Maybe it is a cosmic message that I should drive slower, or everyone else is oblivious to their impact on others and the basic principles of optimum traffic flow. But my understanding in the 30+ years of driving is that slower traffic should shift to the right lanes on the highway. Sure there is always the random distracted driver who hangs in the left lane of a three lane super highway, likely with their turn signal still blinking from two miles back, but this is more than that.
In the last six months I have had the need to run a semi-regular course of part of the PA Turnpike, The Blue Route and then 95 and then back. This has given me some interesting and unfortunately frustrating observations on the driving habits of the general public. Now lets get the rather obvious, if un-admitted out of the way; no one drives the speed limit. I mean NO one. You have to drive at least 5 miles over the posted number just to keep up with the blue haired lady in the Prius. In the spirit of full disclosure, I do drive between 10 and 15 over posted limit (on good weather days) though I am not one of the duck and weave drivers that are cutting 10 people off, just to get two cars further ahead on the road.
At 15 over the posted number, I would be passing most people on the road, but not blowing past them like I just forgot to turn the siren on. But if I look at the distribution of the cars most people are in the left lane. Even on a three lane highway, its left, then center than right. I have seen more often than not the clear path ahead is in the right lane. The right lane. Now I know there must be a law about this, because my son actually got a ticket a couple years ago not for speeding, but for staying in the left lane - now in his case there was no one else around him, when he got pulled over the officer just said he should have moved into the right lane if he wasn't passing. I think the officer was just looking to give the young driver a ticket for something, anything.
Maybe its cruise control, you know people set it for a particular speed and figure since they are going over the speed limit they should be in the left lane - obviously oblivious to the fact that everyone is going over the posted number, and still ignoring the fact that they are not passing anyone, there is no one in front of them and there is a line of cars behind them. You really feel like shouting through their passenger window as you have to pass them on the right: Move Over.
So forget about single car advancement, what about general efficiency. Traffic flow is similar to other independent agents moving through constraint and is a dynamics problem. Optimum flow is maintain by one, a controlled speed (I don't think the on-ramp metering really works) which is difficult with independent agents. This may be easier to regulate when self-driving cars to arrive, they would just get hooked into the virtual or physical track to drive at the predetermined optimum speed for the traffic, or two by an outlet value or channel to allow faster traffic to move ahead of slower traffic avoiding the you are only as fast as your slowest vehicle. This is the purpose of the mutli-lane highway (as well as the obvious maximum traffic capacity)
So let us all keep this efficiency working. If no one is in front of you, you are not actively gaining on a driver in the next lane, and the lane to your right is clear: Move Over. Otherwise I think we will start to see a practiced inversion of the rules of the road and passing will be on the right and slower traffic to the left.
