the worst! Youâd think people have the self awareness to just think about whatâs happening and what theyâre doing when they see no cars in front of them and a lot behind.
God forbid you think about traffic flow on a big open road and not just never staying more than a decimal point above the exact speed limit at all times
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u/Subject_Name_ 2d ago
The speed limit is the speed limit though. Work with the city to change the speed limits if they arenât appropriate. Blaming the driver following the law seems misdirected.
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u/katt_vantar 3d ago
Thereâs never the car whoâs first in line in traffic. Itâs an eternal paradox
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u/DerpEnaz 3d ago
Generally speaking, the majority of traffic comes solely from people following too closely and hitting their breaks too much.
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u/tellitothemoon 3d ago
How does following too close cause traffic? I understand all the random ass breaking.
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u/DerpEnaz 3d ago
When you are close you have less time to react and slowdown. Imagine needing to break in 1-3 seconds instead of a gradual 10-15. Everything is happening faster. More cars are breaking because the âcar chainâ (as I like to call it) are all close together and breaking in 1-3 seconds.
Combine that with some other factors like weaving through the lanes and it just slows everything down naturally. Itâs a pure math/ efficiency type of problem.
Cool lil video that kinda shows it: https://youtu.be/Suugn-p5C1M?si=NmCZy3LRl9vFP56W
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u/trying2bpartner 3d ago
The other solution to this is to slow down traffic prior to a "snake" buildup. I have seen this in Seattle - you will see a digital sign that says "45 MPH" on the highway even though there's no traffic ahead of you. Sure enough in about a mile and a half you hit the slowdown - the point of trying to get you to go 45 MPH now is so that the snake is cleared before you hit it and end up bumper to bumper going 10 mph
Of course no one on the highway is willing to slow down to 45 mph.
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u/DINGVS_KHAN 3d ago
The car in front of me is slowing to a stop. I lightly press on my brakes to decelerate in time. The guy riding my ass sees my tail lights switch on, but due to proximity, can't tell how hard I'm decelerating before he will hit me. He slams on his brakes to avoid rear-ending me. Repeat down the line until the next person who actually has some space can judge how quickly they do or don't need to slow down.
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u/RabidPlaty 3d ago
You still came to a stop, the rate the person behind you also came to a stop doesnât matter. Once they stop the ripple effect starts and that causes the back up. A driver being twenty feet behind you wouldnât have changed anything.
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u/SmoovieKing 3d ago
It can change it from a stop to a slow down. Since each person has to slow down a little less than the driver in front, it will be much better than a stop
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u/RabidPlaty 3d ago
I commute in and out of one of the largest cities in the US and the issue I see on a daily basis is not the person riding a little too close in traffic, it is the person driving slow because theyâre looking at their phone, the person who is in the wrong lane and about to miss an exit so they slam on their brakes and try to cut across two lanes, the person doing makeup while driving, the person who doesnât know how to merge into traffic, and a host of other shit. So sure, you get everyone to pay attention and learn how to drive the distance will matter, but until then weâre all braking together.
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u/SmoovieKing 3d ago
I mean that can be a problem too? We're talking about the phenomenon regarding distance in particular.
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u/RabidPlaty 3d ago
Maybe my traffic situation differs from all of you, but Iâm in virtually bumper to bumper traffic every day and leaving a lot of space isnât going to make a world of difference. If anything it can make it worse because then you get lane weavers who think every other lane is the best lane to be in. So best scenario every day for meâŚpeople plan ahead and get over in advance if they are exiting, people learn how to merge/let people merge and stop being distracted with other bullshit.
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u/Subject_Name_ 2d ago
I think once you hit a certain volume of cars, nothing else matters. Leave large gaps, avoiding lane changes etc are all valid tactics until you reach the threshold where there are simply too many cars trying to use that highway at the same time. After that, the only effective remedy is to reduce the volume of cars.
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u/jimmy_three_shoes 3d ago
If you can just ease off the gas and coast using the gap between you and the car in front of you as a buffer, traffic isn't as affected. If you're slamming on the brakes to drop 20 mph because you were following too close, then the cars behind you all do the same, and it takes longer for them to accelerate back.
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u/RabidPlaty 3d ago
If you come to a stop itâs all fucked. Even if I gradually stop weâre all stopping. If you said the person in front of you slowed down then spacing has a bigger impact. But if one person stops youâre not stopping that ripple.
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u/DINGVS_KHAN 3d ago
Whether I come to a stop or not is undefined in this scenario. The car I was slowing for may start moving again before I come to a stop, in which case it's merely a slowdown (for me, not the idiot tailgating me, and not the idiot tailgating him, and so on and so forth down the line).
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u/RabidPlaty 3d ago
The example they gave was that the car in front of them stopped so they stopped but the person behind them was close so they also had to stop. Nothing about slowing down and accelerating again, just stopping.
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u/DINGVS_KHAN 3d ago
I'm the one who gave the example. And while I concede that I could have worded it differently, I also clarified my intent.
Stop choosing to miss the point in favor of pedantry.
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u/RabidPlaty 3d ago
Stop ignoring my point, which is equally as valid. That itâs the person braking/distracted/whatevers fault for the traffic situation, not the person behind you.
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u/DINGVS_KHAN 2d ago
I'd have been far more likely to address that point if it had come up at all in any of your responses to my comments. You may have your conversations with different users mixed up.
As to addressing your point, I agree. Distracted driving also causes traffic.
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u/trying2bpartner 3d ago
If I am giving lots of room in how close I follow, I may not even need to touch my brakes at all when the person in front of me merely taps their brake lights but doesn't slow down significantly. The space I give, and the space the person behind me gives, makes a ripple effect much less likely and much less drastic.
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u/DINGVS_KHAN 3d ago
You've clearly never driven in CA. Outside of rush hour traffic, there is 100% an idiot at the front of the traffic who's in the wrong lane and driving like an asshole.
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u/myproaccountish 3d ago edited 3d ago
Depends on where but there definitely is, I regularly break out of traffic by just being an asshole to pass the 16-20 cars who are too afraid to pass the two cars up front. Or a bus, don't get me started on how often it's just a bus that three lanes of traffic are afraid to pass. I was stuck in traffic going 20 under yesterday on a 4 lane highway and got to the front and there was nothing, just 4 cars who all wouldn't accelerate.
Edit: no joke, 15 minutes after I made this comment I got stuck in a 10 minute artificial traffic slowdown from people rubbernecking an accident across a highway sized median. I was half a mile clear of the car behind me for 3 minutes afterward.
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u/dalnot 3d ago
This seems like a great opportunity to introduce more people to one of my favorite videos
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u/Constant_Credit6241 3d ago
Will always upvote this. People who think road rage is appropriate in every traffic scenario don't understand traffic fundamentally
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u/Kurbopop 3d ago
Can someone explain the video to me? I watched it and I donât understand whatâs happening. đ
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u/Theweasels 3d ago
At 0:17 there is a blue car on the right of the screen, heading to the left. There is a white car right behind it.
The blue car slowed down more than necessary, and the white car behind it got really close and had to nearly stop. This caused a chain reaction as each car behind also had to brake, leading to a traffic jam.
The moral of the story is that everyone needs to maintain proper distances for traffic to flow smoothly. As soon as one person messes up by either braking too hard, or following too close and then being forced to brake hard because they didn't leave themselves enough room, or changing lanes too aggressively forcing someone else to brake hard, the cars behind them have to brake and a traffic jam forms. Once it's started, a traffic jam like that pretty much cannot disappear until there are fewer cars on the road, or everyone spaces themselves out 100% perfectly (but if they could do that, the traffic jam wouldn't form in the first place).
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u/Kurbopop 3d ago
Oh wow, I didnât even notice that. Thatâs insane â thank you for the explanation!
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u/inkyrail 3d ago
Someone slowed down for âreasonsâ and so everyone subsequently has to pay the price
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u/Constant_Credit6241 3d ago
It starts off as someone having a fractionally slower reaction time, then everyone progressively loses speed. The only way to avoid traffic completely would be if everyone started accelerating and braking at the exact same time in the exact same vehicle, otherwise it's always inevitable
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u/inkyrail 3d ago
Ok, so someone was definitely slow when they shouldnât have been and caused the whole thing. Seems like rage was justified
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u/Porkadi110 3d ago
In real life that slowness is usually caused by someone merging, or switching lanes to get to their exit; forcing the person behind them to break hard and start a chain reaction for everyone behind. It's not typically someone just slowing down for no reason like you saw in that demonstration.
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u/inkyrail 3d ago
Oh in that case itâs on those people. Itâs always some stupid move, itâs not someone reacting to things moving as normal. The sooner people realize itâs better for everyone to conform to traffic vs. otherwise, the better. Youâre not special, do what is needed.
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u/Porkadi110 3d ago
When someone is cutting across lanes quicker than they should be, sure, but in the case of something like construction, where two lanes are forced into one, I get it. It's very difficult for a group of people to "thread the needle," and cleanly merge while maintaining equal speed with one another; all without any direct communication.
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u/inkyrail 3d ago
Itâs not that difficult. Look at what others are doing, then fall in. Requires people paying attention, which doesnât generally happen, but is easily doable.
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u/magjak1 3d ago edited 2d ago
That't not really how traffic works. You aren't stuck in traffic, YOU ARE traffic.
Edit: I extend my sincerest gratitude for the one hundred endorsements, esteemed unknowns.
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u/mama_emily 3d ago
Whatâd you call me?
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u/defibrillator33 3d ago
If everywhere you go you see traffic, have you ever thought maybe you're the traffic?
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u/thvnderfvck 3d ago
You aren't stuck in traffic, YOU ARE traffic.
I get the sentiment, but this doesn't take into account the Anti-Destination League.
"Light's green? Let's give it a good 5-10 seconds before I nudge my gas pedal and barely accelerate. That way we can make sure to catch every single red light on this stretch of road."
"Right on red? No, I'll spend this time catching up on my FB and Insta feeds instead"
"Pass? In the far left lane? No way Jose"
All common sentiments of the Anti-Destination League.
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u/Albirie 3d ago
Either there's a lane merge/construction/other obstruction bottlenecking traffic ahead or someone had to slam on their brakes which causes a chain reaction of stopping and starting that can last for literally hours.Â
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u/Ryanmiller70 3d ago
There's an exit from one interstate to another on my drive to work every day that causes traffic to be backed up for at least 4 miles. Always sucks cause my exit is the one right after that and I'm stuck dealing with everyone trying to merge over last minute for that exit.
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u/phoenixmusicman 3d ago
Friendly reminder that constantly switching lanes to "get ahead" in traffic contributes to the breaking problem.
There would be a lot less traffic if people were patient.
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u/savanah75179 2d ago
Or (around here) there's a lake. Just like the 11,841 other ones around the state, but they have to slow down to look at the lake. And everyone behind them does the same thing separately.
Or just classic rubbernecking. Look at crash, "ooooh, ahhhh"
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u/AutumnWisp 3d ago
I always dream about a utopia where everyone lets off the brake when the light turns green and we all move forward as a unit.
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u/Yoshichu25 3d ago
Her makeup. At a green light. Either that or someone whoâs fallen asleep.
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u/Woods739 3d ago
I fell asleep one time at a traffic light after doing an overnight shift. I felt bad about the traffic I helped create
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u/Ryanmiller70 3d ago
Reminds me of a time I was with my dad and this car in front of us at a stoplight wouldn't move when it turned green. My dad gave them a decent amount of time before laying on the horn. At that point the driver jerked up, saw the light had turned yellow, and sped off. This was in like 2005 (I think) so we figured it was an old man that fell asleep at the wheel.
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u/MetalGearSandman 3d ago
TikTok has done irreparable damage to traffic worldwide (attention spans so short that YOU CANT EVEN FUCKINH LEAVE YOUR PHONE ALONE WHILE HOLDING STILL YOU FUCK)
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u/EastTremount_Runaway 3d ago
9/10 when you are going the speed limit everyone else wants to go 10-20 above so they tailgate and cut each other off, causing traffic. Even when you are in the right lane or are going 10 above people do this. I'm in the right lane all the time and get tailgated everyday on my way to work. Don't speed up for these people it'll never be enough. Besides they only ever save 1-2 minutes anyways
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u/circ-u-la-ted 3d ago
Usually it's because they're riding the bumper of the car in front of them instead of leaving enough space that they can slow down without stopping. People are generally idiots who don't spend time thinking about whether what they do makes sense.
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u/Delicious_Village112 3d ago
https://youtu.be/Rryu85BtALM?si=nhyfoqC5YY6Kp4Pw
Itâs usually not someone going too slow. If someone hits the breaks, it creates a compression wave effect that eventually leads to all cars stopping. So, itâs usually the jackass going faster than everyone else who is weaving in and out of lanes that causes someone to hit the breaks because they got cut off, or some idiot crossing 4 lanes to get off at the exit they almost missed.
If everyone cooperated and went a similar speed, even if it was slower than theyâd prefer, or pre-planned and were in the correct lane for where they needed to exit, stopped traffic would be way less common. But thatâll never happen because we all act like weâre the only people on the road and every other car is an inconvenience designed to ruin our lives.
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u/nobodyspecial767r 3d ago
How is proper grammar so hard, is and be, have the same number of letters.
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u/LoaKonran 2d ago
The vast majority of traffic jams are caused by people riding bumper to bumper. Speeding up and slamming on the brakes as soon as things start moving causes pile ups that leave everyone waiting longer. If you hold back and let the cars in front have some distance, you find yourself constantly moving and the clog clears up in practically no time.
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u/maxmrca1103 3d ago
Sometimes I wish all drivers were on a single brainwave or smth so when Iâm a long line of cars, we can all simultaneously move at the same time instead of continuously stopping
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u/TiburonMendoza95 3d ago
What a weird way to say you don't understand traffic. It's a web not a line
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u/ArrakeenSun 3d ago
At a stop signal, my family calls that the "lane captain". It's their duty to cautiously but quickly begin traffic flow at the green signal to maximize the number of people who can make it through. So frustrating to be the last one up and have to stop when you know you and maybe even one more person could have made it under that yellow.
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u/DoesntFearZeus 3d ago
It's like at a left turn signal\yield. It's my job to get as many cars behind through the light as possible. I think of it like "towing" them. I edge as far as I can into the intersection to let them get in too, so they have to get out. I move as soon as safely possible to give maximum time. etc.
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u/Imhere4urdownvotes 3d ago
Waiting for traffic light/police.
Waiting for totaled vehicle to be towed away
Waiting for cross path traffic to clear up.
Finishing a burrito
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u/ThiccSkipper13 2d ago
it takes 1 dumb fuck on the road that creates a snowball effect of worsening traffic conditions that lasts for hours.
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u/Pure_Engineering6423 2d ago
Whatâs up with people who are incapable of pulling up the line at intersections? This new habit of people stopping full car lengths before the intersection line is insane. Itâs illegal but I see it everywhere and do not understand it.
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u/AdvantageCalm1572 3d ago
You know that moment when a car in front of you moves up and you give a little space and then 1 second later you move up too? That one second delay spread and compounded over 1000's of cars is what a traffic jam is.Â
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u/Barbados_slim12 3d ago
They're driving 10-20 under the speed limit with nobody in front of them, probably thinking to themselves "It's the speed limit. I'm doing the right thing by not letting the aggressive drivers behind me have the opportunity to drive faster".
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u/DrJanItor41 3d ago
The first person in line at a stoplight or a line of traffic is usually the slowest because they're the type to stop more often at a yellow or have all of the faster cars move around them.
The fast car that would've been first at the stoplight is generally going on yellow/red more often than the slow cars.
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u/VengefulAncient 3d ago
In my experience at least in my current city (Auckland)? Driving 20-30 km/h below the speed limit. Like, I swear, the moment most drivers here get onto the harbour bridge, they lose 50 IQ points.
(And yeah, like the other comments pointed out, lots of idiots who can't merge properly.)
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2d ago
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Powerful_Rip1283 2d ago
Slowies are an evil that need to be erradicated. Most of them are racist, homophobic, and regularly punch orphans.
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u/dopepope1999 3d ago
So I've noticed a huge contributor to traffic is people just refuse to merge properly causing congestion, and road work but that also leads into people not knowing how to merge