A PAIR of drivers have put a supposedly traffic-beating “hack” to the test in bumper-to-bumper rush hour queues to see if it really works.
The duo took inspiration from a well-known children’s story to work out whether aggressive driving is worth the hassle.
We’ve all been there, stuck in a lengthy tailback, crawling along where one lane seems to be moving faster than all the rest.
But is it quicker to “slice and dice” your way along, changing lanes very few minutes, or sit it out patiently with the radio on?
That’s exactly what the team at Lifehacker tested during the infamous LA rush hour.
As one of America’s most congested cities, drivers there lose an average of 89 hours a year sitting in jams, according to TomTom’s Traffic Index.
With that in mind, Lifehacker’s resident “lane changer” Thasin Hyder went up against “lane committer” Andrew Collins in a rush hour race to their local taco restaurant.
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Confident Tahsin said: “I’ve been driving in LA since I was 15 years old.
“I am hard-wired to change lanes whenever humanly possible.
“But my friend and colleague Andrew tells me I’m going nowhere fast.”
And so they decided to put their methods to the test, taking inspiration from the old story of the tortoise and the hare.
With the lunch bill on the line, the pair set out on “Carmageddon” – a 12-mile run into the city centre starting just after 9.30am.
Perhaps unexpectedly, Andrew actually got off to the quicker start, much to Tahsin’s irritation.
She fumed: “This is so annoying.
“I literally feel like every lane is going faster than me right now.
“When a car is passing you, you can count them one by one and it’s so painful.”
But she soon started her comeback, catching up and eventually overtaking Andrew using her chop-and-change method.
And she crossed the line first, arriving at the restaurant at 10.02am
However, despite enjoying her victory, she admitted that it was “not worth” the extra effort as Andrew arrived just two minutes later.
Ultimately, it seems, lane changing will get you there faster but not by much.
