Which Is Faster: Weaving in Traffic or Staying in One Lane? | MythBusters

[Werrf]

I'm "that guy". Driving in heavy traffic, I'll pick my lane, stay in it, and drive as close to the average speed of traffic as possible - leaving a nice big gap in front of me. The difference in drive time was so small I was never able to accurately measure it; meanwhile, I was calmer, less stressed, and my fuel efficiency shot up.

[carykh]

I feel like this is a perfect example of the prisoner's dilemma

Because in any situation, on an individual level, you will always get to your destination faster by weaving.
But as a collective, if everybody weaves, everybody overall will suffer (there is more time when one car is taking up space on two lanes). So everybody "defecting" is the worst overall outcome. Whereas nobody weaving (everybody cooperating) means everybody can zoom by in their singular lanes, resulting in the best overall outcome. Just a guess though

[TheRMJQandA]

We never deserved any of the myth busters it was truly a blessing growing up as a kid watching new episodes Rip Grant 😢

[dsolomon]

To me the key is knowing what the traffic looks like on your commute. In my commute, I know when the right lane backs up, and then further down the road the two left lanes slow down with the right lane clear. When you know the patterns, you can make calculated, but minimal, lane changes. You get serious diminished returns with increasing your lane changes.

[DimitrisKanakis]

The thing is, weaving typically is the biggest contributor to cascading failure traffic aka Phantom Traffic Jam. One should choose lane according to the overtake needs, speed limit and traffic conditions (of course), but weaving just to be "the fast guy", just makes it progressively more difficult for everybody, "fast guy" included!

[MeTalkPrettyOneDay]

It's been 8 years and I still think about this episode on a regular basis. It taught me that lane weeving is risky, stressful, and not worth it.

[Marpurrsa]

this myth for me has always applied to HEAVY traffic
like your car is stationary in a traffic jam kinds of traffic, where someone who weaves to the lane that starts moving doesnt actually get an advantage from it

[uthe]

Grant holding on for his dear life while Kari drives is comedy gold.

[CaptainCocaine]

Eliminate weaving by keeping the hell out of the left lane unless you are passing.

[Artyomthewalrus]

The problem with this is, they were following the speed limit. You generally want to weave when you want to exceed the speed limit.

[matthewbrown]

They should've had 3 drivers... one being short sighted and aggressive like Kari, one being very complacent like Tory, and one being relaxed like Tory *except* when another lane is obviously a better choice for a little while (i.e., dump truck in your original lane going slow), so lane changes are still allowed as long as they're infrequent and not aggressive. I expect the 3rd option would get there pretty much as quickly as Kari, but while being basically as relaxed as Tory.

[sscswimmer]

1:33 Grant looks SO stressed with her driving like a maniac

[Trenaway]

I do a combination of both. I will be proactive and look down the road to see if it is worth the lane changes. I always beat constant lane changers with my method.

[megumi_]

rest in peace grant. you were a childhood legend of mine

[abbbbbbb]

This is a good example of MythBuster's small sample sizes leading to conclusions that you can't be sure of. My guess is if you did this a lot more times and thus getting many different traffic patterns you would get some widely different results.

[AmrRivers]

RIP GRANT THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DID

[MusicalMinecraft]

Excepppptttt. Weaving helps to keep all the traffic slow.

[vinnyvidivici]

I love when a weaver constantly gets stuck in a slow lane while I pass them by just sticking to one lane. And then I always wave and laugh.

[Gamer.Instinct]

Lane weaving is a subtle art. One must be able to read the flow of traffic correctly and avoid excessive, foolish weaving from left to right as soon as one lane seems to move more. It requires careful consideration to the flow and context of traffic. I constantly see people switching lanes as soon as one lane seems to go more than them, only to be stuck now in a slower lane, and switching back.

[_gameboy]

We Love You Grant!! Thanks for being a part of my childhood. Sad to see you leave us this soon