Beating the Traffic on Freeways

Video Transcript

"Dr. Roadmap here talking about beating traffic on a freeway. Several tips help out, and since fifty percent of commuters use the freeway when they get to work, it's an important place to start. First rule of thumb is: don't turn off your radio. Listen to traffic reports; every one of them. The second thing involves lane choice; which lane you want to be in on the freeway. Surprisingly, I find the best luck in the slow lane. Couple of reasons substantiate this. We've all noticed that when something happens on the freeway, which is the first lane to stop? The fast lane. Everybody's putting on their brakes because all of the speedsters have little leeway in front of them. The slow lane is usually the last lane to stop. So, again, hang out in the right lane. The other reason this works out so well is that when the freeway does come to a complete stop...guess who's the first to get off? You! No problem. Again, most people will start putting on their turn signals and they are in the fast lane. But they can't get over in time. Where as if you are in the right lane, you are the first one off. Also, if you are listening to traffic reports and the reporter says "accident up ahead, three miles at 'such and such' off ramp," everybody's going to start getting over to get off at the off ramp. Again, if you are in the right lane, you're the first one off, no problem. Other things to keep in mind are there's no point in going that fast because you are just going to speed up to the next traffic jam. This is especially the case in urban traffic. So it's a tortoise/hare thing. You might as well just lay back. And studies show that all the lanes of traffic move about the same speed overall over a long distance. So again, you might as well stay in the right lane, enjoy the ride and be the first to get off. And that's the way to beat traffic on the freeways. "