It doesn’t matter whether the traffic is waiting in the approach to a tunnel, a bridge, an exit, a ferry line, or a disappearing lane. Drivers who bypass the line and then cut in ahead of others are thieves. And the people who let them cut in are accessories to the crime.
I commute through a chokepoint daily on my way home from work. Every day I wait for 20 to 40 minutes to get to the tunnel entrance. Every day a few self-centered jerks blast by the line in the other lane and expect someone to let them cut in at the front of the line. Every day some misguided fools let them.
FOR THOSE WHO PASS THE QUEUE
Why am I worrying about this, you ask? You traveled the same distance as everyone else. You were just smarter because everyone else waited a long time and you did not. No harm done, right? Wrong. Nothing is free, including your saved time. Here’s what you may or may not have thought about. When you cut in line, you delay everyone you pass. Your notion that no one is harmed is wrong.
Consider this. If racing past the line in the left lane and cutting in at the tunnel entrance did not delay anyone, then it should be possible for everyone else to do the same. If your method actually abolished the waiting time with no consequences, don’t you think everyone would be skipping the line? But that is not how it works. If everyone tried to skip the line, then the delay would be recreated in the left lane. When you skip ahead in the line you transfer your wait time to those whom you are passing, ultimately increasing their wait time.
Let’s say you pass 150 cars on your way to the head of the line, and then move over. You definitely are saving yourself a lot of time. Let’s say you save 30 minutes. When you save yourself those 30 minutes, you are forcing all the cars behind you to wait longer. Collectively, those 150 cars you passed will absorb the 30-minute delay you avoided. That means each car you pass is delayed by one-fifth of a minute, or 12 seconds (30 minutes / 150 cars).
Who cares about 12 seconds? We, the people you pass do. No matter how small the amount of the loss is to me, your action still amounts to a theft of time. Even if it is only 12 seconds, you do not have the right to steal - for your own convenience - a part of my lifetime. Nor do you have the right to take 12 seconds from the persons ahead of me in the line, nor from the persons behind me in the line.
Maybe you hadn’t thought about it like that before.
FOR EVERYONE
Okay. Let’s lighten this up for a moment. Have you seen any of the many movies that feature a ‘salami-slicing’ or ‘penny-shaving’ scam? Superman III (1983), Hackers (1995), and Office Space (1999) come to mind. In each of these movies someone manipulates a computer system to steal money by diverting extremely small amounts (fractions of a cent) from a great many accounts into the thief’s own account. The thieves believe that no one will notice such small amounts. They believe the end result will be a huge account full of money for them, with no one harmed and no one the wiser. Logical? Yes, to a point. In fact, this scam has been done in the real world as well as in the movies. I will not give away the plot of any of the films, but recall my earlier comment: Nothing is free. If one person is accumulating wealth, then another person (or group of persons) must be losing it.
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| You’ll only understand this one if you’ve seen the movie… |
The same is true of line-skipping. Someone accumulates a great deal of free time. But that time was not theirs to take; it was stolen from others - a few seconds at a time.
If there was only one person doing this each day that person would still be a thief, but the overall impact would be negligible to each individual passed – just like the penny-shaving scam. Unfortunately, the problem is not so limited. If, on a typical day, 50 cars race past me to cut in line, that is 10 minutes of delay for me (50 cars x 12 seconds) each day. That equates to 50 minutes per week, or about 40 hours per year. I have been waiting in traffic for an extra 40 hours each year because of jerks who take my time by cutting into the tunnel traffic line. For the line cheaters who think my objection is petty, I am open to having you work a 40-hour week for me in compensation. The first week of next month would be nice.
This has become a big problem for a large number of law-abiding people. Evidently, a lot of people either don’t understand that they are cheating, or don’t care.
Here’s another way to understand the problem. My normal wait in the tunnel lineup extends for a distance of approximately one mile. I have measured to compare my speed early and late in the queue. When I first arrive at the back of the line, with all those time thieves cutting in front of me, each taking away 12 seconds of my time, my average speed is less than 2 miles per hour (0.2 miles in 8 minutes). By the time I reach the last section, with no room left for the bad guys to cut in, my average speed is over 14 miles per hour (0.2 miles in 50 seconds). Part of this delay is due to traffic lights, but a bigger part of the difference is because of those who have cut in line ahead of me.
So, line skippers, you are on notice. Stop racing ahead of the line. I will not tolerate your continuing negative impact on my life.
FOR THOSE WHO LET THEM IN
Now for the REAL notice – the one you may not have seen coming. This is the notice to those who ALLOW line skippers to merge in line in front of them. You are the other half of the problem.
We expect a few people to be jerks. It happens. But just as there are fewer criminals because there are police and prisons, there would be fewer jerks if decent law-abiding drivers would not allow them to get away with it.
You are not being kind when you let people cut in line near the front of the queue. No, you are enabling thieves to steal time not only from you, but from everyone behind you in the long line. You do not have the right to do that any more than you have the right to let a burglar into your neighbor’s house. When you slow down to let the line skippers in ahead of you – that is precisely when most of those 12 seconds are lost. YOU are causing the delay. Aiding the line skippers does not make you “nice.” It makes you gullible, an accessory, and a problem.
ANTICIPATING OBJECTIONS
Most Drivers Are Respectful
Let me say it because some of you are thinking it. What is really amazing, at least in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, is how WELL the inevitable merges work – how at all the tunnels and bridges around here, most people do take turns and play by the rules. That is Absolutely True. My gratitude to all my fellow-travelers who share the road. My apologies for focusing on the negative, the small minority who disrespect the rest of us. The fact that there is a problem to be resolved does not change the fact that most drivers are honest, respectful, responsible. Thank you for your positive thoughts.
Merging Later Makes Traffic Flow More Quickly
I know someone is thinking, “If the vehicles would merge later, rather than sooner, then the backup would be shorter and the overall wait time would be shorter.” If the traffic is equally divided among the lanes, and the merge is smooth, then it is true that the wait time will, on average, be slightly shorter. However, this is only true when multiple lanes are being consolidated and all the traffic will continue in the same direction. Meaning – if the road is going to fork up ahead, and most of the traffic is going in one direction, then this alternative unnecessarily clogs the other. Not efficient for those who want to drive onward but are caught up in the exit traffic, and an overall impediment to traffic flow.
Some People Need To Merge Late
Others are doubtless thinking that some people have good legitimate reasons to merge late. True, there are a few situations in which someone needs to merge into an existing line, and we are not completely heartless. Someone who lives near the front of the line should not have to drive a mile the other way to find the end of the line. Someone from out of town might not realize they need to be in the line until late in the process. Someone who is racing home to their sick child may need to beg a favor from everyone in the line. It happens. I do not advocate cruelty to those for whom finding the end of the line would be an excessive burden, or who made an honest mistake, or who have one-time special needs.
The question, of course, is how you, the law-abiding driver will know which of the others to let in. Who really needs some compassion and consideration? Who is taking advantage? There are clues you’ll learn to read, if you practice. You must engage your best judgment and be firm. When you are able to do so safely, invoke the motto of the frequent traffic traveler: “When in doubt, keep them out.”
THE LAST WORDS
Maintain a healthy respect for the law and for your fellow travelers by maintaining the integrity of the traffic line. Be a part of the solution. Do the right thing by not cutting in line, and by refusing to help those who do. Do be smart about it. Don’t tailgate. And remember - road rage will never help. If some jerk cuts you off, don’t ram him. Don’t scream. Just realize that he’s a jerk and you’re not. Take comfort in that.
I’ll be seeing you on the highway.
Gryphem
I believe someone needs a waaaabulance
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