Almost road rage... I thought. Who was right?

[Papa Deuce]

Here is the scenario:

Two lanes at a traffic light. When you cross the street there are still two lanes. About 25 yards after crossing the street there is a sign that the left lane must merge with the right lane as you enter an on ramp to Rt. 422.

Car "A" in left lane takes off from light faster than car "B", in the right lane. By the time car "A" is near the merge sign, his rear bumper is about 5 - 10 feet ahead of "B" when he starts his merge. Now this "merge" is very wide. You could easily have both cars in their own lanes as they go on to the ramp.

So, car "B" in the RH lane starts blaring his horn at car "A" as "A" merges. And then he keeps blaring the horn. The guy in car "A" puts his arm out the window giving the driver of "B", the single digit salute. Now the guy in car "B" just lays on the horn continuously, at which time the guy in "A" keeps his salute going but is now waving it wildly.


So, at first, I was of the opinion that car "A" was in the right as he was in the "lead" at the start of the merge. But then I decided that "B" was in the right. I rationalized it like this: If "A" was in a left lane on a two lane highway, it is his responsibility to make sure he can safely get in the RH lane after a pass.

But still, I am not 100% sure either way. What do you think?

EDIT: because somebody already asked.... I was just an observer. I would never do either as there are too many people who go nuts in cars. Would I beep? Yes. Blare the horn? Not a chance.

 

[Beth76]

If car "A" is faster than car "b" then more power to him. I do this all the time, BTW. Which one were you? Car A, right?

 

[Papa Deuce]

If car "A" is faster than car "b" then more power to him. I do this all the time, BTW. Which one were you? Car A, right? [/QUOTE

Nope... just behind both cars.

 

[RadioNate]

I say A too

B should have just let A in even if they had to let off the gas a bit and not gotten all huffy with his horn. or A should have just gunned it to get in well ahead of B

I think......maybe.....

 

[palmtreegirl]

They both sound like idiots to me.

 

[the kabuki]

As long as car "A" had enough room to merge properly I don't see a problem with it, although I suspect Car B took it as Car A was racing to get in front of him and then tried to cut him off.

Question, at this stop when the two lanes merge down to one, was there a line of cars waiting in the right lane , knowing that the merge was coming up and Car A passed them all to get into the front?

 

[Beth76]

Nope... just behind both cars.

Mmm hmmm....sure. Anyhoo, legally, I have no idea, but to me the fastest person gets it. I've been the person in both scenarios. I will gun it off the line to get in front of someone before the merge, but I also will not allow someone in front of me if they're in the merge lane. I don't think there's anything that says one must yield when merging. You just flow into traffic when you can.

 

[RadioNate]

Question, at this stop when the two lanes merge down to one, was there a line of cars waiting in the right lane , knowing that the merge was coming up and Car A passed them all to get into the front?

ooooh yes this makes a difference.

They both sound like idiots to me.

ain't that the truth

 

[Papa Deuce]

As long as car "A" had enough room to merge properly I don't see a problem with it, although I suspect Car B took it as Car A was racing to get in front of him and then tried to cut him off.

Question, at this stop when the two lanes merge down to one, was there a line of cars waiting in the right lane , knowing that the merge was coming up and Car A passed them all to get into the front?

Nope. They were side by side at the light. And I was in the RH lane, just behind "B", while both were at the light.

Someone said they both sound nuts. I guess. Thing that makes me laugh is how HUGE this on ramp is. There is PLENTY of room and time to merge.

 

[DawnCt1]

If "one has to wave the one finger salute wildly", and the other has to lean on the horn to assert "ownership" of the road, then they were both wrong. The easiest and best thing to do would be to fall behind car B since he seems to "have issues", rather than play "chicken" with cars and auto insurance rates for the next 39 months.

 

[JPN4265]

They both sound like idiots to me.

I agree.

 

[Marseeya]

My opinion is that based on the actions prior to the honking and finger waving, Car A in the left lane was the bigger jerk for merging so closely to Car B's front end when he could have made sure to leave more room when he got over.

HOWEVER, if Car B was doing a squeeze play (racing to cut him off at the pass), then Car B is definitely the bigger jerk.

After the honking and finger waving, they were both morons.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

At least A was being proactive and speeding up to get ahead of B to merge.

Did A use the turn signal? Maybe B was mad that A was merging but not using the turn signal. In any event, no doubt B knew the merge was coming (are we talking driving or Survivor?? ). If ownership of that lane and a few extra seconds of time was that important, then B should have gunned it to stay ahead of A.

I'm guessing that A was not telling B "You're number one." All A did was antagonize B and made himself look like as big of a jerk as B.

 

[bballmom56]

Good grief, it's a MERGE for crying out loud! How much time or distance was lost for either car to let the other go first? We have plenty of merges around here, and generally whichever car is ahead, even 5-10 feet, goes first and the other falls in behind.

 

[bicker]

The foundation of the problem is the poorly design roads (a merge right after a traffic light). Since blaming roads is unsatisfying, we need to look for the most prominent secondary cause of the problem. That would be the aggressive action taken by Driver "B", i.e., leaning on the horn. The behavior itself shows Driver "B" to be the problem. If Driver "B" was worried that Driver "A" was unaware of an impending hazard, a simple sounding of the horn would have sufficed. The leaning on the horn showed that Driver "B" knew that Driver "A" needed no warning, and was simply an expression of Driver "B"'s baseless, immature anger, presumably at being put in the position of having to yield to the vehicle that reached the merge first.

Funny, we see similar behaviors in queues at WDW.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Hee hee, this is a morning to be posting my peeves

If you KNOW a merge is coming up, why the heck do you wait till the very last second to get over??

 

[golfgal]

We have a road like this in town, 2 lane road reducing down to single lane about 1 block past a stop light. The people in the left lane have the right of way at the "merge" point but I often see people in the right lane getting mad at the other drivers for being in "their way". Does merging traffic have the right of way or are they suppose to yield to traffic??? The guy in car A KNEW the merge was coming and therefore should have been in the other lane. He was just rude in my opinion.

 

[bicker]

There is no specific rule in most states, because having a merge right after a traffic light is not a sanctioned roadway design. Here in MA, the rule is that the driver behind yields to the driver in front.

 

[Tantor]

They both sound like idiots to me.

ITA people need to get a life

 

[Marseeya]

Hee hee, this is a morning to be posting my peeves

If you KNOW a merge is coming up, why the heck do you wait till the very last second to get over??

That is a HUGE peeve of mine, especially on highways! I know in some states, there will be signs saying to stay in your lane until the merge point, but around here, you need to start getting over right away. I hate, HATE, when people ride down the merge lane until the very end. It's one thing if they're going at a speed where they can safely get over, but most of the time, they're going dead even with the car next to them and want to cut over into traffic.

I had to laugh one day. There was a guy doing that -- riding down the merge lane and then forcing himself into the other lane. A cop actually pulled him over for it. You could tell the guy was PO'd! I was laughing the rest of the way to school that day.