The fastest way to drive from point A to point B, you know those two places you always need to go between, is on the outstanding superhighway system in these 48 contiguous states. In a large majority of cases when you exit the system you will be within an hour’s drive of your goal.
These roads are built for speed, with center medians to keep oncoming traffic at bay and wide shoulders that give one a place to go in the event of car trouble. With speed limits east of the Mississippi in the 65-70 mph range, they may seem like racetracks, but you rarely see a driver wearing a helmet and fire suit.
Though all the vehicles are moving in the same direction there are still many dangers, maybe more than on secondary roads. When you are behind the wheel of a vehicle, your job is to control it. If you don’t know how far a car will travel at 70 in the few seconds one's attention is diverted, look it up – it’s scary.
Defacto speed limits on these roads are whatever the majority of traffic decides. If you are passing everyone, you risk a speeding ticket; if you are being passed by everyone you, risk being rear-ended by someone reading a paper. Go with the flow.
In addition to high speeds, highway hypnosis is problem. Face it, these roads are boring. You could almost release the wheel and just let the car roll (don’t do it.) Cruise control, the savoir of my aging bones on long drives, exacerbates the problem by allowing yet another body part to disengage. Survival here means paying attention, check your mirrors frequently. Remember the passenger side mirror even if you’re in the right lane; something – most often an emergency vehicle – could be approaching to bypass traffic. Keep your eyes moving; as long as you can maintain a visual sense of the road ahead in you’re peripheral vision while doing so, you’re okay. However, don’t make it repetitive, that’s just as hypnotic.
A colleague of mine some years ago claimed to check his mirrors at five second intervals while driving. Knowing his penchant for precision, I suspected he either counted (one-thousand one, etc.) or had a watch with a sweep second hand visible at all times – I do remember him saying that he and his wife bought Rolex Oysters for each other on their anniversary. Maybe something that expensive has an alarm that can be set to go off at five second intervals.
Getting on and off these roads safely requires that you not disrupt the flow of traffic.
The entrance ramp on modern highways ends with an acceleration lane. The term should be self-explanatory - one accelerates to match one’s speed to the flow of traffic before entering the driving lane. Well… it’s not quite that simple. In addition to matching your speed to the traffic, you also have to locate an available space in that flow. The key to success is to start looking early, as soon as you are able to see the traffic lane, then accelerate only when you have chosen a slot. Truckers are a great asset here since most of them will move left to make space for you if they are able.
Once you have made the decision and begun your acceleration, you are embarking on one of the most dangerous maneuvers in driving, the merge. The real danger here is that you have to depend on the attentiveness, skill, and attitude of other drivers. At some point in the process you enter what aircraft pilots call the point of no return: the aircraft has reached takeoff speed, the runway is ending, it is committed to lift or crash by the very physics of the situation. While that point is not quite as dramatic behind the wheel of a car, it can be equally dangerous. Use as much of that acceleration lane as you need to feel comfortable about executing the merge then do it smoothly, confronting the traffic as if it were an animal you didn’t want to startle – no sudden moves.
A cautionary note: Before accelerating, make sure that you are cleared for takeoff. It can be more than embarrassing to be busily matching your speed to traffic and suddenly rear-end the vehicle ahead of you in the acceleration lane.
Okay, now you’re on the road and rolling merrily toward your destination, not too fast, not too slow, keeping your attention on the process of driving, when a road sign tells you that your exit is a mile or so ahead. It’s preparation time. The first order of business is to get into the proper lane, usually, but not always, the right lane. Once you have signaled your intent and accomplished the necessary lane changes (smoothly – like your entry) you are ready to tell the other drivers of your plan. Signal your intent again; I usually wait until I see the arrow indicating the exit ramp, but you can do it sooner if you like. You will be leaving the highway on a deceleration ramp, which allows you to slow down before entering a different traffic situation. For your safety, and that of your tailgater, don’t slow until you actually enter the ramp. Once out of the travel lane you are free to apply your brakes.
A couple of things to watch out for here: the person in the left lane who realizes suddenly that this is his or her exit, and the one who missed the exit and is backing toward you on the shoulder. In the first instance they’re likely reacting without thinking and will both jerk the vehicle into your lane and apply the brakes. In the second, be really careful because this is an insane action on the part of that driver.
That's enough. Drive safely.
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