General

The Idiot Lane

There’s a spot near my work where two lanes turn left.

It was designed this way to relieve a bottleneck.

Almost everyone who turns there makes the same next turn across a busy road, so the second lane provides an additional queue so more cars get through the intersection in little time.

But it doesn’t really work that way.

Every “polite” driver gets in the outside lane and the impatient “idiots” get in the inside lane.

It’s very obviously inefficient, but it happens every day. No one likes feeling like they’re being cut off so most people won’t put themselves in a situation in which they feel like they’re cutting off others.

They stay in a single-file line, even though doing so does more harm than good for their fellow drivers. Whenever the “idiot” lane isn’t full, fewer cars get through the light and more cars in the back are forced to wait for the next green line.

It takes courage to deal with the glares and judgement that comes with it, but sometimes we need to get in the “idiot” lane.

-Brandon