Views on straddling 2 lanes on Motorways / Dual Carriageways
Discussion
I see very little discussion of using two lanes on motorways (i.e. positioning the car so that the white line is underneath the centre of the car) and also very rarely see other drivers doing it. But it seems a sensible thing to do to me in certain circumstances and wonder what others think.
Most of these situations are at very high speeds. I'm not going to discuss that any further in this OP but feel free!
The situation I wish to discuss is when you are at the rear - and being at the rear is important, see the next paragraph - of two lanes (on a two lane road - adding additional lanes introduces various obvious dangers, but it also makes this scenario less likely to arise) of nose to tail traffic both going at roughly the same speed. This arises frequently due to elephant racing on the less good parts of the A1, the road I use this technique most on. Whichever lane you pick, and even if you hang back 10 seconds, you'll still see less than you will 2 or 3 seconds back from both lanes straddled in the middle. I don't need to explain why vision is important in this forum. That's the point in doing it.
The major disadvantage is that you are going to confuse, and possibly antagonise, other drivers. This is why I don't do it in a situation when it could be perceived I'm trying to prevent someone from getting past - I need to be at the rear of the queue. However I'm not so sure that in practice that this is a big deal - I've never witnessed any adverse affects on / reactions by drivers in front from doing this, but I am always mindful of course that I may be confusing them.
So what do you think about this technique? Seems a no brainer to me, but I've never seen it discussed and I essentially never see it being done - I only ever see lane straddling in the high speed scenarios. That suggests to me that I'm missing something obvious. But perhaps it's something we should consider doing more?
Most of these situations are at very high speeds. I'm not going to discuss that any further in this OP but feel free!
The situation I wish to discuss is when you are at the rear - and being at the rear is important, see the next paragraph - of two lanes (on a two lane road - adding additional lanes introduces various obvious dangers, but it also makes this scenario less likely to arise) of nose to tail traffic both going at roughly the same speed. This arises frequently due to elephant racing on the less good parts of the A1, the road I use this technique most on. Whichever lane you pick, and even if you hang back 10 seconds, you'll still see less than you will 2 or 3 seconds back from both lanes straddled in the middle. I don't need to explain why vision is important in this forum. That's the point in doing it.
The major disadvantage is that you are going to confuse, and possibly antagonise, other drivers. This is why I don't do it in a situation when it could be perceived I'm trying to prevent someone from getting past - I need to be at the rear of the queue. However I'm not so sure that in practice that this is a big deal - I've never witnessed any adverse affects on / reactions by drivers in front from doing this, but I am always mindful of course that I may be confusing them.
So what do you think about this technique? Seems a no brainer to me, but I've never seen it discussed and I essentially never see it being done - I only ever see lane straddling in the high speed scenarios. That suggests to me that I'm missing something obvious. But perhaps it's something we should consider doing more?
Dunno what all the comments about being high were about, the OP makes perfect sense to me.
Here's a diagram of what I was talking about. As you can see, straddling the lanes provides the most visibility, even if you are fairly close:
However
I think that's a fair answer, makes sense. I've probably been a bit obsessive about gathering information without thinking about what I'm going to do with it.
Here's a diagram of what I was talking about. As you can see, straddling the lanes provides the most visibility, even if you are fairly close:
However
blearyeyedboy said:
Extra information is only useful if you can use it.
Giving you the benefit of the doubt, if you're approaching the rear of two queues of traffic on a two lane dual carriageway, knowing what's ahead of them is irrelevant. The situation will change by the time that queue dissipates, and you will need to start to gather information again to decide what to do next.
If the queue is short enough for that not to apply, and you wish to overtake traffic in the left lane, then you join the queue of traffic that's overtaking. If you don't wish to overtake or you're not going to be able to do so in a reasonable time, then move to the left.
In my opinion, there is no advantage to what you propose, and you risk causing confusion to others.
Is that a fair answer, or am I missing your point?
(my boulding)Giving you the benefit of the doubt, if you're approaching the rear of two queues of traffic on a two lane dual carriageway, knowing what's ahead of them is irrelevant. The situation will change by the time that queue dissipates, and you will need to start to gather information again to decide what to do next.
If the queue is short enough for that not to apply, and you wish to overtake traffic in the left lane, then you join the queue of traffic that's overtaking. If you don't wish to overtake or you're not going to be able to do so in a reasonable time, then move to the left.
In my opinion, there is no advantage to what you propose, and you risk causing confusion to others.
Is that a fair answer, or am I missing your point?
I think that's a fair answer, makes sense. I've probably been a bit obsessive about gathering information without thinking about what I'm going to do with it.
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