"What I hate is people who block a perfectly good lane a half-mile from it's end so they can squeeze into the next lane. It makes it terrible to be in the "merging into" lane, and throws off everything."
Absolutely right. There's no question at all that the fastest way to move traffic is to use both lanes right up to the point you have to merge. Yet I see idiot truckers blocking one lane or another and causing 1/2 mile gaps that do nothing but slow everybody down. Those gaps and the lumbering trucks also cause unnecessary backup once an accident is cleared. Just the other day on the interstate it was obvious that truckers had continued blocking lanes even after a wreck had been cleared.
That might be the fastest way for YOU to get moved through the obstruction, but it unnecessarily delays the considerate people who have merged into the proper lane.
Traffic can only move at one speed through the obstructed part of the highway. The perception of how fast "traffic" moves through this obstructed section of highway is dependent on how fast YOU are moving.
I notice that the lane-crashers on this thread are calling for courtesy from those whose "duty" it is to let them in.
I request the same courtesy from the crashers.
GET OVER AND WAIT YOUR TURN!