Slow left-lane drivers and congested traffic are just some of many road obstacles that leave drivers frustrated.
Lawmakers, police officials and transportation officials have worked for the past few years on ways to alleviate some of these problems. In 2015, the so-called “slowpoke” law went into effect, giving greater incentive for vehicles to stay in the right lane except when passing. Last week, a widely shared video showed an Indiana State Police officer pulling over a vehicle because the driver was going slow enough to have about “20 cars” behind her.
Curt Durnil, public information officer for the ISP’s Bloomington post, said the point of the particular law is to address traffic flow, not speed. Police have issued more than 300 citations since the law went into effect.
“The more traffic flow, the less probability we have for crashes to occur,” Durnil wrote in an email. “It is illegal for a driver of a vehicle to ‘block’ other vehicles from passing in the left lane. Multi-lane roads were created simply for ... traffic flow.”
One example of confusion, Durnil wrote, is that some drivers think if they are going the posted speed limit, then it’s OK to be in the left lane. He said that’s not the case, and that’s not what the law aims to address.
“Speed is a completely different issue/violation,” he wrote. “We still watch for speeders and we still issue citations to those violators. The left-lane law is about traffic flow.”
While he said “it’s possible” some folks may not be familiar with the law, he ultimately thinks most drivers have at least heard of it.
However, that isn’t the case for the “zipper merge” method, which is another tool that can improve traffic flow.
The merge style occurs when multiple planes merge into one, and it requires drivers to wait until the last moment to merge. For example, if a driver in the right lane waits until the merging point to get into the left lane, the driver in the left lane should let the other driver over. Then the driver in the left lane can pass through. This method keeps traffic moviing, but goes against many drivers’ instincts.
“At (the point of entry) ... left-lane and right-lane vehicles alternate or take turns entering the open lane,” Durnil wrote.
According to a study by North Carolina State’s Institute for Transportation Research and Education, the method can potentially ease traffic backups by as much 50 percent.
“Unfortunately, the education of this method may take a while, maybe even a generation before motorists believe in it,” Durnil wrote. “Many motorists still feel it’s impolite for drivers to pass them once they’ve gotten into the lane the signs have advised them to go to, when, in fact, it’s just the opposite. The zipper merge offers a more efficient way to keep traffic moving, all while allowing a higher volume of vehicles to move at the same time.”
Jason Tiller, communications director with the Indiana Department of Transportation, said studies show the zipper merge is effective, as long “as everyone plays nice.”
“It hinges on the driver, the one in the lane that’s not moving, giving other drivers some space to get in,” he said. “And I know it’s definitely not something drivers typically do. ... We shouldn’t be bumper to bumper anyway, as you could potentially cause a crash. ... The method does seem to work effectively.”
Durnil added that it’s good for both lanes to be moving up until the merging point.