Originally Posted by JohnBrooking
Here's the situation: Narrow two-lane road, no paved shoulder, few turnouts (as in streets, driveways, or parking lots), traffic jam a mile long before the light. Double-yellow line, with moderate opposing traffic. To get to within one cycle of the light (I don't care about after that because I'm more certain of what to do then), what would you do?
I'd sort of have to be there to get a better feel for what you're facing.
But I don't feel comfortable passing on the left when I'm sharing a lane, for two reasons. One, I don't like being that close to oncoming traffic when I'm locked in by a wall of cars on my right. Two, when traffic moves again, I'd have to merge again, then move to the right again if traffic speed was faster than me--too much conflict and maneuvering. If I'm passing on the left, I like to be in another lane, and when that happens, the traffic I passed passes me again on the right, and I wait until it's gone before I move right again. But that move is something I don't want to do over and over again when I don't have my own lane.
No, if really necessary to avoid an extended stop-and-go scenario, I'll go ahead and pass on the right by sharing the lane, but carefully. That way, I'm where I need to be when traffic starts moving again. The bottom line here is how much room there is.
Still better, if I see it backed up, I'll take a detour.