I just wanted to relate an incident that happened to me a couple of years ago. There's another post about an accident that made me think about this one. I was towing a travel trailer down I-65 and my ex was following me in an SUV. Traffic was pretty heavy because it was the first day of a long weekend.We started seeing signs saying that there was construction and that the right lane was closed ahead, so the ex and I moved into the left lane. There were numerous cars passing in the right lane and then swerving into traffic and this caused more slow-downs. Eventually the left lane was travelling at less than 30 mph and people in the right lane were travelling 70-80 mph.I was at the point where the barrels were placed in the right lane when I saw a line of cars coming up very quickly on my right. There was a van leading a pack of cars and they were all within a car length of the car in front of them.The van squeezed between my RV and the barrels, swerved in front of me and locked up his brakes to keep from hitting the car in front of me. The car behind him suddenly realized that the lane had ended and swerved in into the side of my TT. The car behind him side-swiped my ex's SUV, hit the back of my TT and crashed through the barrels. The vehicle behind him continued on through the barrels and hit other vehicles before slamming into a generator and portable lighting system. Lots and lots of vehicle carnage but no one was seriously injured. The aftermath was a real mess. The interstate was completely closed for several hours. Hundreds of cars backed up with nowhere to go. The ex, my 2 children, and I were stuck 300 miles from home with three wrecked vehicles. The only guy who made it out okay was the guy in the van. He drove away without a scratch.

The potential for that kind of scenario makes me appreciate it when a trucker or two begins to straddle two lanes, making it real hard for the guys who want to race up to the very last inch before merging into the only open lane.

I spent most of my adult years to about 45 in Atlanta, where the traffic is, well... legendary!! On a trip to Texas, in Louisiana on the interstate, workers had posted signs "RIGHT LANE CLOSED AHEAD." There was an orderly line of patient drivers in the left lane, and an empty right lane for three miles.I had never seen such. I think it actually changed how I drive, knowing that someone else might be calm and predictable, and not crazy and reckless.The two things that make for accidents are idiocy and courtesy. Being too nice, for example stopping in a moving lane to let someone in, creates hazards. IMO, the trick is to be as calm and predictable as possible.Matt B

yep most times the guy that causes the problem pulls away and never gets a ticket. alot of re end hits are like that.

mikes47 wrote:The potential for that kind of scenario makes me appreciate it when a trucker or two begins to straddle two lanes, making it real hard for the guys who want to race up to the very last inch before merging into the only open lane.X2, I have even seen cars straddling the lanes. It seems to work most of the time. Somewhere in my travels I have seen road signs that say that when the right line is closing that it is illegal to drive in the right lane from that point on. I just can't remember which state that I was in. I do know that it was not California. People here will drive on the shoulder until there is a blockage which forces them over. JMO

The best way to stop these kind of "entitled" drivers is to use both lanes to the merge point. If you leave one lane open for 2 miles people will travel faster in the open lane trying to "get ahead". If both lanes are full from the merge point back there is no room for the speedsters to "get ahead". Here in PA there are times when you will see construction signs saying "use both lanes to merge point". This serves to purposes. The first is to prevent crashes like the one above. The second is to keep the queue or line of cars shorter so it does not exceed the 2 mile advance construction signing that warns of a slow down condition ahead.

Crazy Accident | Good Sam Community

beemerphile1
Explorer
Jan 02, 2015
packnrat wrote:
...when we try to keep people from doing such they run over the cones. or make a call to our snitch number and report us as swerving or cutting them off....

I would say leave the law enforcement to law enforcement officers, but there is no law validating blocking two lanes. Drivers that purposefully try to block traffic are breaking the law and deserve being reported.
kvangil
Explorer
Jan 02, 2015
fj12ryder wrote:
Easy way to solve your problem of being reported is to leave traffic enforcement to the people who get paid for it. Vigilantes aren't really needed on the highways, there are already enough people who feel they have the right to do what they consider is correct. It's not your job, and not always appreciated.

X2. Well said...
toedtoes
Explorer III
Jan 02, 2015
mlts22 wrote:
Houston Remodeler wrote:
My first 35 years of driving were spent in Philly where folks locked bumpers at 55 mph (yes that was the max back then) to take an exit and not let anyone in. Yes it was frightfully dangerous, but most folks knew to get in the back of the line or take the next exit.

When I moved to Texas it was another world. Folks got into the correct lane miles ahead, with a rare few nudging in at the end. The polite folks in Texas seem to have it right.

In rural areas in Texas, I see people taking time to get into the correct lane, and making sure to move into a position so that someone who is in the wrong lane can merge in without a problem.

In Austin, people will actually deliberately move into the lane that is ending, floor it, and cut in, inches away from where the barrels are, forcing the entire lane to a standstill, when there was at least a mile of warning previously. I'm guessing it is a behavior that the out of state transplants carry with them, since as soon as one leaves the city proper, people grasp the concept of moving over in a safe manner.

More likely, it is a side-effect of living in the city. In the cities, most people face bumper-to-bumper traffic on a daily basis, or at least weekly; whereas in rural areas, most people rarely find themselves in bumper-to-bumper traffic. When you sit in dead traffic for X minutes/hours a day, you start to jump at the opportunity to "get ahead" whether it's polite or not.
mlts22
Explorer
Jan 02, 2015
Houston Remodeler wrote:
My first 35 years of driving were spent in Philly where folks locked bumpers at 55 mph (yes that was the max back then) to take an exit and not let anyone in. Yes it was frightfully dangerous, but most folks knew to get in the back of the line or take the next exit.

When I moved to Texas it was another world. Folks got into the correct lane miles ahead, with a rare few nudging in at the end. The polite folks in Texas seem to have it right.

In rural areas in Texas, I see people taking time to get into the correct lane, and making sure to move into a position so that someone who is in the wrong lane can merge in without a problem.

In Austin, people will actually deliberately move into the lane that is ending, floor it, and cut in, inches away from where the barrels are, forcing the entire lane to a standstill, when there was at least a mile of warning previously. I'm guessing it is a behavior that the out of state transplants carry with them, since as soon as one leaves the city proper, people grasp the concept of moving over in a safe manner.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Jan 02, 2015
Easy way to solve your problem of being reported is to leave traffic enforcement to the people who get paid for it. Vigilantes aren't really needed on the highways, there are already enough people who feel they have the right to do what they consider is correct. It's not your job, and not always appreciated.
packnrat
Explorer
Jan 02, 2015
mikes47 wrote:
The potential for that kind of scenario makes me appreciate it when a trucker or two begins to straddle two lanes, making it real hard for the guys who want to race up to the very last inch before merging into the only open lane.

sad but even when we try to keep people from doing such they run over the cones. or make a call to our snitch number and report us as swerving or cutting them off. that gets us in trouble at work.
from a verbal to unpaid time off.

can't fix stupid.

.
mabynack
Explorer II
Dec 29, 2014
My dad was a trucker in the Northeast and frequently drove through NYC. He was entering a toll collection site and heard a grinding noise. Apparently a guy in a Miata had tried to squeeze in ahead of him on his right. There was no way for my dad to see him.
Jarlaxle
Explorer II
Dec 28, 2014
powderman426 wrote:
Once on the Fla. Turnpike with a trailer, traffic started to backup a few miles from the toll booth. It was very slow slogging when all of a sudden a car came up the berm on my right. A few minutes later there was another, and another. This had me frustrated until I realized that these cars had no way to get back in line. And there at the head of the line was a patrolman just waiting for them to come to him and issuing a ticket. Now this was nice, but the icing on the cake was that they were still not allowed back in line. That made my day.

Around here, many would simply FORCE their way in! They hit you? They don't care, their truck already doesn't have a straight panel on it!
et2
Explorer
Dec 24, 2014
There are some sick people out there that don't care what you think or their actions and consequences. They would as just soon kill you to get their way. Challenge there deranged minds and you could be in for a whole heap of trouble.

Just the reason we installed a dash cam. Too many crazies out there.
Houston_Remodel
Explorer
Dec 24, 2014
My first 35 years of driving were spent in Philly where folks locked bumpers at 55 mph (yes that was the max back then) to take an exit and not let anyone in. Yes it was frightfully dangerous, but most folks knew to get in the back of the line or take the next exit.

When I moved to Texas it was another world. Folks got into the correct lane miles ahead, with a rare few nudging in at the end. The polite folks in Texas seem to have it right.

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