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Anyway, NO ONE is talking about causing an accident. We simply merge WHEN IT IS SAFE TO DO SO. Is that so hard to grasp?
There are plenty of times where there is traffic and it is NOT safe to proceed. Do I barge in as you keep saying over and over? No I do NOT. I wait until it is safe to proceed.
I feel like I am talking to a wall here. We are just not going to agree about anything.
My point is y'all keep attacking telling me I am wrong for not slowing down for you to merge. You keep leaving out that part. No, I should not have to nor am I supposed to slow down for you to merge. You have a yield sign. If a wreck is caused from you merging because you expected me to slow down and it went to court you will lose. Period.
For what it's worth, the car merging would be at fault regardless if there was a yield sign or not because when the lane ends, the lane that doesn't end has the right of way. That doesn't make you any less of a jerk though for not letting a car in though if you are able to.
For what it's worth, the car merging would be at fault regardless if there was a yield sign or not because when the lane ends, the lane that doesn't end has the right of way. That doesn't make you any less of a jerk though for not letting a car in though if you are able to.
Well, hindsight is 20/20. I look at you as the jerk for expecting me to slow down for you. Why are you so important? By all means, if you can merge without impeding the flow of traffic then do it! But it's pretty selfish of you expecting me to slow down so you can merge.
And damn right the merging driver would be at fault.
On a different topic - here's the article I referenced earlier about what you should do when a lane ends (due to construction or whatever) and you have to make a merge in traffic -
"The other kind of merging comes when your road drops from two lanes to one lane. Usually there’s a sign to warn you: Right lane ends in one mile; merge left.
This is where it gets tricky.
Should you be an obedient Early Merger, moving immediately into the other lane? Or should you stay in your lane until it ends, and then weasel your way in front of somebody in that other lane – a Late Merger?
It depends, Dunlop said.
If traffic is moving freely, be an Early Merger.
Don’t slow down if you don’t have to. Start looking for an opportunity to move into that other lane.
“If it’s not congested, once you see that a lane is ending, you merge in at speed,” Dunlop said. “Pick a reasonable point so you don’t slow up the other drivers. Everything runs smoothly.”
Because if you wait until your lane has ended, he explained, you may not be able to merge without forcing drivers in the other lane to slow down.
Dunlop’s advice is just the opposite in cases where traffic is clogged and slow: Be a Late Merger.
Drive all the way to the end of your lane and then do the zipper-merge – a car from the left lane alternates with a car from the right lane – to combine your two lanes. It’s easier in this case because everybody is moving slowly. And you’re making full use of both lanes.
That can mean other drivers will be backed up in the left lane while you speed past them in the right lane – making them hate you.
It’s still the right thing to do, Dunlop explained to members of the state Board of Transportation.
“I was asked a the board meeting: So the best thing to do is go to the end of the line, where everybody’s calling you a jerk?” Dunlop said. “Yes. The most efficient way is to merge like a jerk. Speed past all the people in the lane that’s not ending.”
Tell you what. I'm going out to the Six Forks / 540 intersection with a sign (on Six Forks)
Was that you out there today around noon? With your friend on the opposite side?
Thanks to the person that shared the link of the sign on Six Forks. I never noticed it until today.
Psi, what you are talking about and what we are talking about are two different things. I agree with you; it is wrong for people to come flying off the ramp and merge right onto Six Forks without a care in the world. However, that is not what we are doing.
Was that you out there today around noon? With your friend on the opposite side?
Thanks to the person that shared the link of the sign on Six Forks. I never noticed it until today.
Psi, what you are talking about and what we are talking about are two different things. I agree with you; it is wrong for people to come flying off the ramp and merge right onto Six Forks without a care in the world. However, that is not what we are doing.
Shhh. Underpressure thinks he gets the last word. But yeah, that was me out there.
Well, hindsight is 20/20. I look at you as the jerk for expecting me to slow down for you. Why are you so important? By all means, if you can merge without impeding the flow of traffic then do it! But it's pretty selfish of you expecting me to slow down so you can merge.
And damn right the merging driver would be at fault.
Case closed.
Game over.
You are clearly the jerk in this scenario though. I thought you were done with us? Lol
The case is closed and you have been proven wrong repeatedly. You're inventing scenarios that end in accidents that will never happen because common sense states that cars in the travel lanes allow merging traffic to merge in when appropriate.
If you're telling us that your space in line is so important to you that you can't let a merging car in, you're probably the guy going 10-15 over and following too close. Move over or slow down.
Still cracking up that you think you're somehow correct here.
This debate was extremely frustrating - underPSI was arguing it from a legal standpoint (who is legally - not morally - responsible to do what in this scenario), and I was arguing it from a traffic engineering standpoint (how to get the most capacity and best flow of traffic in this scenario).
Technically, we're both right haha.
Example - In the News & Observer article I posted above, NCDOT Congestion Management engineer Jim Dunlop says the following about merges when lanes end and there's a lot of traffic:
"Drive all the way to the end of your lane and then do the zipper-merge – a car from the left lane alternates with a car from the right lane – to combine your two lanes. It’s easier in this case because everybody is moving slowly. And you’re making full use of both lanes."
From a legal standpoint, the car in the lane that is not ending has no legal obligation, to let the car in. The car in the lane that is not ending has the legal right of way. Besides, the car probably cut everyone in line so they should just sit there and wait their turn. However from a traffic engineering standpoint, it is the best way to use up all the available capacity on the road so the traffic queues don't go back unnecessarily far and is the best solution for that problem from an engineering standpoint.
it is wrong for people to come flying off the ramp and merge right onto Six Forks without a care in the world. However, that is not what we are doing.
As I am coming up that ramp, I look for an opening. I don't travel there during rush hour, so it's usually not an issue. But I have experienced drivers deliberately accelerating to shut down the opening and prevent someone from merging. Alas, the anti-mergers are alive and well on Six Forks -- among many other places, of course.
I thinking the zippering technique is described as being used when two lanes are reduced to one.
I used to think it was a southern thing to immediately stack-up when a lane reduction was coming up, but on Rt. 81 in Pennsylvania a few years ago, there were numerous signs in advance of a construction zone telling drivers to "Maintain 2 lanes to merge point."
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