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Slow freeway traffic is caused by accidents, construction, or idiots. Mostly idiots. Most drivers just press on the gas and hit the brake only when they are going to hit something. For most people it's GO GO GO until they reach the destination. Most drivers don't care about truly "flowing" with traffic or conserving momentum. If they did, traffic jams would probably not exist.
If you want to learn how to drive, watch semi trucks. They hate stopping, they hate slowing down (losing momentum). If you ever get a chance, watch one in bumper to bumper traffic. They take off slowly, giving ample room ahead. They react before they actually need to, maintaining lots of space ahead. They use the engine as a break and control the throttle to avoid the stop and go that most people do in traffic. This is to even out the ripple effect of traffic jams. It is much better to maintain a slow, steady speed, than speed up and then slam on your brakes when traffic jams up again. Semi's do exactly that. If everyone learned to give everyone lots of room on the highway, instead of being as close as possible, you would see a major reduction in traffic on the roadways.
When people drive bumper to bumper without buffering and anticipating the traffic flow, minor slow downs are amplified. I have seen a traffic jam form. It was one guy, who needed to exit. He slams on his brakes in the middle of the freeway trying to merge over. The car behind him (too close) also brakes. This causes a chain reaction because everyone is following too close and needs to hit the brakes. The effect is amplified so that everyone almost comes to a dead stop, even though the road ahead is clear and flowing nicely.
Slow drivers in the right lane won't cause this effect. The idiot in my previous example made an unexpected move. Slow drivers like me go at a constant, predictable speed. Other drivers can easily react to a constant speed. It is the people coming up behind them, not looking ahead, not calculating, not anticipating, and not preparing before they actually reach your car. As I mentioned earlier, they are GO GO GO until you are in their way and then they slam the brakes. If they would leave a buffer zone open they could have gradually decelerated and merged over before reaching the slower car. If they can't merge, they can match the slower speed (gradually, not slamming the brakes) and everyone else behind should follow until they can merge. There is no reason that speed should go well below the slow drivers speed. If it does, it is because of an over reaction or late reaction that causes one car to decelerate rapidly, starting a ripple. Given a large buffer zone the ripple can be minimal with planning and calculating a gradual deceleration or merge.
It's a state law here that slower moving traffic needs to stay in the right lane except to pass. I always follow this rule. Drivers should expect this, and they should anticipate having to pass the slower traffic if they chose to drive near or over the limit. What happens to me on a daily basis is that someone is barreling in the right lane, not paying attention to me ahead. They wait until the last minute and usually they are blocked due to another car in the left passing lane. Then they have to slam on the brakes and wait. It's complete stupidity. And completely avoidable.
I'll stand by my opinion, slow drivers don't cause traffic jams or accidents. It's the faster drivers who are not paying attention to others on the road!
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