Dictionary

go with the flow of traffic en · VERB

Etymology

Here, flow is used in the sense of "direction of movement."

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To drive a vehicle at approximately the speed of other vehicles on the road, irrespective of the speed limit.
   • "You don't have to do this, guy" yelled the passenger as he sat there fidgeting in his chair, "we are only trying to go with the flow of traffic, you know?" 2017, J. R. Bouchard, The Plan, page 281:
   • I was just going with the flow of traffic, and I just happened to look down and I was going a little bit faster than the speed limit. 2017, Stefan Gossling, The Psychology of the Car: Automobile Admiration, page 160:
2. (idiomatic) To drive so as to blend in with traffic.
   • She decided to go with the flow of traffic and let it take her through the city and out the other side, with a stop at one of the big supermarkets at the busiest time of the day to shop for the week's groceries en route. 2013, Quentin Bates, Chilled to the Bone: An Icelandic Thriller, page 19:
   • I had to get Sera off it as soon as I could, and the fastest way to do that was to go with the flow of traffic heading toward Brooklyn. 2015, Greg Hogben, My Daughter's Army, page 67:

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