Ok, I have to get this out there.  I live in the bay area California and it's pretty crowded here.  Ontop of that the roads to get around are somewhat limited due to having to cross waterways.  So it can get a bit ... difficult to get around.  But what makes it worse is the variety of drivers on the road that don't seem to understand the concept of traffic flow.  This article is being written in the hopes that it will get around and those people causing the problems will realize what they are doing and maybe clear up some of the congestion.  Of course these can relate to just about any area, not just bay area California.

I'm breaking this down to a simple list with a little blurb by each thing.  Either rate, if you find this helpful and you'd like someone to read it for whatever reason, feel free to pass the URL along to them.

1. Know your lanes - On a 4 lane highway, the far left lane (also known as the number 1 lane) is NOT for "driving".  If you're going to go 55 mph in a 65mph zone, you should be in the right hand lanes.  There's signs all over the highway that says "Slow Traffic Keep Right".  That means if you're going to go slower than the people around you... MOVE TO THE RIGHT!  All you do is hold people up and cause traffic problems.  This is particularly true on some of the hills we have in this area.  If your car doesn't have enough power (or you don't know how to give it gas going up a hill) then move over and let those of us that do have the power and will to give it throttle going up a hill get by you.  Just because you aren't on a time schedule doesn't mean the rest of us aren't

2. Mirrors - As a motorcyclist, I can't tell you how many times I'll be coming up beside someone and they'll just move over into me simply because they only look in their mirrors and not look over their shoulder.  Mirrors are on a car for a reason, but don't rely on them to give you a full picture of the traffic around you.  Remember those booklets from the DMV and any Driver's Education courses?  There are blind spots when you only use mirrors and they are usually right around your rear fenders and rear passenger doors.

3. Freeway on and off ramps - The purpose of those ramps is to get up to speed before entering the freeway.  Unfortunately in the bay area, CalTrans seems to have forgotten that little fact and made the ramps very short.  But that doesn't change the fact that they are to accelerate up to speed.  This brings me to #4

4. Accelerate - Regardless of what you've been told over the years, fuel economy doesn't suffer greatly if you accelerate at a respectable pace.  I'm not saying that it's a drag race from light to light, but barely getting up to 15 miles an hour before the next light is not only asinine, it also causes more wear and tear on your engine than you might think including fouling out your spark plugs making them less efficient thus decreasing fuel economy.  Besides, engines NEED a little bit of rough treatment every now and again to blow off carbon build-up.  So why not live a little and get up to the speed limit in a respectable amount of time.  Particularly when getting onto the interstate.  All you're really doing when you accelerate slow getting on the interstate is slowing everyone else behind you down and contributing in a major way to congestion.

5. Courtesy - I understand that sometimes we're in a hurry, but that's NO excuse for being rude.  That doesn't mean you should bow to everyone either, but there's certain ways of doing things.  For example, when someone is trying to get onto the freeway, it's THEIR responsibility to get up to speed and merge.  While you may think you're being courteous to the driver trying to merge, you're being rude as #@$% to the people behind you that have to chalk up their brakes to keep from smacking you in the bum.  If you feel you must do something to let someone in, move over into the next lane and then come back or only slightly alter your speed.  On the flip side, if you're traveling at 30mph and trying to get into traffic doing 65mph.  Speed up before you jump in the lane cutting anyone off.  Like wise, don't pull out in front of people at intersections just because there's enough room for you to get in the lane.  I can't tell you how often I've had to lock up my brakes just to keep from hitting people doing that kind of crap.  There's probably still some grass under my car from an incident where I couldn't get stopped so I had to run off into the median to keep from making some metal crunch.

6. Cruise Control - It's in most cars on the road today.  If you use it, your fuel economy will improve.  Why?  Because there won't be constant acceleration and deceleration on level ground.  Not to mention you'll help those people behind you keep a safe distance from you as well as improve their fuel economy.

7. Rush hour driving - Alrighty, most of us have to deal with this in one way or another.  But no one seems to deal with it properly.  First off, getting on the bumper of the car in front of you does NOT get you there faster.  It just makes you burn your brakes up and spend more time idling.  Slow down a little bit, give yourself a good 25-50 yard gap between you and the car in front of you.  That way you not only get to keep moving, but you spend less than half the time on your brakes and reduces your chance of rear-ending the guy in front of you or being rear-ended because you don't have to abruptly stop.  It also helps improve traffic flow behind you.  Don't worry if people are filling your gap up just to run up on the guy in front's bumper.  Just keep your distance.

   • Motorcycles in rush hour - As a biker I felt this one needs to have it's own sub category.  Here in CA we can do what's called "Lane Splitting".  Basically anything below 30 mph we can ride between the cars on the line to keep ourselves moving.  We are allowed to do that for 2 reasons.  First is we are on what's considered commuter vehicles.  We are burning at least half the fuel you are AND taking away from the congestion.  Second is motorcycles have a limited cooling capability.  Sitting in stop and go traffic would literally melt the engine down. 

   • The problem is that there are a few drivers out there that seem to think it's illegal and want to take the law into their own hands by cutting us off, running us down, throwing beverages in our faces, etc.  First let me state this for the record, doing any of those above mentioned actions is classified as attempted murder in the state of California.  I personally will get your plate number and report you for such actions.  I've done it before and I'll do it again.  Second, why would you want to do that?  I mean really.  We're human beings too.  Could you live with yourself knowing that you caused someone to die or become paralyzed just because you were annoyed that they could move and you couldn't?  Besides, you're messing your car up doing that too, you know.  Best thing to do would be to move over a little bit, give us room to get through and go on about our business.  Either that, or you could get yourself a motorcycle and join us.  After all, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

8. Turn Signals - They are on a vehicle for a reason.  USE THEM!  Seriously, don't be lazy.  The switch is right there next to your hand already.  It doesn't take but a slight flick of the wrist or maybe a little arm movement if you're not driving at the 10 and 2 position.  Oh, and this goes for motorcyclists too.  For us it's literally the flick of your thumb.  And what's more, if you're using your turn signal motorists may know where you're going and you have less of a chance of getting hit.  Either rate, no matter what vehicle you're using, flick the switch.  It's just as important as the helmet and seatbelt and in some cases even more so as the best way to survive and accident is to not be there when it happens.

I hope that those of you that have read this are walking away with food for thought.  Maybe even questioning if you're doing any of the things listed here.  Hopefully you'll remember it while driving and catch yourself if you are doing any of these things.  I know how easy it is to get into the mob mentality and forget to follow these rules as I'm not perfect and catch myself doing some of them from time to time, but that doesn't excuse me either.  Just try to think about how what you are doing is affecting others.  You may find that altering your behavior will not only benefit others, it will benefit you as well.