Truckers enforcing the law

Saw something on the 401 the other day that I had not seen before in Canada, although I have seen it in the States.

Our brain-dead highway designers keep making the right lane disappear, which means cars always try to force their way to the very end of the disappearing lane before cutting someone off to squeeze in at the very last minute.

OK, so they'd probably do the same thing if the disappearing lane were the left lane as it should be, but at least the driving lane would be sacrosanct.

What I saw was two transport truckers, one in the soon-to-disappear right lane, the other in the middle-soon-to-be-right lane, staggered nose-to-tail so no-one could get by them.

When they got to the end of the merge, the one pulled safely in front of the other.

This forced everyone to play nice and merge in a civilized manner.

A shame (a) the cops don't enforce better lane discipline, and (b) that we need truckers to do their job for them.

But I'm glad someone is doing it.

Comments

[John B]

It seems that truckers are the only ones on the road who plan more than one car-length ahead.

[Darren]

I find I have to do this every time I'm in that kind of traffic to keep all the idiots (who are more important than the rest of us) from zooming to the end or well past the end of the on ramp. It's hard to get another car to play nice like a trucker though.

[Steve_YYZ]

So..... Kenzie thinks two truckers have the right to fully block lanes and enforce their version of rules onto every other motorist. If I was an honest motorist trying to drive down the right lane that ends at an interchange, with the intent of actually getting off the highway, I'd be pissed at the trucker knowingly blocking my way. Making every car that wants to exit go no faster than the gridlocked thru lane is simply WRONG... no matter what Kenzie thinks.

[Zaki]

Jim,

Speaking of highway design, are you ready for some crazy engineering thoughts?

(I assume yes)

How smart is it to use broken white lines to divide highway lanes?

Sure, they look perfect on a drawing board: lines that divide no physical objects, but serve to divide the road according to speed traveled. On the ground however, I have noticed that these broken white lines (dotted lines) cause unnecessary stress. As you drive past them, they constantly scrape your vision. This results in visual, and consequently, mental fatigue.

Imagine this. What is the visually fastest moving object when you travel on a remote highway? Nothing but these lane dividers. Which if removed from the equation, result in a more comfortable drive. The lines become even more offensive at night, when they become the prominent bright objects after getting illuminated by your headlights.

As is, only if you drive relatively slowly, and in the right lane, where your focus would be a little off to the right and away from the broken lines, do your eyes get a chance to relax.

Here is a hint: you can appreciate the effect of the dotted lines if you drive on a stretch of road that is without them, such as those narrow lanes occasionally created during road construction that use only solid lines for safety.

Now, I understand that dotted lines are a part of an old, international standard. But is it time to think about a different style of lines, such as solid, narrow ones?

How about some colour for added value? For example, thin, neon green solid lines, for better contrast with potential snow and slush on the road?

I say it is time to rethink the old dotted lines.

Thanks,
Zaki

[Larry]

We don't need truckers to have to enforce lane discipline. We need better signage to inform drivers that lanes will be exiting with more advance notice and better driver training on getting in lane in time and merging in a way that integrates streams of traffic rather than devolving into a panicky cutting-off contest.

And no, we don't need solid lines. The existing lines are discontinuous (they're stripes, not dots) so that drivers can judge their speed and to indicate that they can be crossed.