Motorists demonstrating ‘overly polite’ behaviours are making traffic jams worse, according to new research.

When faced with roadworks ahead or lane closures many drivers quickly move into the nearside lane, rather than merge at the front of the queue. But this leads to a further loss of lane capacity in addition to that caused by the road closure ahead, says Dr Guy Walker of Heriot-Watt University.

“No one wants to be seen as the type of person who pushes in,” he says. “If everyone else is merging early you are reluctant to do something different, even if a big sign at the side of the road is telling you to.”

His research found that traffic jams can be up to 20% worse than engineers plan for due to drivers being overly polite on the road.

“Behaviours are contagious, which is why people merge into the inside lane earlier, making congestion and frustration worse,” he added.

Dr Walker suggests the placing of signs such as ‘Drivers ahead don’t mind you pushing in’ rather than ‘Stay in lane’ to dissuade motorists from pulling into the nearside lane too early.

But a survey conducted by the AA this summer indicates that drivers would prefer others on the road to demonstrate more courtesy. Nearly three quarters of the 16,000 people polled said that drivers generally seem to be in a hurry and are not considerate enough. Only 16% agreed that drivers had become more courteous to one another over the past year.

(Photo: Alvey and Towers)

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