Americans have no lane discipline in traffic
There is an interesting article in Discover magazine, April issue. It discusses how human nature leads us to believe that we are always in the slow lane in heavy traffic. Apparently humans concentrate more on the vehicles passing them in the adjacent lane whilst they are moving slowly, than they do on the vehicles they pass when they are in the faster moving lane. Another example of group pessimism at work. So, human nature makes us move into the lane that we perceive is going faster. Invariably what happens is that now we perceive that the lane we were in is moving faster. That pessismistic nature tells our little Ids that it is “typical, when I change lanes, my old lane speeds up”. The reality is that it probably is not.
OK, so here we have drivers being fooled into thinking that the lane they are in is always the slowest. The ironic reality is that the mere process of lane changing slows traffic. Our little pessimistic minds are actually altering the reality of the traffic flow to make our worst fears be true. The more people change lanes, the slower the traffic. Do some research if you want to know why this happens. 
So where am I going with this? Somewhere I assure you… oh yes… there seems to be a direct correlation between the number of lane changes and the intelligence of the driver. An intelligent driver judges the actual flow of the lanes around him more accurately and over a longer space of time and for further along the road than the next car. So our intelligent driver makes better lane choices and changes lanes less often. Basically he sees through the pessimistic illusion and his wisdom reminds him that staying in his lane is likely to be as rewarding as changing. Contrast this with the manic lane changers that weave all over the road. You know them… they weave a delicate slalom only to end up back behind you again, having gained nothing for their frantic efforts. Unfortunately their lack of grey cells slows the average traffic speed for the rest of us.
So how does this relate to my accusation above? Simply that the lack of lane discipline is a distinctly American trait in my experience. Whilst drivers in Europe might not be any more profficient per se, drivers are indoctrinated from an early age by strong (and enforced) lane laws that keep them in the lane appropriate to their speed and the speed of the vehicles around them. It is no surprise at all that traffic flow in the UK (for example) is the same as that in the USA but with half the lanes. Yes, that actually means the UK’s roads are twice as efficient!
So the next time you are caught in traffic that seems to have no reason for moving slowly, it might just be a product of the lapse lane discipline of your fellow drivers and that group pessimism at work.
