>. Cut my speed down to under 35 in heavy traffic where I just have to trudge along ...
I found this became easier to handle when I considered it a different kind of puzzle : how do I navigate that traffic without stopping or even using my brakes.
This usually involves increased following distance. Then I get to watch all the people who can't look past the gap in front of me rush in, realize this isn't helpful, punch their brakes , and switch back to a different lane. Endlessly entertaining!
Added benefit is that people behind you will start hanging back as you do (those not rushing around and failing to get ahead anyway)... Part of the puzzle is seeing how much of a smoothing effect you have on the traffic behind you.
I like where you're going trying to game it... but... I also like not relying on other people to make correct decisions when I drive. When I drive to pass them, I just have to work around them, that seems safe enough -- I'm not making them drive any different than they normally would. I can weave in and out of traffic, and they never have to hit their brakes or accelerate or change lanes to react to me. But... me trying to go as far as I can without using my brakes, that seems like it'd force others behind me to have to engage their brain and make more changes than they normally would... I don't really want to makes others have to think when driving. People are idiots. Duh, right? So me not wanting them to have to react to me is more for my safety than theirs.
An example... I drive a manual and there's a long slow hill with a stoplight near my house. I don't need to tap my brakes, I can just coast up it and come to a stop by the time I hit the light... but inevitably some idiot see me slowing down a half-mile before the yellow light and doesn't get why (see your comment about them not looking past the car in front of them). Anyway one day I was out driving and this idiot teenager in a massive SUV ran into me with like a 30 MPH difference. Totaled my car, and jacked up my back. Her claim, "I didn't see your brake lights, so I didn't know you were slowing down." (The things people say after an injury accident are pretty astounding -- why you should always get witnesses contact details as well as call a cop.) Of course the whole thing was ruled her fault, but 12 months of PT and years later my back still hurts from time to time. Also... wrecked a perfectly good Honda S2000. So now I just go as fast as I can right up to the light, like all the other lemmings, and mash my brakes when I get there. (=
I found this became easier to handle when I considered it a different kind of puzzle : how do I navigate that traffic without stopping or even using my brakes.
This usually involves increased following distance. Then I get to watch all the people who can't look past the gap in front of me rush in, realize this isn't helpful, punch their brakes , and switch back to a different lane. Endlessly entertaining!
Added benefit is that people behind you will start hanging back as you do (those not rushing around and failing to get ahead anyway)... Part of the puzzle is seeing how much of a smoothing effect you have on the traffic behind you.