Patience vs. stepping on the gas

Column jumping in traffic jams – what’s the real benefit?

(Bild: stock.adobe.com – annacovic)

Many drivers try to get through freeway traffic jams faster by frequently changing lanes. However, the hoped-for time gain usually fails to materialize. But there is one exception.

It's not just around Easter that traffic jams are a real problem - the issue will be with us for a long time to come and will continue to drive us up the wall. And not just on the way to or from vacation. Of course we don't want to get stuck in traffic jams and if we do, we want to get out of them as quickly as possible.

If traffic comes to a standstill, many drivers try to get through more quickly by changing lanes several times. However, the German automobile club ADAC points out that these maneuvers are usually useless. Even if your own lane ends due to roadworks, for example, the zipper procedure should not make a big difference.

Patience when narrowing the lane
For fear of not being able to get into the other lane at the end of their own lane, many drivers change lanes several hundred meters before the narrowing. This is not only wrong, but also dangerous: depending on traffic density, the end of the traffic jam can be pushed further back as a result. Abrupt lane changes also increase the risk of accidents. You should therefore only merge into your own lane at the end. Drivers in the next lane must give those merging into the next lane the opportunity to move into the next lane without any problems.

However, there is also a typical traffic jam situation in which it can make sense to move into the left lane: If a queue of trucks forms in the right-hand lane that stretches further back than the traffic in the other lanes.

The club also points out that all road users are obliged to form a rescue lane immediately in the event of a traffic jam. This must be done as soon as traffic is at a standstill and not just when the emergency services arrive with their blue lights flashing. If you are in the left-hand lane, you must move over to the left. Everyone else must move to the right. If there is not enough space to form a rescue lane in roadworks due to narrow lanes, it is advisable to drive at a greater distance from each other. This way, in an emergency, you can swerve into the right lane and keep the left lane free for the emergency services.