Light Rail Myths and Realities 4955Poor lane discipline cannot impede free flow conditions by definition. Poor lane discipline is irrelevant to capacity because it isn't possible to measure in near capacity conditions. Likewise it is a circular...
The effect you describe happens but rarely and it is seldom more than two cars abreast. Its caused not by bad driving but people tending to lock onto the car beside them or in front of them.
I mainly ride a motorcycle and lane split a lot (legal in California where I live). If what you are saying were true I would be seeing it a lot and not be rare enough that it surprises me when I lane split.
When I do lane split between two cars that are driving side by side, the driver break out of thinking about what was putting them on auto pilot and then separate and pull apart from each other. I almost consider it my duty to wake up drivers in auto pilot mode :-)
When I lived in Seattle, I saw more platoon of cars with empty space between platooning. I don't see that in California and did not see it in Texas when I lived there.
Where I mainly see platooning in California is in diamond lanes. A diamond lane is essentially a one lane road where one slow car will back up other cars behind them. This is not bad driving but fear that someone will pull out in front of them on the diamond lane from the very crowded adjacent lane.
In the diamond lane case, when I lane split between the slow driver in the diamond lane and the adjacent lane, the slow driver does not usually speed up because the fear that slowed them down has not gone away. I may have increased that fear, but I got a bigger than a daily dose of adrenalin when I did it.