get more people to ride motorcycles. an oft-cited study [1] shows that a 10% increase in motorcycle ridership would cut time lost to traffic by 63%
1: http://www.acem.eu/images/stories/doc/pressreleases/2011/PTW...
Motorcycle fatalities already make up a hugely disproportional number of the total highway fatalities in the USA. And half of those fatalities occur in single-vehicle accidents.
In TX, all highways have clear signs saying "LEFT LANE FOR PASSING ONLY", and guess how many people notice them?
I've also known people who think it's OK to be in the left lane if they're going the speed limit.
Do you think these people will be educated by waving a sign in front of them from a motorcycle? They'll just get angry.
I would think it's OK if there is traffic in the other lanes too (otherwise you should go back to the lanes on the right).
But why does it bother you? Do you think it's OK to go above the speed limit? Just curious.
Yes, that's common sense.
>But why does it bother you? Do you think it's OK to go above the speed limit? Just curious.
What I think about going than higher than the speed limit is irrelevant. If you aren't passing by going the speed limit, you should not be in the left lane too. Why shouldn't you? Well:
1. Because it's against what the law says!
2. Because it slows down the flow of traffic.
3. Because it creates a road hazard, as people who actually try to use the passing lane for passing will have to slow down if a vehicle merges at a slower speed.
4. Because this actually makes passing impossible, which kills the whole point of the passing lane.
5. Did I say it creates a road hazard already? https://lifehacker.com/help-your-kids-record-and-edit-a-fami...
Motorcyclists have enough trouble as it is.
Unless there is someone in that lane going the same speed, or slightly slower, which is very common in a two-lane road near where I live.
There are also people who drive rather dangerously out of frustration when they cannot pass, making the entire situation more dangerous. The problem is that the slow drivers have been taught that "driving slow = correct", and that everyone around them must be doing it wrong.
If we put half of the focus we do with speed to things like this, our roads would be much better for it.
They do not feel like they should do something, like drive faster or slower to allow traffic to flow around them.
This causes much more dangerous traffic situations, because traffic gets bottled up, and there are always a few cars that want to go significantly faster, and aren't afraid to drive more dangerously out of frustration.
Those drivers who drive more dangerously are seen by the slow drivers in the front to be the real problem. The drivers in the front then feel more vindicated in their "correct" driving style.
The idea I came up with awhile ago was to build a network of motorcyclists willing to attach a sign to the back of their bike, that reads (something like), "You're causing traffic by being in this lane at your speed - please move to right as soon as it's safe to do so." The motorcyclists would make their way in front of the slow left-laner - so that the sign is visible to the slow poke - with the hopes of persuading them to move to the right lane.
Meanwhile, also on the sign would be instructions for the other drivers out there, who witness the value the motorcyclist provided, to send a little micropayment electronically to the motorcyclist as a thank you.
Maybe this takes the form of a grassroots DIY movement where the motorcyclists handle all this themselves, or maybe there's an opportunity for a company to exist that creates the signs and facilitates the micropayments - and in return takes a cut of each micropayment (a la Patreon).
Obviously this assumes that all this can be achieved safely and legally. Thorough testing would have to be done on that front.
Let me know if anyone wants to kick around this idea further - even if just for fun.