Road design, safety and Vision Zero

[danbrotherston]

People's behaviour tends to be better on four-lane highways (such as highway 6 going toward Hamilton) and worse on six-lane ones (401, where slower people gravitate to the centre lane).

In Germany, where people follow this rule religiously, it's really good because you won't get surprised by people passing on the wrong side or weaving. But on the autobahn you do need to keep your eyes on your mirrors if you do pull into the left lane to make a pass!

Anyway, back to the 401, you might be OK from a ticket point of view driving 100 in the left lane. But you'll aggravate people who want to drive faster, who will then drive even worse than usual and potentially increase accident risks. Not worth it for me.

I don't know if I'd highlight highway 6 towards Hamilton, it has one of the worse safety records of any Ontario highway, largely because people speed extremely excessively there, 120 km/h is not uncommon on that 80 km/h road.

In terms of keeping right, yes, people do tend to do better on 4 lane expressways, a big reason why people go in the middle lane on a 6 lane highway is to avoid being in the merge lane, it's just laziness.

In Germany I believe there is actual enforcement of keep right except to pass.

As for my driving, I have zero interest in accomodating other's anger in my driving. I won't intentionally antagonize anyone, but if you want to be as safe as possible as cycling, you shouldn't let anyone bully you into an unsafe situation. I've brought that forward into all my driving. I will never let anyone's angry tailgating and weaving bully me into changing my behaviour.

That being said, I certainly wouldn't cruise at 100 in the left lane, because I keep right except to pass...which honestly is a challenge on the 401 because so many people cruise in the middle lane--you know, I don't know how anyone can ever enjoy driving on the 401, I'll drive highway 7 to Ottawa over the 401 most of the time, it's just a much more pleasant trip.