Could Germany's 20-second rule be the solution to the global traffic flow issues? (get out of the fast lane)

essannews ^ | Jan 24, 2024 | BTB

[where's_the_Outrage?]

You're on a highway or an expressway, adhering to the maximum permitted speed (that's why you chose this route), then you encounter a noticeably slow vehicle that obstinately occupies the left lane. No indication suggests that the driver is attempting to overtake - they might be satisfying a selfish whim, lacking driving experience, or any other obscure reason. A driver like this forces others to brake, reducing traffic fluidity.

In these instances, impatient and discourteous drivers might flash their lights or even honk their horns, which is inappropriate. A desire to travel at the maximum permissible speed does not justify road aggression, not even possessing a car that can quickly attain such speeds. In some countries, overtaking on the right in such scenarios is permissible, but necessitates slowing down and ensuring the slower vehicle does not decide to change lanes.

Contrarily, in Germany, overtaking on the right is prohibited. But besides adhering to the fundamental rule of driving in the right-hand lane, a 20-second rule applies. Established over 30 years ago through a court verdict, this norm stipulates how long you can traverse the left or middle lane if you're not currently overtaking. Meaning, if it's feasible to stay in the right lane for over 20 seconds, you should utilise it.

[brianl703]

I’d assume that trucks work just like other vehicles with cruise control, where you can push the “go pedal” to make it “go faster” without having to turn off cruise control. And when you let off the “go pedal”, it slows back down to the preset speed.

So there’s no reason for 18-wheelers to not speed up when passing other trucks.

[ansel12]

I do think it is related to fuel consumption but whatever the reason, at times on cross-country trips it can be maddening, if you like to drive at night as I do they can take over the road.

One gets used to keeping an eye on the trucks and anticipating when they are going to do it which means we car drivers hit the gas and bypass both of them before it starts.

[brianl703]

I know some of these 18-wheelers are governed (like SWIFT trucks) so they won’t go faster than, say, 67MPH so I suspect the problem is you get one governed truck trying to pass another governed truck at a 0.01 MPH speed differential.

[Scrambler Bob]

What annoys me is when people who are in the right lane slow down to below the speed limit when there’s an exit coming up and thereby clogging traffic.
= = =

A slight variation is driving in the right lane, and there is an incoming merge lane from the right.

And that driver does not speed up to pass, or slow down to blend.

I try to stay constant, to be predictable for him.

But he matches my speed as the lines merge into one.

So do I hit my brakes (he may be slowing, too), or punch it to try to pull ahead.

That makes me want to stay in the left lane.

Even though I thought all the mergers from the right were supposed to Yeild.

[Scrambler Bob]

Right lane is full of potholes.

Right lane speed is about 60 with trucks and some cars driving slower, due to the potholes

Speed limit is 65 and the left lane flow is 75-80.

Try to dive from lane to lane to accomodate the really fast ones.

[old curmudgeon]

Worse is drivers in the slow lane who jam on brakes to allow others entering the roadway to merge in.

---

This is a very important point.

In NC there are many exits on the interstates that were built years ago and on them there is not sufficient length to slow down from 75 to the 35 MPH or in many cases 25 MPH to safely exit.

So at those exits drivers are slowing down while still in a thru lane and entering the interstate at very slow speeds.

52 thru Winston Salem, I-40 through Greensboro, and hundreds of others.

I have come within inches, no exaggeration, of a deadly accident three times last year because of persons who did not know how to accelerate to interstate speeds and merge.

I never again will go through any of those intersections in the right lane.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

How about the ones who hold you up in the fast lane, then when they finish passing and move back over, they speed up.

[T.B. Yoits]

Would like to see it where, if I present to the highway patrol a dashcam video of a left lane driver in front of me that refuses to move when the lane to their right is clear:

30 seconds to 1 minute: $200 fine split between me and the highway patrol

1 to 3 minutes: $500 fine split between me and the highway patrol

3 to 5 minutes: $1,000 fine split between me and the highway patrol. In addition the driver is summonsed and given points against their license.

5 minutes or more: $5,000 fine split between me and the highway patrol, and the driver's license is suspended.

Repeat an offense within 30 days and the penalties double, except for a repeat of the 5 minutes or more: in that case the driver is arrested and the vehicle is impounded.

Amazon in particular would quickly have to pay better drivers and drivers in California would rapidly change their left-lane driving habits.