From: larry_scholnick on
We've all gotten used to the term "Sloth" which is used here for those
who drive slower than the flow of traffic in other than the rightmost
lane, and who accelerate at barely measurable rates.

Have you ever wondered what real traffic engineers call such drivers?

Have you ever wondered how they refer to drivers who keep up with
traffic and actually pass such slower vehicles?

I was looking for something unrelated to these questions on the
Caltrans web site when I ran across a link to an engineering study
that focused on these two different groups of drivers.

Sloths were referred to as SLUGS; the drivers who passed them were
referred to as Rabbits.

The link to the study:
http://www.dot.ca.gov/newtech/researchreports/2002-2006/2002/to_4113_2.pdf

Enjoy!
From: Speeders & Drunk Drivers are MURDERERS on
On Apr 23, 5:57 pm, larry_scholnick <larry_scholn...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
> We've all gotten used to the term "Sloth" which is used here for those
> who drive slower than the flow of traffic in other than the rightmost
> lane, and who accelerate at barely measurable rates.
>
> Have you ever wondered what real traffic engineers call such drivers?
>
> Have you ever wondered how they refer to drivers who keep up with
> traffic and actually pass such slower vehicles?
>
> I was looking for something unrelated to these questions on the
> Caltrans web site when I ran across a link to an engineering study
> that focused on these two different groups of drivers.
>
> Sloths were referred to as SLUGS; the drivers who passed them were
> referred to as Rabbits.
>
> The link to the study:http://www.dot.ca.gov/newtech/researchreports/2002-2006/2002/to_4113_...
>
> Enjoy!

wrong - slow drivers are called law-abiding citizens and speeders are
called psychopathic murderers
From: Elmer on
On Apr 23, 7:57 pm, larry_scholnick <larry_scholn...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
> We've all gotten used to the term "Sloth" which is used here for those
> who drive slower than the flow of traffic in other than the rightmost
> lane, and who accelerate at barely measurable rates.
>
> Have you ever wondered what real traffic engineers call such drivers?
>
> Have you ever wondered how they refer to drivers who keep up with
> traffic and actually pass such slower vehicles?
>
> I was looking for something unrelated to these questions on the
> Caltrans web site when I ran across a link to an engineering study
> that focused on these two different groups of drivers.
>
> Sloths were referred to as SLUGS; the drivers who passed them were
> referred to as Rabbits.
>
> The link to the study:http://www.dot.ca.gov/newtech/researchreports/2002-2006/2002/to_4113_...
>
> Enjoy!


Well, it was somewhat enjoyable to read, but painful too. While the
study puts drivers into one of two categories, Rabbits or Slugs, it
assumes the Slugs to be "timid" and that they ALL drive in the
rightmost lane. Our "Sloths" who block flow in the left lane should
probably be called "Elephants", as in being in the room but totally
ignored by the study.

I have to wonder, do the researchers even have driver's licenses?
Clearly, they never spent any time driving in traffic. One of the
silly hypotheses the study tried to prove is that Rabbits will leave
less headroom when a string of them are passing Slugs, but they'll
leave more space when there's no opportunity for anyone to pass. Of
course, WE know drivers do this quite naturally; you've got to hold
your place in the line and keep up with the car ahead of you to
prevent a Sloth from cutting in.

An observation made by the study was that "flow collapse" happens
after a reduction of flow in the left lane. Gee, who would have thunk
it? The study also talks about the cause of these left lane speed
disturbances as being "events", rather than what they really are:
drivers violating the law by moving slower than other traffic but
failing to keep right!!!

The study is rather comical though, when you picture the researchers
trying to over-analyze the limited set of data generated by a few
traffic meters, coming up with fancy equations and graphs and coining
terms like reversed-lambda and inverted-V traffic flows, yet
apparently having little real-world knowledge of what it's like to
actually drive on the highway being studied.

Elmer
From: Rich Piehl on
On 4/23/2010 10:23 PM, Speeders & Drunk Drivers are MURDERERS wrote:
> On Apr 23, 5:57 pm, larry_scholnick<larry_scholn...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
>> We've all gotten used to the term "Sloth" which is used here for those
>> who drive slower than the flow of traffic in other than the rightmost
>> lane, and who accelerate at barely measurable rates.
>>
>> Have you ever wondered what real traffic engineers call such drivers?
>>
>> Have you ever wondered how they refer to drivers who keep up with
>> traffic and actually pass such slower vehicles?
>>
>> I was looking for something unrelated to these questions on the
>> Caltrans web site when I ran across a link to an engineering study
>> that focused on these two different groups of drivers.
>>
>> Sloths were referred to as SLUGS; the drivers who passed them were
>> referred to as Rabbits.
>>
>> The link to the study:http://www.dot.ca.gov/newtech/researchreports/2002-2006/2002/to_4113_...
>>
>> Enjoy!
>
> wrong - slow drivers are called law-abiding citizens and speeders are
> called psychopathic murderers

Not necessarily. On a freeway when a driver is going below the minimum
speed limit they are breaking the law. There is nothing law abiding
about them.

ON a multi-lane road it is frequently posted that slower traffic keep
right or keep right except to pass. If the slower driver is in the left
lanes they would be breaking the law. There is nothing law abiding
about that. When they are doing it to prove a point or to try to slow
other drivers down because they have some kind of condescending
arrogance of always being right they are psychopathic.

Go away Saddam!
From: Elmer on
On Apr 23, 11:23 pm, "Speeders & Drunk Drivers are MURDERERS"
<beta...(a)earthlink.net> wrote:
> slow drivers are called law-abiding citizens and speeders are
> called psychopathic murderers

Some of them perhaps, but slow drivers who fail to keep right are not
law-abiding; they should be ticketed and/or arrested and prosecuted to
the full extent of the law, no different than speeders.

Elmer