Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New Jersey
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-08-2010, 09:11 PM
 
939 posts, read 3,387,249 times
Reputation: 620

Advertisements

It seems whenever there is lane closure due to construction people will start to merge as soon as possible. They then get upset at people who get ahead of them by continuing to the merge point and use the zipper system. Both lanes would move at the same speed if everyone would use the zipper system.

What is the state law on this? I tried searching but was unsuccessful.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-08-2010, 10:20 PM
 
Location: NJ
17,573 posts, read 46,167,132 times
Reputation: 16279
People need to merge at speed. Then traffic keeps going. If everyone rushes ahead it is inevitable that a line of cars will form and they have to stop. People are just stupid. I can't count the number of times I have seen people willing to let a car in pretty close to the merge point but the car continues ahead in the hopes of getting 2 car lengths farther down the road.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-08-2010, 11:01 PM
 
Location: Coral Springs
143 posts, read 416,363 times
Reputation: 58
The zipper system only works well IMO when the lanes are set up so everyone always knows these lanes merge. In case of a accident the lane closure can come up quicker especially if the driver in front doesn't realize it- then everyone behind him must come to a stop. In the case of construction you many times have workers in the lanes very close to the cars so it is imperative people slow down!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2010, 01:42 AM
 
Location: NJ & NV
5,773 posts, read 16,601,551 times
Reputation: 2475
People should just take turns similar to how you enter the NYC tunnels, alternate merge. I don't think there are any written rules about it as to where in the merge line the merge should occur, but it should be close to where you have to merge to be fair to everybody. People who merge too quick the hold up the line for everybody else.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2010, 05:06 AM
 
939 posts, read 3,387,249 times
Reputation: 620
Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6 View Post
People need to merge at speed. Then traffic keeps going. If everyone rushes ahead it is inevitable that a line of cars will form and they have to stop. People are just stupid. I can't count the number of times I have seen people willing to let a car in pretty close to the merge point but the car continues ahead in the hopes of getting 2 car lengths farther down the road.
This is the whole point of using the zipper system. You wouldn't let someone in till you actually get to the merge point. As captne76 said we would use alternate merge and it would prevent people from getting 20 car lengths ahead. Obviously there aren't any laws in NJ for this like there are in other states and it was never taught in driver ed.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2010, 07:37 AM
 
Location: NJ
17,573 posts, read 46,167,132 times
Reputation: 16279
Quote:
Originally Posted by gvillager View Post
This is the whole point of using the zipper system. You wouldn't let someone in till you actually get to the merge point. As captne76 said we would use alternate merge and it would prevent people from getting 20 car lengths ahead. Obviously there aren't any laws in NJ for this like there are in other states and it was never taught in driver ed.
I guess I don't see why you wouldn't just implement this farther away from the merge point. The closer you get the more chance of a back-up. People are going to start jamming on the breaks the closer they get to the merge point.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2010, 03:19 PM
 
50,880 posts, read 36,563,313 times
Reputation: 76716
Yes, and the people who are already in the lane staying open get to sit there for half an hour, while people behind me switch to the lane that's closing because they're getting in faster. When I had a bigger car, I used to try to straddle the lanes and block them, but alas I have a 2-door now!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2010, 04:33 PM
 
939 posts, read 3,387,249 times
Reputation: 620
Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6 View Post
I guess I don't see why you wouldn't just implement this farther away from the merge point. The closer you get the more chance of a back-up. People are going to start jamming on the breaks the closer they get to the merge point.
In my experience the vast majority of the time (at least in NJ) your already backed up long before the merge point.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl View Post
Yes, and the people who are already in the lane staying open get to sit there for half an hour, while people behind me switch to the lane that's closing because they're getting in faster. When I had a bigger car, I used to try to straddle the lanes and block them, but alas I have a 2-door now!
Your missing the point. Each lane would be equally occupied and no lane would move faster than the other.

This pdf file from State of Minnesota explains it perfectly.

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/trafficen...rge-zipper.pdf
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2010, 07:41 PM
 
Location: NJ
17,573 posts, read 46,167,132 times
Reputation: 16279
If things are already backed up well before the merge point the whole discussion is a moot point. Duh.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2010, 07:50 PM
 
939 posts, read 3,387,249 times
Reputation: 620
Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6 View Post
If things are already backed up well before the merge point the whole discussion is a moot point. Duh.
Obviously things move much faster once you get past the merge point. The point of the post is to discuss where to actually merge. Duh.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2022 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New Jersey

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top