Merging into traffic? You're doing it wrong

[Don C]

Of course you cannot double your speed if you are heading into a construction zone with reduced speed limits.

I tend to be an old fogey who thinks that if I have to wait in line so should everyone else and I have been know (not often) to close the gap to the car in front of me so that the "line skipper" can't get in right in front of me. IF both lanes are backed up meaning that both lines are waiting their turns, then zipper merges are perfectly acceptable.

And get off my driveway!

[parsaplenty]

When theres an upcoming merge I always look to see which lane is getting squeezed and I stay in that lane since a certain percentage of people just don't get it. I'll run that lane to the very end and merge properly.

[RAMd®d]

Deja vu.

Fortunately, we're all smarter than the average bear.

And some, to hear them tell it, smarter than the average person.

The zipper method is great as long as all participate, but that doesn't happen often.

[3d]

Do whatever is customary in the area you're at.
AKA. Do what everyone else is doing. Otherwise you're being a dcik.

[space-time]

Because many drivers will not be courteous to let you merge, I try to merge as soon as I find a safe gap, even if I have 1/2 mile left until the lane is closed.

[Robert M]

Space,

Exactly. Around here on Long Island and within the surrounding areas (Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, Westchester, etc), you do whatever it takes to merge regardless of whether it's the "right" or "wrong" way. Why? Because you have no choice. Drivers aren't courteous at all and typically will not let you merge and/or make it unnecessarily difficult and dangerous to merge.

The most common behaviors are speeding up to prevent you from exiting the on-ramp onto the highway and/or speeding up to intentionally close an available gap. I don't understand the mindset of these flemwads.

'course, drivers on the on-ramp often just move from it onto the highway without checking to see if they make do it safely. I suspect one of the reasons they do it is because they're accustomed to rude drivers who won't let them merge in and feel they must do what they must to get on the highway.

Robert

[mikebw]

When people merge early, they create a more severe backup because they leave a lane unused,

I think this is the real takeaway. You can fit more cars into the lane if you ride it out until the end, thus backups are shorter. The problem with a true zipper merge is that there needs to be enough space to let the merging cars to move in, and many drivers do not like to do that. To avoid conflict, some drivers will just get in a soon as they find a space which makes those who choose to continue onward look like jerks who cannot wait.

[Robert M]

Mike,

Seriously? Ride it out to the end? And then what? Hope that someone will actually let you merge at the last minute? End result of riding it out? Problems. You get stuck at the end of the on-ramp, causing a backup and becoming a safety hazard for other drivers on the on-ramp and the highway itself. Would never recommend following that advice around here.

You definitely can't ride it out to the end on the local parkway because it has exceptionally short on-ramps. You get on the on-ramp and jump for the opening. No waiting. No riding it out. You don't have the luxury of those options because if you try, you become a danger to yourself and others for the reasons I mentioned in the other paragraph.

Robert