Another driving question. Does anyone else find inching along,

[raccoon]

driving, such as when one lane of an interstate is closed for some reason, to be much more tiring than regular interstate driving?

Yesterday I drove what is usually a One and a half hour drive mostly on interstate. Due to road construction, and lane closings, it took me two hours to get there and two hours to get back home. I was exhausted at the end of the day.

Your experience?

[rampartc]

1. try evacuating for a hurricane

cars tend to overheat and every flat tire on the road ahead slows everyone.

my wife told me to turn around, "i'd rather die in my own home."

spoiler alert : we did not die.

[quickesst]

2. driver's behavior is both illogical and goofy....

If you want to spook drivers on the freeway, shut down one lane. The size of the open Lane has not changed, it is no smaller, and it is no bigger, yet all of a sudden people act as if they are being asked to thread the eye of a needle. Even if the speed limit in the open Lane is 45 miles per hour, you will be hard-pressed to find someone who is willing to exceed 25 or 30 miles per hour, sometimes not even that. Those barriers dividing the lanes have the psychological effect of being crowded and closed in. Sure, one has to be careful when driving so as not to hit those dividing barriers but then again, one also has to be careful not to hit the car next to them when both lanes are open.

[doc03]

3. I saw something last year on a road trip, I believe it was in Missouri or Louisiana.

They had an electronic sign 3 miles ahead of the lane closing. It said left lane closes 3 miles ahead begin merging.
Here in Ohio they will have a lane closing sign a mile from the construction and the traffic is backed up to there or farther.
Then it never fails a couple hundred yards from the bottleneck there will be a sign saying whatever lane you are in is closing.

[quickesst]

6. that has to be kind of frustrating

Then you sit there and wait for a good person to come along and let you in the open lane.

[doc03]

9. I figure it's a 50/50 chance right? But somehow

I always end up in the wrong lane.

[quickesst]

10. it's an unwritten law of nature...

... or something like that. When I insert a plug without a ground into an electrical socket, 9 times out of 10 it will be backwards, and I'll have to turn it around. Go figure.

[Major Nikon]

11. You don't even have to shut it down

All it takes is slower traffic in one lane.

The reason for what you describe is inevitably some dipshit will dart over into the faster lane without a signal and force everyone to brake hard to avoid an accident.

[quickesst]

12. fortunately....

.... there are enough competent people with adequate defensive driving skills so as to offset the complete chaos traffic would be. Being aware of your surroundings is the key.

[doc03]

4. Don't go near Wheeling WV on Interstate 70. They have let the road deteriorate for 60 years now

they are going to be working on it for the next 3 years. If there is a wreck the traffic is backed up for hours and there is
one about every day.

[raccoon]

5. Thanks for the heads up. Nt

[cwydro]

7. I listen to Audible, and it has made those experiences much more tolerable.

Best thing I ever got.

[Beringia]

8. Yes, because you feel frustrated