The Semantics of Slower Traffic - Part 2

In The Semantics of Slower Traffic, I posted about a semantically-challenged sub-set of automobile drivers who have a problem defining the word "slower" - particularly when it comes to the following sign.

I just received an e-mail with this brilliant photo-shopped picture that leaves no room for doubt about which drivers should be in which lanes on an expressway. - Thank you Bro

And here is one more picture to help reinforce the concept.

Vehicular Vocabulary

I recently came across a new term in the August issue of Detroit's Hour Magazine. The appropriateness of the timing of my newly acquired vocabulary cannot be denied, as I read the article just two days before driving home from northern Michigan after a holiday weekend (Yuck, an extra hour added to the trip). The term I am referring to is "phantom jam"; a traffic jam with no apparent cause -- no accident, no stalled vehicle, no lanes closed for construction.

According to an article on Wired.com, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers who are studying the phenomenon in hopes of expunging it, have suggested an additional name for this kind of gridlock - a "jamiton". "It’s a riff on 'soliton,' a term used in math and physics to describe a self-sustaining wave that maintains its shape while moving."

These "phantom jams" or "jamitons" occur when there is even the slightest disturbance in the flow of heavy traffic - a driver unnecessarily touching the brakes, someone tailgating or an idiot talking on the phone and not paying full attention to the road. These minor disruptions to the flow of traffic cause a chain reaction that results in a self-sustaining traffic jam.


Following is a video of MIT's model of the formation of a phantom jam.



As a frequent weekend and vacation expressway traveller, I wholeheartedly support MIT's research efforts and would like to remind drivers not to tailgate, not to talk on the phone, not to unnecessarily use brakes and, most importantly, that the left lane is for passing and slower traffic should keep right.

Let's eradicate these terms from our vocabulary.

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Read more about The Semantics of Slower Traffic.

Check out slowertraffickeepright.com

The Semantics of Slower Traffic

It seems that there are just too many drivers that don't fully grasp the meaning of this sign. Semantically speaking, the two most important aspects of the sign are the comparative inflectional morpheme -er and the word right. I think it is a fair assumption that anyone who has a driver license knows right from left so the problem must lie with the comparative inflectional morpheme.

Following is an example that illustrates the semantics of slower traffic.

If you are driving 80 mph in the left lane on the expressway it is true that you are not driving slowly; however, if a car comes up behind you going 90 mph, by comparison you are clearly the slower traffic.

Additionally, it is not the job of individual drivers to enforce speed limits by blocking passing lanes, it is the job of law enforcement. It is always safest for drivers to remain in the right lane unless passing slower traffic.

Of course there are also drivers who fully understand the meaning of the sign but choose to ignore it. slowertraffickeepright.com does an outstanding job of explaining in more detail the safety and traffic flow benefits of staying right. It should also be noted that it is a law in many states to stay right.