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However, merging would be so much easier if, as the cartoon suggests, those already on the freeway would give a little. Would it hurt to ease off the accelerator a bit and create a space?
It is amazing how true that video is, I have seen all of the examples.
If you speed up on the on-ramp you should be up to speed and be able blend in with the flow by the time you get to the highway, it helps if the traffic moves over if they can, but shouldn't be necessary.
Years ago I was almost in an accident getting on the freeway when the person in front of me decided to stop for no reason, the road was clear enough for him to enter, I was able to move into the breakdown lane to avoid hitting him and the person behind me did the same, the sound of screeching and horns was deafening, the entry ramp was full of cars, all were able to stop in time, he slowly pulled out on the highway like nothing happen.
In other words you will only yield to other vehicles if they are bigger then you? Attitude like that, is what makes dring suck. I bet you are one of these Hummer drivers, or at least the biggest SUV you can buy.
Now the point that you are missing is that the merging vehicles are also on the highway.
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Are you really willing to fight that in court if you hit someone because you "think" you're already on the highway? If you hit someone while you're trying to merge, I can promise you they'll fight it. If it goes to court, which it will, the first thing a judge is going to look at is who was in the main lanes and who was in the ramp. Guess what? The guy on the ramp has to yield. If you want to think you're already on the highway, then you have to follow the law of changing lanes. Just because your signal is on doesn't mean you can get over, and I'm proof of that - I got hit by someone changing lanes out on a highway last year. She lost, to the tune of about $20K in damages and medical. In the real world, you have to yield to traffic already on the road. The guy already on the highway doing 65 or 70 does not have to yield to you trying to merge at 50.
Whenever I encounter these people (usually elderly immigrants), I just go around them on the onramp shoulders. It could be illegal but it's definitely safer than merging onto the freeway at 30 mph.
Yes. Usually it is............ a very young person texting.
I've seen 'texting while driving' cause a number of weird/stupid things, but I've never seen it be the root cause of someone merging too slowly. Like you said, it's usually the elderly, but other times it's the 'driving slow keeps my baby safe' soccer mom or the 'accelerating slowly saves me .01 MPG!' fuelly. Seriously? If I throw a quarter at you, will ya just HIT IT already?
I love threads like this on CD because it basically reinforces what we already know. 9 out of 10 drivers 'get it', but then there's always that one or two that don't and all of the sudden we come to realize that yes, there are people out there who make the conscious effort to drive 'that way'. It's the same when we have threads on speeding/left lane hogs or backing out of parking spots, or any of those other 'don't you just hate it when' rant threads.
Nuje
Last edited by whiteboyslo; 09-28-2012 at 08:22 AM..
The KC area is notorious for this, among other terrible driving habits. People rarely merge at more than 40mph, I often have to honk at them to speed up. It's so bad on some ramps that I will camp sometimes at the base of the ramp on the shoulder, wait awhile for everyone to pass me and merge (and nearly crash in the process), THEN once clear both in front and behind, go from 0 to 70-80 or so and merge safely. Yes in KC you have to do crazy maneuvers just to get somewhere safely.
I-35 has tons of really short ramps, where you have two left turning lanes and a ton of traffic all entering at once, merge instantly to one lane, then merge almost instantly onto the freeway. No ramp meters either on there. I am quite amazed there aren't tons more accidents from merging.
1. How am I dead wrong? Please present some evidence, like maybe a link to some vehicle code.
2. Following the rules of the road and merging correctly is not being a bad or dangerous driver. It's being a responsible driver. No one has ever caused an accident by merging correctly onto a freeway. Accidents are cause by those who can't get it right. Such as merging at the wrong speed, not letting other drivers merge, etc.
03:56 in the video shows pretty well how deal with that situation. You have a right to enter the freeway. Be aggressive and assert your right to merge. If you have to, force your way in front of them. 99% of the time they will get the clue and drop back. If they don't and end up rear-ending you, you should be on pretty good legal footing.
Right there. This attitude makes a bad and dangerous driver. That you don't get that it does, simply reinforces that because it means you don't know better than to take that attitude onto the public roadways.
I believe several other people posted vehicle codes showing that you are wrong.
03:56 in the video shows pretty well how deal with that situation. You have a right to enter the freeway. Be aggressive and assert your right to merge. If you have to, force your way in front of them. 99% of the time they will get the clue and drop back. If they don't and end up rear-ending you, you should be on pretty good legal footing.
Right there. This attitude makes a bad and dangerous driver. That you don't get that it does, simply reinforces that because it means you don't know better than to take that attitude onto the public roadways.
I believe several other people posted vehicle codes showing that you are wrong.
I second the bolded part. If I can let you in, I will. But I'm not hitting my brakes and risking getting rear ended because you waited too long to get over or didn't want to wait your turn either. You're either going to sideswipe me (your fault. pray i'm not injured in any way), or drop back and wait like a good boy/girl. Your choice.
I second the bolded part. If I can let you in, I will. But I'm not hitting my brakes and risking getting rear ended because you waited too long to get over or didn't want to wait your turn either. You're either going to sideswipe me (your fault. pray i'm not injured in any way), or drop back and wait like a good boy/girl. Your choice.
But for the merging driver to drop back and wait requires that he slow down. That compounds the problem.
If all the drivers already on the freeway are territorial and do not want to give an inch, it does not matter how fast the merging driver is going, there is no safe spot for him to merge into.
Once the merging driver is up to speed, the driver on the highway is not going to have to slow down very much to help create merging space.
Cooperation from the driver already on the freeway is essential for a safe merge.
But for the merging driver to drop back and wait requires that he slow down. That compounds the problem.
If all the drivers already on the freeway are territorial and do not want to give an inch, it does not matter how fast the merging driver is going, there is no safe spot for him to merge into.
Once the merging driver is up to speed, the driver on the highway is not going to have to slow down very much to help create merging space.
Cooperation from the driver already on the freeway is essential for a safe merge.
Letting off the gas, no problem. Tapping the brakes to give you space, no problem. But if I'm have to hit the brakes and drop down more than 5-10mph in flowing traffic because you either don't want to get up to speed or want to just come on over, you're SOL, especially if there's traffic behind me up close and personal. I'm not risking getting rear ended because you don't want to wait/speed up. If you want to "force" your way over as one poster put it, well, you'd better pray to whatever god you believe in that you don't hit me or someone else. You could wind up bankrupted from the resulting lawsuit for damages and pain/suffering. It's not worth it "just" to get onto a highway a little faster.
I've had a few times where I've just driven onto the shoulder past a ramp because traffic was so heavy I couldn't get over and waited for someone to let me over, but like I said, that's heavy traffic where everyones bumper to bumper already. In that case, if I'm the one already on the highway and stopped/crawling, I'll just let space open up in front of me for someone to merge.
In other words you will only yield to other vehicles if they are bigger then you? Attitude like that, is what makes dring suck. I bet you are one of these Hummer drivers, or at least the biggest SUV you can buy.
Now the point that you are missing is that the merging vehicles are also on the highway.
No, my vehicle small. I'm just not willing to disrupt the flow of traffic just so someone who failed to give themselves time to accelerate and look for a gap to jump in front of me. The second you get on a on-ramp, press on the gas and look for your opening. I will not slam my brakes because someone can't comprehend what a yield sign means or have enough sense to match the flow of traffic, which ever comes first.
So a lane is ending in a 1/2 a mile in heavy traffic, just stay in the lane until it ends instead of clogging up the crowded lanes. I do not understand why people get so anxious when they see a lane is about to end.
This is how I merge in heavy traffic -
I go around people who attempt early merge in dense traffic. There a yield sign placed at most on-ramp for a reason and don't assume that I do not adjust my speed when necessary.
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I bet you are one of these Hummer drivers, or at least the biggest SUV you can buy. 
