I often find it quite amusing driving home everyday watching people make frantic lane changes just to get one car length ahead of where they were. It always cracks me up when I’m in the fast lane, there are many cars ahead of me, and the car behind me moves over to the right lane to pass. 99% of the time, they get stuck in slower traffic. It puts me in mind of Steven Landsburg’s economic rule of queuing up in a grocery store.

I’m not sure if this solution would work for changing lanes on a freeway but, it does make sense to me that if people keep changing lanes, the lane they change to will eventually become just as slow, if not slower than the one they just came from. That is why I don’t change lanes (unless there is an obvious obstruction). If the lane I’m in is slow, it will eventually speed up as others switch to another lane, making it slower.

I’m not sure if this gets me home any sooner. However, it does save on gas and wear and tear from not continuously switching lanes. Not to mention a sore neck from constantly looking over my right and left shoulders.