A rant about roadwork lane closures and those who "police" them!

Scrapit

Bradden wrote: »

I fail to see the argument here. When warned about lane closures etc. Most people tend to move into the left-hand lane and queue including myself as it seems the fairest way to behave and if we all did it the traffic would flow more efficiently.

There are of course some drivers who see things differently and will use the other lane to pass the slow-moving traffic. I understand they intend to wait for a space in the other lane to join the slower moving traffic nearer to the closure. This strikes me as being a little selfish.. everyone's time is valuable and no one likes queuing. However, I really don't let it bother me.. I'd rather not have the stress of trying to find a gap at the last minute..and would feel guilty passing all the other drivers.

The only time I get annoyed is when I am in the queuing traffic and someone tries to force their way in when there is no gap forcing me to take evasive action or have an accident.That's just dangerous and I doub't it's recommended under the highway code.

Any one not using the road space is selfish. The traffic flow is designed to use all the available space. Any one mistakingly think it is fair to slow the flow of traffic is outright wrong.

boliston

it would be nice if the real police could sometimes 'book' these self appointed traffic police

Ebe_Scrooge

Bradden wrote: »

I fail to see the argument here. When warned about lane closures etc. Most people tend to move into the left-hand lane and queue including myself as it seems the fairest way to behave and if we all did it the traffic would flow more efficiently.

There are of course some drivers who see things differently and will use the other lane to pass the slow-moving traffic. I understand they intend to wait for a space in the other lane to join the slower moving traffic nearer to the closure. This strikes me as being a little selfish.. everyone's time is valuable and no one likes queuing. However, I really don't let it bother me.. I'd rather not have the stress of trying to find a gap at the last minute..and would feel guilty passing all the other drivers.

The only time I get annoyed is when I am in the queuing traffic and someone tries to force their way in when there is no gap forcing me to take evasive action or have an accident.That's just dangerous and I doub't it's recommended under the highway code.

Yes, but what really annoys me is when people get angry at other drivers for obeying the signs. I don't know if it's just a "thing" in Scotland, but invariably round here in roadworks there are signs every few yards saying "Use both lanes when queuing", followed by a sign later on saying "Merge in turn now". It's not at all uncommon for some self-righteous *person* in the left-hand lane to see someone approaching him in the right-hand lane, and he decides to move out and straddle both lanes to stop anyone passing him - despite all the signs telling you this is what you should be doing. Why does he think he knows better than the planners/highways agency/whoever ?

Manxman_in_exile

Scrapit wrote: »

Any one not using the road space is selfish. The traffic flow is designed to use all the available space. Any one mistakingly think it is fair to slow the flow of traffic is outright wrong.

Absolutely. The point I made at the outset (#3) is that we have a situation near to us where there are two lanes off one of the exits of a roundabout on the ring road, with a merge point (just before a traffic light controlled junction) about 250 yards further along. When people only use the left hand lane to exit, the queue backs up onto the roundabout and traffic grinds to a halt. (There are yellow boxes on the roundabout, but it doesn't have traffic lights controlling it so I understand the yellow boxes have no significance). People shouldn't block the roundabout, but that's a different issue. At rush hour the congestion can be so bad that traffic can also back up on the other side of the roundabout, inevitably blocking another junction.


When traffic is starting to queue back to the exit off the roundabout, I always use the (empty) right hand lane to keep the roundabout free. Only very rarely do people try to "prevent" you from merging.

Manxman_in_exile

Johno100 wrote: »

Yes, I think @facade explains that quite well in post #9.

Another way to look at it. If you've got separate taps for your sink and you release a set volume of water, it doesn't matter if you release it from the hot, cold tap or both, it is the capacity of the plug hole to drain the water that determines how quickly the sink empties.

But your analogy doesn't hold water.


It's not the flow of traffic through the merge point (or flow of water through the plughole) that's an issue, it's the available capacity of the road (or sink).


If you put a vertical partition in your sink (or created two lanes on the road) such that it's bisected, you halve its capacity if you only use one of the two created compartments. That means it will overflow (or back up to roundabouts, junctions etc) much more quickly and with only half the amount of water in it. But if you use both compartments, you can get more water in the sink (or more cars on the available road space).


Maybe as somebody else has suggested, it's a British queuing "thing" and we don't like queue jumpers - but I don't see using the available two lanes as queue jumping, it's just a sensible use of the road, presumably as it was intended to be used.

almillar

Sea Shell

Until you're met with a wall of nose to tail HGVs in lane one, with NO safe space to pull into, whatever speed you try and match. If you're forced to stop by the end of the slip road, then you really are stuck, unless a really large gap comes along.

I understand, and I don't think the Highway Code really copes well with congestion, but as I say, if you really do have to stop, do it at the end of the slip road, after crawling along it, beside the stationary traffic, not the start, so that your queue fits in better. Use the slip road, don't leave it empty.

Bradden

I fail to see the argument here. When warned about lane closures etc. Most people tend to move into the left-hand lane and queue including myself as it seems the fairest way to behave and if we all did it the traffic would flow more efficiently.

Read the rest of the thread. No, it wouldn't, if there's too much traffic for 1 lane.

There are of course some drivers who see things differently and will use the other lane to pass the slow-moving traffic. I understand they intend to wait for a space in the other lane to join the slower moving traffic nearer to the closure. This strikes me as being a little selfish

No. Again, explanations of the system are above. Queue in both lanes, making the queue half as long, and merge in turn at the front of it. At the back of it, join the shortest queue. If everyone did this, the outside lane would have a queue the same length as the inside one, and no-one would be able to cheat. Try it! If you can't beat them, join them!

I understand if there were junctions the queue would block etc but generally, this isn't the case. I cannot see how it is more efficient for everyone to try and merge at the last minute.

There's always a junction for the queue to block, it just depends how long the queue is. Please read the thread!

Scrapit

People need stop thinking selfish and start thinking effcient. There is no fair or polite in driving.

Mercdriver

If people had better anticipation skills and more consideration, there would be far fewer issues. If I am in the still open lane at the point of merging, I slow to allow a gap for a single car to enter, everybody should do the same.

People don't seem to know how to read the road correctly.

Bradden

I think I misread the thread.. if we are talking specifically about lane closures for roadworks I agree that people should use all the available road and follow signs to merge etc.


For me the issue is not about roadworks but behaviour in general congestion.

I often have to queue on the nearside lane to exit the motorway on my way home.. there is often at least one or more drivers who will pass the queuing traffic and leave it to the last moment to force their way to leave the motorway. I don't see that this is anything to do with efficiency but is simply someone who doesn't want to queue being selfish.

Manxman_in_exile

Bradden wrote: »

I think I misread the thread.. if we are talking specifically about lane closures for roadworks I agree that people should use all the available road and follow signs to merge etc.

The thread isn't specifically about roadworks. It's about anywhere that you have two lanes merging into one, and why people tend to use only the left hand lane and not both lanes. It's not about pushing in, it's about using (or not using) the lanes provided on the road.


(Or rather, it's about drivers in the left hand lane deliberately preventing drivers who are legitimately using the right hand lane from merging).