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Left Lane "Corks" and other BW wastage



Dave implores his kindly ol' unka Bart to waste a bit of yer bandwidth:

> What is a left lane bandit?  My experience ( Northeast USA) would have
>this be
> the person that thinks (s)he get where (s)he's going sooner in the left lane
> even though (s)he's going 20 mph slower than everyone else  (mostly) wants to
> go and therefore holds up traffic. I particularly enjoy it when they get next
> to another vehicle ( usually a semi)  for miles and stay there.

This is also called "Nestoring," named after a doctor Nestor in VA, who
feels that it's his right to drive the speed limit, and you have no right
to go faster.  A serious case of "Chambers' Law" in action.

Some random observations.  Drivers in MD and VA seem to be almost
unanimously infected with the nestoring disease.  I also note that in this
area, the most popular option on cars is the "turn signal delete" option.

The fastest drivers I routinely encounter are on the I-95 corridor,
especially below Richmond, VA.  Also, south of Richmond, the Nestoring
seems to diminish dramatically.

I routinely average 67 to 69 mph for the 571 mile run to my mom's in Aiken,
SC, and includes at *least* a 30 minute lunch stop at a BBQ joint just
across the VA/NC line.

Now, bear in mind that I am forced by insurance rates to never drive faster
than that person in front who so kindly acts as "bear bait" for me, so my
average speed is not a function of how fast I would drive if given my
druthers.

Also FWIW, in the 20 years I commuted on the MD side of the DC beltway
during rush-hour traffic; when the traffic was moving, it usually *moved*.
Driving the car pool, I usually made the 30 mile trip in 35-40 minutes.
The left lane usually ran around 80, bumper to bumper.

Also, folks run at least that fast through the heart of Atlanta in rush
hour.  I was impressed.

I was also impressed at how much slower the traffic ran on the southern
interstates west of New Orleans. On my 6200 mile jaunt to Pike's Peake last
summer, I had no problems averaging over 65 mph on the Interstates east of
New Orleans, but west, I had very few legs where I made a 60 avg.  Bear
bait was seriously hard to find out west.  Texas was a severe drought, but
having lived in the TX/OK area enough years, I understand that.  Still...

North from El Paso, Up I-25 to Sheridan, WY, it was the same.  Ditto west
to MO, where the pace picked up a tad.  At St. Louis, some young lady in a
944 (which, BTW, while I dunno 'bout the tranny, does *not* have an Audi
engine!) decided to acomodate the old man and led the way around the city,
running well over 100 all the way (Thanks, who ever you are).  From there
to Memphis, Bait was easy to find, and things were rockin'.

Whatever...