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I'll try to change lanes if I can or at least adjust my speed if nobody's behind me and I'm reasonably sure they're going to pull out. I generally accelerate and pull out if I can when I merge off an on ramp so I usually expect others to do the same. I have a few memories of people merging from on ramps. One was the car full of blue hairs where the old gent driving just drove right on never looking, deep in conversation with his passengers. I had to brake to avoid hitting him.
Then there was the couple who obviously expected me to change lanes or slow down to let them merge and got mad when I didn't and made them wait until I passed. I was just not in the mood to be polite that day. They sped up and passed me and the lady passenger gave me the finger, LOL. Stay classy, *****.
New Jerseyans of course just barrel on like you're invisible.
1. If possible, I move over a lane.
2. If thats not possible, I accelerate ahead the vehicle entering the freeway.
3. If thats not possible, I give a slight tap on the brake, and the let other vehicle merge in front of me.
I don't understand people who won't let others merge in front of them. Usually a five mph speed adjustment is all it takes to let the other vehicle in. If everybody would just cooperate with each other, everybody gets where they are going quicker.
Plus what happens if the other driver is zoned out and doesn't see you? He hits your car, forcing you into the next lane hitting another car, and you end up with a chain reaction accident. You and a half dozen other drivers end up with ambulance rides to the hospital. Then 10,000 more people get stuck for an hour in the traffic jam, while emergency responders clean up the mess, caused because couldn't give a slight tap your brake and let another vehicle merge in front of you.
I just don't get it.
Then you'd crash into me, because I can, and will, be accelerating to fit into a gap, as I'm expected to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iNviNciBL3
I try to let people merge in front of me but they always seem to choose to merge right into me and always side swipe me.
But in standard practice, maintaining speed is the safe thing to do until we get reliable telepathy between drivers of vehicles - not just the two referred to in the discussion but all of those surrounding them.
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The safe thing to do is be adaptable to the particular situation and not have an attitude of under no circumstances will i change my speed or my lane,it certainly doesnt take much to work with merging traffic to make sure traffic flows freely,its also courteous .
There is a certain type of driver out there who delights in playing the game of trying to block merging traffic,no matter whether the merging vehicle speeds up or slows down our game player will match his speed to where the merging vehicle has the option of running into the wall or having to come to a near stop before entering the highway, these game players are usually the same people who powertrip by hogging the passing lane and not letting anyone pass because they are righteously going the speed limit.
It depends, and it helps very much if you are aware of local conventions. Lame but true, the typical behavior of entering traffic varies by location.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GarageLogic
If it looks like they're speeding up to try to merge ahead of me, I'll slow down a bit. Or if they're not accelerating, I'll try to get ahead of them. It's kind of a guessing game, so I much prefer to change lanes if I can.
This is how I generally approach it. But when you can't change lanes this approach can be problematic I have found from recent experience. See below.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Led Zeppelin
Most of the time you do nothing. It is the merging driver's job to merge into the lane by matching his speed to traffic.
That is what I would have thought, but you can't get by thinking that in Massachusetts I can tell you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts
Here in Massachusetts, you get all types:
What I found in Massachusetts is that all types enter the highway without any regard to the traffic out there or the speed it is going in relation to the speed they are going. I had two close-ish calls recently (one closer than the other) because of this unexpected behavior and my inability to move over due to traffic in the lane to the left of me. In the closer call the car was going SO slow with me SO close behind that I couldn't ever fathom in the history of merging that the driver could think it was okay to go out. I had to slow to about 25mph from 55, very quickly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by d4g4m
Remember when entering a limited access highway, there was a 'yield' sign? Since those signs were removed, I've noticed that almost all drivers enter the highway as if there were no one else. The don't look for approaching traffic, slow down or speed up, they just enter the highway at whatever speed they are driving on the approach road.
If I remember right, the yield signs were still there in Mass. But they still entered the highway exactly as you describe.
Oddly, I have driven in Mass. many times over the last several years and never had such severe examples of this. I must have spent more time in lanes other than the far right in most of my past trips. But my travel companion who is from Mass originally assures me the behavior I witnessed was totally normal and practiced by the majority of drivers there.
In your scenario with the possible merging 18 wheeler, you're also ignoring the possible 18 wheeler on the highway behind you that is going to have to slow down and get back up to speed if you slow down for the vehicle merging (never mind all the other traffic behind you).
And did you also think about what will happen if 18 wheeler has to completely stop on that ramp because drivers in right lane are on cruise control one after another? And also about the vehicles behind 18 wheeler??
Is this a trick question? I do what I am constantly prepared to do every second that I am driving -- I make a judgment based on the prevailing conditions and my expectation of what other traffic appears to be doing.
As for cruise control, I have bought cars and driven them and finally junked them, without ever even checking to see if the cruise-control even worked. I do not consider holding a constant speed with my foot to be an insurmountable challenge, no more so than holding the steering wheel for direct line motion.
PDD, it has nothing to do with a "tough guy attitude" and everything to do with safe driving practices. Should one modify those practices in unusual situations IF it is called for by the situation? Yes.
But in standard practice, maintaining speed is the safe thing to do until we get reliable telepathy between drivers of vehicles - not just the two referred to in the discussion but all of those surrounding them.
In your scenario with the possible merging 18 wheeler, you're also ignoring the possible 18 wheeler on the highway behind you that is going to have to slow down and get back up to speed if you slow down for the vehicle merging (never mind all the other traffic behind you).
It's a simple question with complicated answers when you throw in all the "what ifs", but if you take the question exactly as written, the answer is simple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by alpha_1976
And did you also think about what will happen if 18 wheeler has to completely stop on that ramp because drivers in right lane are on cruise control one after another? And also about the vehicles behind 18 wheeler??
There you go, I put the entire post that you pulled one tiny snippet out of (the net to last paragraph) that doesn't reflect the actual meaning of the post up there for you.
Read the two parts I bolded for you and maybe you'll get the meaning this time.
I try to let people merge in front of me but they always seem to choose to merge right into me and always side swipe me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vmaxnc
Wow. You must go through a lot of cars.
I was thinking the exact same thing.
Somehow, in 48 years of driving, I have managed to never get side-swiped by merging traffic, or in any other situation.
If "Invincible" has had this happen multiple times--as he seems to imply--it really makes me wonder about...
...his driving skill
and
...his insurance rates.
Invincible--Just how many times have you been side-swiped?
If it is more than...once...I would submit that your driving style makes you anything BUT invincible...
It depends if your a courteous driver you adjust your speed, if it's an 18 wheeler you move over if you can and let him merge.
If you are a self centered driver like a lot of people you pretend you don't see them and when they almost side swipe you you get mad and flip them the bird.
If you see them or not and maintain your speed they are the ones in the wrong if they almost sideswipe you.
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