Position In Traffic

Post Reply New Topic

I have noticed for a long time that when out driving on the open expressway, I will often eventually find myself positioned in wide open spaces with groups of cars a half mile to a mile ahead of me and groups of cars a half mile to a mile behind me, but few in my immediate vicinity. For a long time I thought this was only fate, but within the last few years I realized that this was probably a result of my Aspie nature. As an Aspie, I generally do not compete or compare myself to others. Other drivers instinctively compete, whether they realize it or not and play a "keep up with the Joneses" game with other drivers. Instead I remain totally consistent, do not try to catch up to the cars ahead of me and do not incite cars behind me to try to catch up with me. It is a really nice place to be in traffic. Where do you usually find yourself in traffic?

I try to stay away from congestion or groups of cars as much as possible. So I will speed up to get ahead or slow down to stay far back from them.

I just keep up with the flow of the traffic, not too bothered of the distance I am from other cars, as long as I'm driving safely.

IT always feels like the middle to me. Lots of cars ahead and behind me.

Depends on my mood. On the whole I am an assertive driver if I am in familiar areas and very cautious when in unknown territory. Most motorways in the Benelux are full of lorries so most of my time is spent in the middle or fast lane.
If I drive the local roads I will take the route that has the least amount of traffic lights. No idea why, suppose it's a left-over from my courier days.
I hate driving in the wet cause there are too many idiots on the roads here in Belgium (got one of the highest RTA rates in western Europe). Not a fan of driving in the dark either.

Hi Sedentarian. I have not seen you lately. It's great to see you again. Are you driving already? I noticed you are still 12 years old!

Open spaces is what I was taught in drivers ed, and a couple of safety classes is where you should try to be. For some reason as a child, I always thought all driving was a race, and it carried through to adult hood, so I usually find myself at the front of the pack.

im a front of the line kind of person in traffic and pretty aggressive on the road but im also a really good driver with good reaction times that I learned shifter cart racing

if someone is sitting in the left lane not passing people I will be less than a foot off their bumper till they move over but if its just a single lane ill give them space

Left lane should definitely be for passing only!

I don't perceive other cars as a "pack". They are individual objects to me.

I often find my way behind a truck i can't see around and no way to overtake as other traffic has taken over the other lane.

If I repeatedly drove the same route, I adapted.

I'd figure out the timing of the lights
What lanes to be in.
When and wear lanes merged to be in the right place.
I'd stop farther back behind the line and when I knew the light would change, I'd already be moving my car forward to get a better start.
I take roundabouts really quick so I aim to be in a lane and pass people in the roundabout and exit quickly before they're even through.
Drive within 5 miles above the speed limit.

I do all that while following all the state laws pertaining to them. Signally for 3 seconds before changing lanes, no tailgating, signalling to exit a roundabout. No speeding. Yielding, etc...

I'm less aggressive when driving now, but I still do some of these things to put my car in front.

Then there are the days, I don't care, and I just relax and drive the flow of traffic or speed limit and stay in the right lane.

I do the exact same thing myself. I know which lanes lead where and get in the correct lane to get where I am going miles ahead of the actual turnoff... unless something else happens along the way to alter this more organized approach.



I also do the same thing too whenever possible. This gives better gas mileage too. The greatest energy consumption is expended in overcoming inertia to get a car moving slowly from a standing stop, so keeping the car rolling ever so slowly at a stop light avoids that standing stop start-up.

Overall, it looks like there is a pretty even distribution of results in this poll so maybe it is not AS related after all. One thing I forgot to mention in the original post is that the aggressive drivers are usually at the back of the pack while the slow drivers are in front. That is why traffic bunches up in packs to begin with... at least until the aggressive drivers weave their way through the pack and then race ahead to end up at the back of the next pack farther on down the road.

That's true but then it puts you more at risk for getting ticketed for a rolling stop.

I use cruise control (or tempomat) mostly when I'm on a familiar route. Otherwise I usually pick a speed and stick to it, letting other cars to overtake if they are faster and overtaking the slower ones. I only have problem when the other car's speed fluctuates, then it can be hard to determine whether to overtake or not.

Me too. I drive exactly the speed limit, and stick to the right lane unless I have an upcoming left turn to make. I let cars move as they will around me. If I end up with a slower driver ahead of me, I slow to their speed until there's a big long blank spot I can use to pass them.

When it comes to making left turns with (four) lights on city streets, I consciously try to approach the light as it's turning from green to yellow, so I don't have to try my luck while I've got a green light. I wish all left turns had green arrows.

I just don't trust other drivers. So far that's served me very well.

It really bugs me when someone rides my bumper, presumably because I'm not going the speed they want, especially when they do it and there's plenty of room to pass me. I wish they'd get pulled over more often. Or ever. I'd settle for ever.