What I dislike about traffic isn't the delay so much as the cognitive load. I will often take a temporally longer route if it means I am not constantly watching for lane-changers cutting in front of me and then suddenly braking.
This is why driving is exhausting. There's always a few people who, evidently lacking any real stimulation in their lives, feel the need to constantly jockey for positions on the road, endangering everyone around them for a mere ego trip. It seems like many of these drivers view their driving habits as reflections on them as a person; e.g. they cannot appear weak by yielding to others (even if yielding produces an optimal result, time-wise).
I can't wait for driverless cars. We are the ones who make traffic much worse because we have to have our own way.
There seems to be an implicit assumption that people who constantly jockey for position and those who value safety and orderly progress will end up using essentially the same driverless car OS.
Unless the field is heavily regulated, I imagine that car manufacturers are going to tune and market their cars according to their existing brand identities: safety, economy, performance, "thrill", and so forth.
It'd definitely be an improvement, but I also think it'll take decades to work out the kinks.
I think once we have good statistics on how different strategies affect traffic and accidents, some states will fairly quickly respond with requirements for how driverless cars must act based on that data.
I'm speculating on this being pure selection bias (and the natural desire for all humans to cherry pick something of which to feel superior about).
I'm a middle of the road kind of driver. Almost an equal number of people pass me (sometimes at crazy speeds) as I pass myself. My dad is a slow and steady type (and also feels superior about it), so I get to hear all his "stories" about how so and so passed him and sped up fast but hit every light just like he did, but he wasted less gas (or some other reasoning). However, he conveniently doesn't note the likely five other times in the same scenario where the guy hit every light and left my dad in the dust.
Personally, I notice people I pass a lot because of my dad's comments, and am very self conscious of when I pass somebody but get nowhere. However, most of the time, I passed that person because they were just driving too slow (I'll not slow down and go 5 mph under the speed limit just to make some random person happy), and even if they are going the speed limit, if they drive inconsistently (hit the brakes, slow down/speed up randomly, etc), I just want to be away from them and somewhere safer/less stressful to drive.
I use cruise control a LOT, so I'm annoyed at having to hit my brakes for no reason other than some stranger's whim.
Sometimes we aren't jockeying for position, we are just getting away from somebody.
Very true, my man. So I have no illusions whatsoever that I'm getting there faster. I'm getting there with less stress than if I calculated, though. And since I'm proactive about letting people pass (I guarantee you'll never get stuck behind me because I'm matching the guy in front of me and have space for you to merge in front), I'm fairly confident I'm not holding anyone back.
Comments
What I dislike about traffic isn't the delay so much as the cognitive load. I will often take a temporally longer route if it means I am not constantly watching for lane-changers cutting in front of me and then suddenly braking.
This is why driving is exhausting. There's always a few people who, evidently lacking any real stimulation in their lives, feel the need to constantly jockey for positions on the road, endangering everyone around them for a mere ego trip. It seems like many of these drivers view their driving habits as reflections on them as a person; e.g. they cannot appear weak by yielding to others (even if yielding produces an optimal result, time-wise).
I can't wait for driverless cars. We are the ones who make traffic much worse because we have to have our own way.
There seems to be an implicit assumption that people who constantly jockey for position and those who value safety and orderly progress will end up using essentially the same driverless car OS.
Unless the field is heavily regulated, I imagine that car manufacturers are going to tune and market their cars according to their existing brand identities: safety, economy, performance, "thrill", and so forth.
It'd definitely be an improvement, but I also think it'll take decades to work out the kinks.
I think once we have good statistics on how different strategies affect traffic and accidents, some states will fairly quickly respond with requirements for how driverless cars must act based on that data.
Haha, so true. A while back I settled into the 'average traffic speed plus large gap' mode. Less braking, lower clutch use, and more pleasant driving.
As a bonus, I get to feel superior to everyone not employing this strategy.
I'm speculating on this being pure selection bias (and the natural desire for all humans to cherry pick something of which to feel superior about).
I'm a middle of the road kind of driver. Almost an equal number of people pass me (sometimes at crazy speeds) as I pass myself. My dad is a slow and steady type (and also feels superior about it), so I get to hear all his "stories" about how so and so passed him and sped up fast but hit every light just like he did, but he wasted less gas (or some other reasoning). However, he conveniently doesn't note the likely five other times in the same scenario where the guy hit every light and left my dad in the dust.
Personally, I notice people I pass a lot because of my dad's comments, and am very self conscious of when I pass somebody but get nowhere. However, most of the time, I passed that person because they were just driving too slow (I'll not slow down and go 5 mph under the speed limit just to make some random person happy), and even if they are going the speed limit, if they drive inconsistently (hit the brakes, slow down/speed up randomly, etc), I just want to be away from them and somewhere safer/less stressful to drive.
I use cruise control a LOT, so I'm annoyed at having to hit my brakes for no reason other than some stranger's whim.
Sometimes we aren't jockeying for position, we are just getting away from somebody.
Very true, my man. So I have no illusions whatsoever that I'm getting there faster. I'm getting there with less stress than if I calculated, though. And since I'm proactive about letting people pass (I guarantee you'll never get stuck behind me because I'm matching the guy in front of me and have space for you to merge in front), I'm fairly confident I'm not holding anyone back.
There needs to be more drivers like you then. :)
Also, the less stress there is on the road the better, IMO.