Traffic Jam Etiquette

America’s most clogged roads are eating up to 140 hours per year of drivers’ lives – the equivalent to a month’s worth of working hours, or four full weekends at home. Put it like this, acknowledging and helping out your fellow traffic jammers actually helps yourself.

Taking a deep breath and driving with consideration might actually be good for your own mental health, as well as cutting the would-be recipients of your hot-breathed insults some slack. And actually going slower can help. Observers and federal “traffic engineers” even show that going slowly into that jam is more likely to get you out faster.

Other etiquette tips include resisting the temptation to cut along the highway shoulder or exit lane when you have no intention to exit; leaving room for those who legitimately do need to cut through to the exit; shrugging off the impulse to flip the bird; and laying off that horn.

Check out this infographic before you leave the house for a few pointers on some other bad manners that are making that gridlock unbearable for you and everyone around you.

Gonzalez, M. (2014). Your Car Commute Is a Chance to Practice Mindfulness. hbr.org

Whittaker, C. (2016). These Robots Will Be More Polite Than Humans. thedailybeast.com

Beaty, W. (1998). TRAFFIC "EXPERIMENTS". trafficwaves.org

McGinty, C. (2014). Slowing Down Will Get You Through a Traffic Jam Faster. wsj.com