[stanman13]

Originally Posted by edub

I'm sure we have all been cruising down the freeway and approaching a construction zone where the lanes cut down and all the less selfish drivers are lined up in an effort to make the transition as smooth as possible when there is still open lane left.

If you are a selfish driver like me, you chose to try to zip by as many people as possible until the lane runs out and you can't possibly pass anyone more. Or perhaps you chose to wait 200 cars back in consideration of others who have been waiting ahead of you. Either is your prerogative.

But, what is the deal with people who feel they have a right to take it upon themselves to police the road by straddling the white line in order to interfere with your travel? I fully appreciate that their OPINION is that everyone ought to form a line 3 miles back but what on Earth makes them think they have a right to interfere with another persons choice to drive as they are fully entitled? Are people unaware that such an act is illegal? That is right, it is called "illegal lane use" and you can be ticketed for it.

I can not imagine how any rational person thinks that they have any right or justification to take it upon themselves to attempt to police the roads by blocking or in any way interfering with other drivers. People that see this type of conduct as anything short of outrageous should really seek professional psychiatric care.

End rant.

I fixed the first two paragraphs for ya.

I typically take the entire lane and drive at the speed of the slower lane. Invariably, the guy behind me will understand what I'm doing and let me back in as the lane closure happens. It is perfectly legal, and it pisses off the jerks.

[LivoniaMi]

Originally Posted by stanman13

I fixed the first two paragraphs for ya.

I typically take the entire lane and drive at the speed of the slower lane. Invariably, the guy behind me will understand what I'm doing and let me back in as the lane closure happens. It is perfectly legal, and it pisses off the jerks.

I like your grammatical corrections....

[Sparrow_temp]

I'm literally bumper to bumper with the guy ahead of me if I see some moron like the OP trying to pass every person in line. If they're able to merge, it won't be directly in front of me. I always wondered what the mindset was with these people. I guess they just think everybody else is stupid for following the rules and they're better/smarter for finding somebody that will allow them to get away with it.

[BurtsBees]

Originally Posted by magellan

<exposing your incompetence>

Imagine running sand through a straw vs. running sand through an hour-glass; which sand travels faster? You're creating an hour-glass situation by merging at the last minute. If you see a line at the store, do you move up next to the 1st person in line and try to squeeze in? What's the difference Mr. Competent?

Also, it's now against the law in Michigan to merge at the last minute when lanes are closed.

Curious for my sake, do you have the MCL number for the violation of last minute merging?

[alleyyooper]

I fully agree the orginal post should have read as below.

"
Originally Posted by edub
I'm sure we have all been cruising down the freeway and approaching a construction zone where the lanes cut down and all the less selfish drivers are lined up in an effort to make the transition as smooth as possible when there is still open lane left.

If you are a selfish driver like me, you chose to try to zip by as many people as possible until the lane runs out and you can't possibly pass anyone more. Or perhaps you chose to wait 200 cars back in consideration of others who have been waiting ahead of you. Either is your prerogative.

But, what is the deal with people who feel they have a right to take it upon themselves to police the road by straddling the white line in order to interfere with your travel? I fully appreciate that their OPINION is that everyone ought to form a line 3 miles back but what on Earth makes them think they have a right to interfere with another persons choice to drive as they are fully entitled? Are people unaware that such an act is illegal? That is right, it is called "illegal lane use" and you can be ticketed for it.

I can not imagine how any rational person thinks that they have any right or justification to take it upon themselves to attempt to police the roads by blocking or in any way interfering with other drivers. People that see this type of conduct as anything short of outrageous should really seek professional psychiatric care.

End rant."

I also think that with all the cell phones in stopped cars because of the cut ahead jerks there would be some calls to the state police with licences numbers. Yes it is a LAW in Michigan againest cuting in at the last miniute.
Carry the states Police phone number with you. better yet program it in your phone. They will transfur you to the proper area. Let the police handle it no need to take a chance of a road raged driver shooting you or some thing else.

Al

[MICoastieMom]

Originally Posted by stanman13

I fixed the first two paragraphs for ya.

I typically take the entire lane and drive at the speed of the slower lane. Invariably, the guy behind me will understand what I'm doing and let me back in as the lane closure happens. It is perfectly legal, and it pisses off the jerks.

Apparently, I am not speading it around enough, stanman, (and I am sure my very proper mother is grateful for that! lol) but considered yourself repped!

[magellan]

Originally Posted by BurtsBees

Curious for my sake, do you have the MCL number for the violation of last minute merging?

I'm still looking for it. I remember a big article in the paper about it a few years ago.

[edub]

Any time there is a bottleneck there will be a backup unless everyone speeds up. The best way to avoid this is to maintain as much speed as possible and merge smoothly. It has nothing to do with how far back you merge.

There is no law at all saying you can not wait to merge. In fact, many times the line gets so long, cars get trapped in the open lane because the control freaks block them out. There are in fact a number of laws saying that you can not straddle the white line (improper lane use) or creep along in the open lane (impeding traffic) or even trying to stop people from merging (failure to yield).

I fully understand that some people are of the opinion that everyone ought to wait in line because they choose to, and those people have a right to their opinion. What they do not have a right to do is interfere with others who choose to exercises their right to use areas of the road that are lawfully open until otherwise specified. If I am approaching a construction zone, there is a sign telling me when I must merge. It is this sign and not the other motorists that determines when people must merge.

What I can not understand, is where people get this warped frame of ming in which they somehow arrogate to themselves the right to break the law in order to force others to drive the way they want them too.

It's all very simple. There is no reason a motorists should ever attempt to interfere with the driving or travel of another motorists. If someone is driving recklessly, drunk or on the sidewalk, the proper thing to do is to call the police and let them do their job. It is neither the right nor the responsibility of a motorists to act as a traffic vigilante. And quite frankly, I can not imagine why anyone would feel compelled to do so. Such conduct is nothing short of a psychological maladjustment IMO.

[MICoastieMom]

Originally Posted by edub

It's all very simple. There is no reason a motorists should ever attempt to interfere with the driving or travel of another motorists. If someone is driving recklessly, drunk or on the sidewalk, the proper thing to do is to call the police and let them do their job. It is neither the right nor the responsibility of a motorists to act as a traffic vigilante. And quite frankly, I can not imagine why anyone would feel compelled to do so. Such conduct is nothing short of a psychological maladjustment IMO.

I'm sure many here would be glad to follow your suggestion. Would you mind giving us your license plate so we can let the police know when we see you taking cuts?

[edub]

Originally Posted by Sparrow_temp

I'm literally bumper to bumper with the guy ahead of me if I see some moron like the OP trying to pass every person in line. If they're able to merge, it won't be directly in front of me. I always wondered what the mindset was with these people. I guess they just think everybody else is stupid for following the rules and they're better/smarter for finding somebody that will allow them to get away with it.

I like the way you open your post with a personal insult. It explains a lot about your views.

Get it right; the people who confidently use the legally open road until they must merge are following the rules. And the rules require the other drivers to allow them to merge. If you fail to yield to them or otherwise interfere, you are the one breaking the law.

If everyone would confidently maintain as much speed as allowed by law and merge smoothly and cooperatively when necessary, traffic would flow much smoother. It is people like you who lack confidence and then respond in a confrontational manner that cause the backups.

500 less confident drivers like you cause a traffic jam. 500 more confident drivers like me would funnel through the same space in half the time. The problem is that people like me must deal with less confident and therefore less competent drives.

Less confident drivers are a huge burden on us confident drivers. We have to put up with you driving 65mph in the fast lane and refusing to get out of the way. We must deal with you hogging the road forcing us to stay behind you for 3/4 of a mile doing 55 in a 75 in order to get off the freeway. We must stay behind two or three of you riding clueless in tandem when there is nothing but wide open road ahead and a row 20 cars long behind you.

Under confident drivers really have no clue how much their ineptitude inconveniences others on a regular basis and interferes with their ability to commute efficiently. To go out of your way to make it worse is just outrageous conduct.