I have long been fascinated with the phenomena of the motorist or trucker who blocks lanes near construction lane closures. Pictured on the left is a pickup truck driver engaged in the act of blocking such a lane on I-275 who I observed the other day.I understand the motivation behind lane blocking, which is to prevent obnoxious idiots who want to zoom past a long line of cars and reduce their wait. I share the annoyance of lane blockers at these selfish or clueless drivers, as their unwillingness to merge earlier leads to further backups and occasionally to accidents.
Yet part of me is puzzled at the sort of vigilante justice at work here. Some of these lane blockers are overly righteous, as if they think it is their personal duty to police the roadways. I have seen some lane blockers drive their cars with aggressive and even reckless maneuvers, like suddenly angling out into the narrowing lane or onto the shoulder to block those who try to beat the traffic backup. These self-designated roadtroopers probably cause their own fair share of accidents, especially with their demolition derby approach to highway vigilantism.
Truckers are well known for their efforts to use their semi-trailers to enforce the upcoming lane merging. I have also seen 18-wheelers participate in some highly questionable acts of self-appointed road policing, wielding their cabs and trailers almost like weapons to stop cheaters.
Lane blockers: feel free to post in the Comments section about your motivations in blocking lanes, and everyone else can use this post to vent about the selfish folks who think their vehicular excursion is more important than those of other motorists.
