At what percentage of the speed limit are these cruisers you’re talking about? Assuming it isn’t >10% under the speed limit, what’s your issue actually?
In the situation you’re describing, if it’s a 3-lane highway and you’re in the fastest lane you need to plan and prepare properly to start transitioning well before you want to exit. If one or two cars at constant speed are preventing you from transitioning in time, the failure is on you.
Having a constant safe speed in the middle lane sounds ideal.
> Assuming it isn’t >10% under the speed limit, what’s your issue actually?
Slower traffic keep right is a thing. You are not entitled to stay in the passing lanes just because you are going at least the speed limit. My issue is that it really mucks up the capacity of the freeway and increases the suffering for everyone using it.
> you need to plan and prepare properly to start transitioning well before you want to exit
I think I didn't make myself clear. It doesn't matter how early you plan, whether 10 seconds or 10 minutes. You will just have to put your signal on and take a spot, even if it puts you much too close to the guy in front with someone much too close to your bumper. Because the cruise controllers drive like a train, and don't care to leave any reasonable gap between them.
Really, the reason traffic sucks in so many places is because people think laws like 'slower traffic keep right' are there to infringe on their rights, when really it's because traffic engineers have studied how traffic flows and made regulations to encourage it to be safe and as little congested as possible.
i see this thread has really gotten active with you and i mostly agree with it, but I didn't see anyone pointing out your description of cruise controlled cars being a blockade in the middle. I definitely don't see it that way with my adaptive cruise control (i never ever use regular cruise control anymore). Even at the closest follow distance setting, I am always about 2 cars distance from the one i am following. I have only ever used my one particular adaptive cruise control (subaru impreza) so I am not sure if other car models tend to follow closer and block the ability to change lanes.
>You will just have to put your signal on and take a spot, even if it puts you much too close to the guy in front with someone much too close to your bumper
This description makes me think you're talking about stop and go traffic, or at least where the entire highway is mostly saturated. At that point I hardly think any one particular lane is going faster/slower than the rest but that could be wrong. In this case though, I don't use cruise control because I mentally switch over to the mode of "gas and brake the least possible" to even the flow of traffic and not contribute to brake snakes.
edit:
oh i see in some other comments you're talking about 3 lane i-5, I have only been on mostly 2 lane sections of i-5 where it's just trucks on the right and people waiting in a line to pass said trucks on the left... but three lanes I haven't had any issues
In the situation you’re describing, if it’s a 3-lane highway and you’re in the fastest lane you need to plan and prepare properly to start transitioning well before you want to exit. If one or two cars at constant speed are preventing you from transitioning in time, the failure is on you.
Having a constant safe speed in the middle lane sounds ideal.