Let me axe you all a question

[Delicious_bass]

In theory, the "zipper merge" would work well enough. It maximizes the available lanes and the alternating left-right-left-right merging should provide a smooth transition from multiple lanes to fewer lanes. In practice, it does not work as designed. Why? Because there are too many idiots and/or dinks on the roads. You get those who feel their time is more valuable than everyone else's who race up as far as they can go and then expect to be let in. Often, these same people do not let anyone else in. And that pretty much sums up most of the problems on the roads. WAY too many people expect everyone else to get out of their way but they are not about to give anyone else an inch. Merging (no matter where its done) is not that difficult. People make it harder than it needs to be, though, either by being too aggressive, too passive, too oblivious, too flat out stupid, etc. Think about it...all across the US people sit for hours in stopped traffic EVERY DAY for (often) no other reason than people cant/wont merge properly or show the least bit of common sense, awareness, courtesy, etc. Mainly, people feel they are entitled to be let in and drive exactly how they please but do not want to extend the same courtesy to others. It absolutely boggles my mind and pisses me off to no end

[Venus]

Point is that more and more often around PA, I am seeing signs that even say stay in your lane until merge point. Then at the merge point there is often a take your turn sign or sometimes even a cop.

 

None of us like that practice but it is the correct way. Or I guess for you it is an acceptable way.

 

This is what people can't or won't do...take your turn. Traffic backs up more because they won't let others merge. Then people wouldn't feel the urge to race up or couldn't because there would be constant moving. If only we lived in a perfect world.

[Rovers]

Number 3:

 

When I am feeling ornery (most of the time) and not in a rush (Sometimes) I stay in the closed lane, but slow down to the point where the next lane is moving faster. Joe "I gotta pass four cars now!" can get pretty riled up. I'm pretty sure I have been the cause of broken eyeball blood vessels with this manuvuer. The things that I find fun! Another one of my favorite moves is to see some jerk flying down the merge lane at 4 times the speed of traffic. I feign like I'm going to abruptly swing into the soon to be closed lane right in front of the knucklehead, and pull back in at the last moment.

This has never failed to illicit the bird. My response is always to .

[Skippy]

I just drove though the same lane merge that caused all this debate.

 

Today there are big signs saying to stay in your lane to merge point. There is another two signs that say "take your turn at merge point" and "Merge Here".

 

As an experiment I stayed in the lane that was closing even though plenty, but certainly not all, cars were switching lanes as soon as they saw the first sign. At first I scooted about half the distance of the backup toward the front. Then there were cars trying to merge into the open lane but what was weird was that we were all moving at the same slow pace. Another sign telling you to "stay in lane until merge point" and I followed directions. Then about a tenth of a mile was the "merge here" and "take your turn" signs. No problems. We all kept moving and everyone seemed to take his/her turn.

 

I went much better today then it did the other day. FWIW

[westvirginia]

Number 3:

 

When I am feeling ornery (most of the time) and not in a rush (Sometimes) I stay in the closed lane, but slow down to the point where the next lane is moving faster. Joe "I gotta pass four cars now!" can get pretty riled up. I'm pretty sure I have been the cause of broken eyeball blood vessels with this manuvuer. The things that I find fun! Another one of my favorite moves is to see some jerk flying down the merge lane at 4 times the speed of traffic. I feign like I'm going to abruptly swing into the soon to be closed lane right in front of the knucklehead, and pull back in at the last moment.

This has never failed to illicit the bird. My response is always to .

 

Rovers, you're a man after my own heart. F'ing w/arseholes is the height of my day sometimes.

[i_am_the_swammi]

The bigger merge issue for me is the normal, everyday rush hour event of Johnny Tool cutting over into the right lane as an exit apporaches, speeding down the "Exit Only" lane as far as he can go, then cuts back over into the thru traffic lane...then quickly over tho the left for the next mile or two, then back over the right when the next interchange approaches to repeat the procedure above.

 

What Johnny doesn't realize is that by all the slick maneuvering, and more importantly, causing other drivers to slam on their brakes, he is making the drive longer than it needs to be for everyone else by making the traffic jam even worse.

 

I have no problem adjusting my speed to box out Johnny Tool.

[Big John]

The bigger merge issue for me is the normal, everyday rush hour event of Johnny Tool cutting over into the right lane as an exit apporaches, speeding down the "Exit Only" lane as far as he can go, then cuts back over into the thru traffic lane...then quickly over tho the left for the next mile or two, then back over the right when the next interchange approaches to repeat the procedure above.

 

What Johnny doesn't realize is that by all the slick maneuvering, and more importantly, causing other drivers to slam on their brakes, he is making the drive longer than it needs to be for everyone else by making the traffic jam even worse.

 

I have no problem adjusting my speed to box out Johnny Tool.

Now this is illegal. I once saw a Milwaukee police car pull someone over for doing that just as he went brack into a through lane at the exit gore.

[Scooby]

not really reaative here, but maybe--my mom (God love her) gets flipped off from time to time (The Peace sign as she jokingly calls it)...she just gives the driver the sign of the cross lol!

[flemingd]

But question #1 is one of my pet peeves. I will literally drive half way into the merge line to stop people like tosberg from racing to the front of the line and causing slow downs even though he is a fellow service member. Yes..I block both lanes. Kiss my grits.

But if everyone just went as far as they could, no one could zoom ahead and everyone would be where they were originally. The issue is when people merge 4 bajillion miles too early. Now I get to watch the guy in front of me merge (losing one car space) then the guy behing him moving ahead, merging 3 cars up (losing another car length) and then 4 more zoom by and eventually merge - and I lose 4 more car lengths.

[rajncajn]

As far as question #2 is concerned, I can't give you the answer you are looking for. I live in California. Nuff said on that.

 

But question #1 is one of my pet peeves. I will literally drive half way into the merge line to stop people like tosberg from racing to the front of the line and causing slow downs even though he is a fellow service member. Yes..I block both lanes. Kiss my grits.

You must be that woman who tried to block me off making me have to slam on my brakes with my kids in the car to keep from rear-ending you after I turned off a side street into the open lane 2 blocks from where the merge was.

Edited August 30, 2010 by rajncajn

[westvirginia]

not really reaative here, but maybe--my mom (God love her) gets flipped off from time to time (The Peace sign as she jokingly calls it)...she just gives the driver the sign of the cross lol!

 

My Mom does the same dam thing. She has a V-8 jeep commander now, last ride was a V-8 Jeep Cherokee, before that, a V-8 powered T-bird (seeing a pattern here?). Her favorite sport in traffic was to make some Dr. or Lawyer type in his Bimmer or Benz hate life in merge lanes. Little old lady from Pasedena type.

[Scooby]

My Mom does the same dam thing. She has a V-8 jeep commander now, last ride was a V-8 Jeep Cherokee, before that, a V-8 powered T-bird (seeing a pattern here?). Her favorite sport in traffic was to make some Dr. or Lawyer type in his Bimmer or Benz hate life in merge lanes. Little old lady from Pasedena type.

 

 

lol! Thats some good horsepower there:) My mom's been tootlin around in Buick sedans since the early 1990's, I also remember a Chevy Caprice Classic she drove, I'd pull up to my friends houses and they would think we were the cops! Before that she had a couple of Pontiac Bonnevilles lol!