Lane usage conundrum!

Discussion on Advanced and Defensive Driving.

Postby jwatkins » Sat Oct 24, 2015 10:00 am


In a busy post office with two serving hatches, you wouldn't join a long queue for hatch one, if hatch two had a little queue or none at all, would you?

So why, at traffic lights, with two straight-on lanes, so we so frequently see 10 or more cars in the left lane and none in the right? I assume I'm doing nothing wrong by moving into the empty lane and occupying a position at the front of the queue.

Interesting though, that when I try to merge with the traffic to my left (note merge, not necessarily jump in front of everyone), I often find some aggressive driver surging forward to prevent me moving across.

If such drivers are so desperate to prevent someone from getting in front of them and delaying their journey by five seconds, why not use both available lanes correctly themselves in the first place and save themselves a much longer wait?!
jwatkins
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2015 9:25 am

Postby javagreen » Sat Oct 24, 2015 1:15 pm


Hi, I agree with your comments and would add that, as you know, it's all part of advanced driving to be looking for opportunities to make good progress and subsequently enjoy even the most mundane of trips. I would suggest that as aggressive /pushy drivers are a sad fact of motoring, just assume that's the reaction you're always going to get when wanting to merge and factor it in - naturally keeping a Zen-like calm at all times! 8)
javagreen
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jan 21, 2011 2:42 pm

Postby Gareth » Sat Oct 24, 2015 3:59 pm


jwatkins wrote:why, at traffic lights, with two straight-on lanes, so we so frequently see 10 or more cars in the left lane and none in the right?

I see this for both left hand lanes and right hand lanes. In the UK, people joining a queue tend to join at the end, and may feel as if they are pushing in if they use a significantly shorter queue.

Sometimes there may be reasons
  • there may only be one lane after the junction, either real or effective
  • common usage is for the other lane to be used for turning
  • the road surface on one of the lanes may be quite rough

jwatkins wrote:I assume I'm doing nothing wrong by moving into the empty lane and occupying a position at the front of the queue.

The main thing, probably, is to avoid being perceived as overly pushy. You can trickle down the lane to join the end of the shorter queue, you can stop with a larger distance behind the last in the queue, (signalling to others you aren't in a hurry).

On pulling away, when two lanes become one, you can leave a merge gap to the vehicle in front, and you can avoid challenging others in the adjacent queue who feel they must get ahead of you.
there is only the road, nothing but the road ...
Gareth
 
Posts: 3604
Joined: Sat Apr 15, 2006 2:58 pm
Location: Berkshire




Postby MGF » Sat Oct 24, 2015 7:32 pm


jwatkins wrote: I assume I'm doing nothing wrong by moving into the empty lane and occupying a position at the front of the queue.


I think it is more helpful to see yourself as adjacent to the vehicle at the front of the queue. The question is how are you going to merge safely and considerately with traffic that has been queuing? My plan is to try to avoid being part of a conflict of self-righteousness.

As above, approach at a gentle rather than aggressive speed and once moving again create space ahead of you to accommodate traffic merging from your left. Having said that I try not to assume I will merge in any particular positon but constantly assess the
queue to identify a safe and considerate merge point. That isn't likely to be in front of a driver attempting to close a gap.

Today I ceded ground to a van driver who objected to merge in turn. As I was then behind him in a stationary queue, rather than trapped on his offside I was able to move to his left and pass the van and a few cars in the queue that were held up by right-turning traffic, before returning to the lane in front of the hold-up. Win-win.

jwatkins wrote: In a busy post office with two serving hatches, you wouldn't join a long queue for hatch one, if hatch two had a little queue or none at all, would you?


That depends on what the people queuing are holding in their hands. Observation links can be useful. :)
MGF
 
Posts: 2547
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:33 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Postby superplum » Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:29 am


MGF wrote: I was able to move to his left and pass the van and a few cars in the queue that were held up by right-turning traffic, before returning to the lane in front of the hold-up. Win-win.


So, undertaking and in competition then!

:twisted:
superplum
 
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:31 am

Postby Standard Dave » Mon Oct 26, 2015 11:39 pm


If I'd moved to the front of the queue in the offside lane I'm quite sure if I moved off at a reasonable pace that I wouldn't have an issue merging infront or behind the first vehicle in the nearside lane.

The offisde lane at many junctions is used the same as on a normal road for overtaking it might be that some of the drivers don't use it as they know their vehicle or skill level has little or no business attempting to move faster than other traffic.
Standard Dave
 
Posts: 461
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2006 2:55 pm
Location: East Midlands

Postby TripleS » Wed Oct 28, 2015 3:21 pm


superplum wrote:
MGF wrote: I was able to move to his left and pass the van and a few cars in the queue that were held up by right-turning traffic, before returning to the lane in front of the hold-up. Win-win.


So, undertaking and in competition then!

:twisted:


I don't see it like that. If those in the RH lane were held up behind somebody who wanted to make a right turn but was not immediately able to do it, that was simply their misfortune.

MGF was merely passing on the left of stationary traffic, and not really in competition with those in the RH lane.

Perhaps you were joking?

Best wishes all,
Dave.
TripleS
 
Posts: 6025
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:47 pm
Location: Briggswath, Whitby

Postby superplum » Wed Oct 28, 2015 3:50 pm


TripleS wrote:
superplum wrote:
MGF wrote: I was able to move to his left and pass the van and a few cars in the queue that were held up by right-turning traffic, before returning to the lane in front of the hold-up. Win-win.


So, undertaking and in competition then!

:twisted:


I don't see it like that. If those in the RH lane were held up behind somebody who wanted to make a right turn but was not immediately able to do it, that was simply their misfortune.

MGF was merely passing on the left of stationary traffic, and not really in competition with those in the RH lane.

Perhaps you were joking?

Best wishes all,
Dave.


Spot the emoticon - of course I was joking!

:lol:
superplum
 
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:31 am

Postby TripleS » Thu Oct 29, 2015 11:38 am


OK, but that emoticon often indicates that the user is actually quite seriously miffed about something: though clearly not in this case. As you were. 8)
TripleS
 
Posts: 6025
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:47 pm
Location: Briggswath, Whitby

Postby jwatkins » Mon Nov 02, 2015 3:22 pm


Thanks for your thoughts on this. What I take from it is that I'm not doing anything wrong, but in order to diffuse any situations before they occur, creeping up to the lights in the right hand lane might be a good idea. Hopefully this reduces the risk of looking like I'm queue jumping. I'll give it a go...
jwatkins
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2015 9:25 am

Postby Pyrolol » Wed Nov 04, 2015 8:53 pm


I think it depends on the situation. There are traffic lights near me that have 2 lanes (left + forward, forward + right) on approach but immediately go down to 1 after. When it's quiet I prefer to join the end of a queue on the left hand lane, to save everyone the effort of dealing with an immediate merge. Overall flow is improved by only using one lane.

There are other places where there's more space afterwards, where I'll take right hand lanes even if I'm going straight where I'm confident I'll be able to pull away fast enough to move back in front with a good space behind :twisted:. There's always the fallback option of going around.
Pyrolol
 
Posts: 26
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2013 11:19 pm
Location: Enfield


Return to Advanced Driving Forum

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests