And on the way back up (we were somewhere either in Tennessee or Missouri), I got pulled over—it was my first time getting pulled over.

在回程的時候 (大概在田納西或密蘇里州的某個地方)，我被警察攔下來了，那是我人生第一次被警察攔下來。

And it wasn't for speeding.

而且不是因為超速。

It was because I was driving in the left lane.

而是因為我當時開在左邊的內側車道。

So there are basically two types of drivers in the world.

世界上基本可以分成兩種駕駛。

There are people who get really upset about all the people driving slowly in the left lane.

一種在遇到有人在內側慢慢開時會超級火大。

That's Joey. He fits into that first group.

這是 Joey。他就屬於第一種人。

And then there are a lot of drivers who had no idea that this is even a problem.

然後還有一大群人根本不知道這樣做有什麼問題。

Yeah, that was me.

沒錯，我就是這樣。

Sorry about that. I don't drive much.

抱歉啦，我真的很少開車嘛。

The truth is, when drivers hang out in the left lane, it makes traffic worse and more dangerous for everybody involved.

實際上，當駕駛逗留在內側車道時，會讓交通變得更糟，並且讓所有用路人都面臨更多危險。

Here's what that looks like.

以下是實際的情況。

If you have relatively slow drivers scattered amongst the right and left lanes,

假如路上相對慢的駕駛四散在內外側車道，

faster drivers have to repeatedly slow down and weave back and forth, changing lanes many times to pass all of them.

較快的駕駛就必須不斷的減速並且左右穿梭，不斷地變換車道才能超越全部的慢車。

So if you're going five miles slower than everyone else and you're traveling in the left lane,

所以要是你比週遭的車慢上每小時 5 英里 (約為每小時 8 公里) 還開在內側車道，

it forces them to make dangerous moves trying to pass you on the right, which is more likely to cause an accident.

那就會逼得較快的駕駛為了閃你而做出從外側超車的危險動作，使得事故更容易發生。

But there's a better way for traffic to flow—and that's if we only use the left lane for passing.

有一種能使車流更順暢的好方法，那就是所有人都只使用內側車道來超車。

If all the slower drivers are in the right lane, a faster driver can pass several at once, and get back over to the right,

如果所有開得較慢的駕駛都在外側車道，那麼較快的駕駛就可以一次超越很多台車然後回到外側車道，

which cuts down the total number of lane changes and eliminates the slowdowns.

如此就可以大幅減少變換車道的次數，車流也比較不會慢下來。

Move over, or get a ticket. That's the message from state troopers to people driving too slowly in the left lane.

閃邊，不然就吃罰單。這是州警給在內側車道龜速行駛的駕駛的話。

Some people argue that as long as they're going the speed limit, they shouldn't have to move over.

有些人在爭論只要他們開在速限內，就不該被攔下來開單。

But there's evidence that that slowing down and changing lanes is actually more dangerous than speeding.

不過不少證據顯示，不必要的減速和變換車道其實比超速更危險。

Research has shown that the strongest predictor of an accident is variance from the average speed of traffic.

研究證實與車流平均速度的速差是事故的關鍵因子。

And a car going five miles per hour slower than the surrounding traffic has a greater chance of causing an accident than one going five miles per hour faster.

一台比週遭車流平均速度慢每小時五英里的車引發事故的機率，比起一台比平均車流快每小時五英里的車還要高上許多。

That's why every state has some law on on record that restricts the use of the left lane.

這也是為什麼美國每一州都有一些法規限制內側車道的使用。

In 29 states, any car that's moving slower than the surrounding speed of traffic should be in the right lane.

有 29 個州規定任何車只要比週遭車流慢就該去外側車道。

And in 11 states, the laws are stricter—they say that the left lane is only for turning or passing.

有 11 個州的規定更嚴格，他們規定內側車道只能用來左轉或超車。

Historically, police didn't really pay that much attention to slow left lane drivers,

早期警察其實不太管那些佔據內側車道的龜速車，

but more recently there have been campaigns in places like Washington, Texas, and Ohio, where police are actually issuing tickets to people they spot traveling slowly in the left lane.

不過近來美國各地開始展開宣導活動，諸如華盛頓、德州和俄亥俄州等州的警察開始真的會對內側車道的龜速車開罰。

The reason why I stopped you is the law in the state of Washington is keep right except to pass.

我攔你下來的原因是，根據華盛頓州法規，除非你要超車，否則一律靠右側行駛。

This is something that has always been illegal and against the law here in Michigan,

這在密西根州其實一直是違法的，

but now officers are rolling out this new education effort to help the public understand just what they can and they cannot do when it comes to this type of driving.

不過現在警員們正在努力推行法規教育，來幫助民眾了解什麼狀況下可以靠內側車道駕駛，什麼狀況下則不行。

Now, it doesn't have to be this way.

不過其實還有更好的辦法。

A good example of this is the German Autobahn.

有個很棒的範例就是德國的無限速高速公路 (Autobahn)。

So this is Germany's highway network which has long stretches of road with no speed limits, and it has surprisingly low accident rates.

這是德國的高速公路路網，有又長又直且無限速的路段，而且事故率低得驚人。

One reason for this, some researchers think, is that German drivers are more likely to stay in the right lane for traveling and only use the left for passing.

有些研究者認為其中一個原因是，德國駕駛大都會乖乖待在外側車道巡航，而內側車道只會用來超車。

That shared norm helps keep them safe.

這樣的默契讓他們能保持路上的安全。

So fellow drivers I am sorry. I didn't know the rules.

所以廣大駕駛朋友們，我很抱歉。我當時真的不懂這些規則。

But I'm not alone, and if more people understand how this works, we will have much fewer traffic jams, and our roads will be a lot safer, too.

但我不是唯一的一個，而要是更多人能了解這些是怎麼一回事，也許我們就能減少不少塞車情形，我們的馬路也會變得更加安全。