People who slow down while merging

"Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager" (Nighthawkwill7)
08/10/2013 at 10:55 • Filed to: None

Please die.

DISCUSSION (38)

Chteelers > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 11:02

Or people who merge instantly. Take your time peeps.

Goshen, formerly Darkcode > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 11:05

That might be their intention.

Formula4speed > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 11:06

The merging issues would disappear if traffic shifted left like they were supposed to, though.

hike > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 11:09

I can't stand when people go 40 down the whole ramp and then accelerate. Especially Prius drivers, since they aren't accelerating fast even after the ramp ends. It makes merging far more dangerous then it should be.

mrazekan > Formula4speed
08/10/2013 at 11:09

It's a courtesy not a requirement. It is the responsibility of the merging driver to match speeds and integrate with the flow of traffic.

Nerd-Vol > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 11:10

Kill all the people!

Dunnik > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 11:11

The worst offenders are those who reach the end of the merge lane...and stop.

Proper procedure is to continue, at speed, in the emergency lane until somebody lets you in (somebody invariably will if you get to that point).

Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager > Formula4speed
08/10/2013 at 11:12

I agree with you.

McMike > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 11:13

LOL, I see this quite often

There's a 1200 ft ramp/merge that I frequent most mornings. ( full size) The slow lane we merge into is usually traveling at 75mph. Drives me nuts to be behind someone who enters at 50..... then gets on the gas.

For christsake, you have almost a quarter mile to do it!

Kinja'd!!!

fhrblig > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 11:14

THIS. This is the bane of my existence, since I commute about 45 minutes both ways to work, nearly all of it on freeways.

I'm glad that when I was learning to drive 20 years ago, my driving instructor didn't mince words and told me to floor it on on ramps.

bigfish13.jf > Formula4speed
08/10/2013 at 11:20

Before the entrance ramp that I use daily, truckers will go into the right lane at just the right moment to stop everyone from merging safely. Scourge of the earth

desertdog5051 > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 11:23

One point that is missed is: Look at the traffic as you start down the ramp and see where the gaps are. Can I make a successful merge now or should I let this pack go by and merge after them.

But, I live in a state with less traffic than some east coast areas. But I-40 is always busy.

Casper > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 11:28

A million times yes. I HATE this, and I hate everyone who tries to excuse it. You should be going as fast or FASTER than freeway traffic by the end of the merge lane, that way you can either pick up speed to get a spot or ease back into a spot. Going slower and "hoping" for a spot just screws everyone behind you over.

Before you even started into the merge lane you should have been looking for a gap, picked one, and be matching to get it. If you are just starting to look when you are already in the merge lane, you screwed up. Further, you are not entering at an exactly parallel path the entire way, so your speed needs to be higher than the traffic you are merging with in order to match up to the gap you have chosen.

Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager > desertdog5051
08/10/2013 at 11:36

Here in Puerto Rico, people either slow down to 40 or merge without waiting, nearly taking out cars already on the highway.

I swear, there's something about the tropical heat that just brings out the crazy in people.

Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager > McMike
08/10/2013 at 11:37

With that much room, I'd be pissed as well.

mrazekan > Formula4speed
08/10/2013 at 11:44

In California, due to the legal ambiguity , I would defer to the drivers handbook which lays out recommended practices for safe driving. In most cases this means follow the law. For merging onto a freeway, it is the responsibility of the person merging to match speeds and safely merge into the flow of traffic. Moving over to make room is not an obligation but a matter of common courtesy. Therein lies the greatest flaw in this plan.

Formula4speed > mrazekan
08/10/2013 at 11:45

This is true. But it is also true that if there is no traffic flowing in the closest lane, merging traffic is much more free to match speeds and integrate in a safe, sensible fashion with no distance limit.

Formula4speed > bigfish13.jf
08/10/2013 at 11:47

There's an entrance/exit combo on my commute that is like that, where in order to exit to their destination, trucks are forced to either divebomb from the left lane (like I do, but it's a lot safer in a tiny little corvette than an 18 wheeler) or hog the right as traffic merges in. There's at least three other entrance/exit combos within 20 miles like that, all extremely high-traffic. Whoever designed my stretch of 85 is an asshole.

Formula4speed > mrazekan
08/10/2013 at 11:51

I'm not disagreeing with you—in the event that shit hits the fan, the onus of merging lies on those merging into traffic. Doesn't change the fact that, per common social courtesy, traffic is "supposed" to shift left. Not required to, not expected to, supposed to. But per the original post, the problem of merging traffic slowing down to merge disappears when traffic shifts left. The traffic doesn't have to shift left, and the merging traffic doesn't have to exclusively accelerate, but if you want merging traffic to stop slowing down, start shifting left.

Z_Stig > Formula4speed
08/10/2013 at 12:26

Here in California, shifting left doesn't make people speed up. They just slow down more. It's really sad when a truck going 55 has to brake because the car merging is afraid to speed up.

Formula4speed > Z_Stig
08/10/2013 at 12:36

That's an anecdotal generalization, but okay.

Long Live the Longdoor > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 12:40

I'll never forget my driver's ed classes of merging onto the highway where my instructor told us to floor it to merge onto the highway. Hell, I look forward to the onramp everyday because I get to floor it.

I HATE getting stuck behind some idiot who thinks merging into busy traffic at 20km/h under the limit is a good idea... I sometimes think about laying into the horn but I'm sure they'd brake... or internally combust. Definitely one of those two.

Long Live the Longdoor > McMike
08/10/2013 at 12:45

They should make pushing people up to the proper limit with your car, legal. I mean, problem solved right? You'd both be going the speed limit, they'd learn their lesson (accelerate or I'll ram you). Seems logical to me.

Kinja'd!!!

Clown Shoe Pilot > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 13:01

My mother-in-law slows down. That's why anytime we're doing something that involves going somewhere in a car, I offer to drive.

Thankfully, my wife doesn't have this terrible habit.

Clown Shoe Pilot > McMike
08/10/2013 at 13:01

that ramp needs signs that say "GO GO GO!!!"

Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager > Clown Shoe Pilot
08/10/2013 at 13:02

I've been able to impart this on my family for the most part, except for my grandmother... Oh well.

AMCRedWhiteBlue > Casper
08/10/2013 at 13:02

So I am supposed to merge onto a three lane highway chuck full at 70 mph and right in front of a barreling semi by essentially giving him the old *#^% you cut off? Merge lanes around here - even on Interstates - are often not much longer if not less than the length of a football field. Not the wide open West by any measure.

Blanket rules or this-is-the-way-it-must-be-done-or you-are-an-idiot do not universally apply. And most state laws, the last I read, give the right of way to the on highway traffic. But I suppose I am an ass hat and entirely wrong given the aggressive NASCAR mentality that now appears to rule our highways. Anyone for 1 foot at 70 mph and I am 23 years old so get out of my way tailgating? Fun.

Clown Shoe Pilot > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 13:07

Also, I didn't mean to bag on my mother-in-law. My mom is a terrible driver too. My sister used to be a terrible driver, but that was when she'd only been driving a few years. I have no idea these days, she moved out of state.

Also, I don't mean to bag on the ladies. My father-in-law and brother aren't fantastic drivers either. They drive because they have to to get somewhere. Only my dad and I are infected w/ the car-guy bug.

Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager > Clown Shoe Pilot
08/10/2013 at 13:13

I understand. Some people perhaps aren't motivated enough to develop their driving skills beyond going from home to work/school/supermarket.

Gimmi-Sagan-Om-Draken > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 13:21

Yes indeed, in the USA they are Prius drivers.

Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager > Gimmi-Sagan-Om-Draken
08/10/2013 at 13:23

Or texting schoolgirls in their Fiat 500's/Mini Coopers.

Gimmi-Sagan-Om-Draken > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 13:27

I haven't seen too many of those cars in Japan, at least where I live, I will keep my eye on them in the USA. People are pretty courteous in Japan. I did see some 500s last time I was there but I was mostly in the city.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 14:16

This was the biggest thing my drivers ed instructor stressed to us. There is a reason the on ramp is so long. You need to speed up, NEVER slow down.

mrazekan > Formula4speed
08/10/2013 at 14:49

That was weird, I sent the second post because when I checked, the first post wasn't posted. I didn't mean to essentially repeat myself. Though I was more awake and loquacious the second time around.

I regularly see semi drivers driving one lane to the left of the lane to be merged into. To me this is courteous and sensible gesture by what arguably and on average are better drivers then most. I tend to do this as well if it is safe for me to change lanes.

The problem I see too often is where people move over to let people merge, which causes the person in that lane to move over, and like dominoes everyone starts shuffling leading to an overall slowdown of traffic. The Jantzen beach on ramp to I5 north in PDX and the bay bridge to I80 east merge here in Oakland are two of the worst examples of this.

Casper > AMCRedWhiteBlue
08/10/2013 at 17:35

Yes, you are wrong.

a cat named scruffy- live from Caldor > Nighthawkwill7, Hoon Depot Manager
08/10/2013 at 22:12

Kinja'd!!!

AMCRedWhiteBlue > Casper
08/11/2013 at 15:41

Remind to enjoy your tailgating.

Casper > AMCRedWhiteBlue
08/12/2013 at 14:20

Why would I care? I don't have problems with people tailgating me. If someones behind me and going faster, I let them pass. If they are just following close, I ignore them... it's their problem if they rear end me. I know nothing of their driving ability or vehicle, for all I know it's a safe space for them. If they hit me, they get to pay the bill.