Merging on a Highway

[Moliphino]

Who has the right of way on a highway - the car already on the highway or the car merging onto the highway?

I'm pretty sure I was in the right in this situation, but the other car was clearly mad at me so I'm asking here. I was driving to work this morning and I was in the right lane as I was getting off in about a mile. Traffic was light and there were no other cars directly in front of or behind me.
I drove by an on ramp going a steady speed and a car coming onto the highway drove up right alongside me and laid on his horn when I didn't hit my brakes to let him in. The lane was wide open behind me. I think it was on him to adjust his speed to be able to merge into my lane.

They also got off at my exit and honked at me again when I was waiting at a light to make a left turn.

 

[StageTek]

You were in the right.

 

[kdonnel]

You had the right of way.

 

[kdonnel]

I think many people forget driving rules.

I know when my kids were learning to drive both took drivers ed through the community school.

In both cases they demonstrated some skills/preferences that were contrary to how I drove. Turned out I had long forgotten the actual rule and was using my own made up rule.

 

[soccerdad72]

As others said - you had the right of way.

 

[fly girl]

You were in the right. It is up to the driver merging on to safely do so.

That driver was angry, but it was unwarranted directing it at you. That’s when I wave as they honk at me for following the rules of the road. Yeah, I can be a jerk right back.

 

[spewey]

I think what the OP did was perfectly acceptable, and what most people do. Having said that ...

There is actually some nuance here. In many states/provinces, the Highway Act/Code will state that the vehicle already on the highway has a "duty" to facilitate merging - meaning, for the most part, if you are in the right lane and see a car on the merge ramp you are supposed to, if safe, move out of that lane to allow the other car into that lane.

Of course there are circumstances where you are in the right lane on an empty highway but your exit is coming up so close that moving over doesn't make sense. Which is one of the reasons exit ramps ideally come before the on-ramp.

But I will say, in those circumstances, if someone is coming in quickly and I see we'll "meet" at some point, as I am exiting soon anyway I usually slow down to let them in.

 

[Stratman50th]

As someone who has written a bunch of tickets over the years to those who don't understand what yield means I can say you had the right of way. You were the "favored driver".

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

You were in the right, BUT, if there were no cars around you and your exit was still a mile away, I would move over into the middle lane in that scenario. I do that regularly on our highway here when it's light traffic, and I see many other drivers doing that as well. Just seems polite / safer to move over and give someone room when the other lanes are available.

 

[lovesmurfs]

You were right.

I think a lot of drivers have completely forgotten HOW to merge, though. It's an ACCELERATION LANE, people. So often I get stuck behind someone who's STOPPED in the acceleration lane because they failed to merge properly.

 

[firefly_ris]

You had the right of way. When possible, I typically try to move into the next lane to the left to allow easier merging but sometimes that is not possible, in which case the merger needs to decide how they are going to merge.

 

[Disneylover99]

But I will say, in those circumstances, if someone is coming in quickly and I see we'll "meet" at some point, as I am exiting soon anyway I usually slow down to let them in.

I do the same. I might slow down a bit, speed up a bit or move over. Anything to avoid an accident, because some people are just clueless when it comes to merging.

 

[firefly_ris]

I do the same. I might slow down a bit, speed up a bit or move over. Anything to avoid an accident, because some people are just clueless when it comes to merging.

My favorite are the braking mergers. Why.

 

[robinb]

You had the legal right of way.

However, on ramps can be difficult to get up to speed on and merge safely into traffic. It is polite to allow the merging vehicle a space in your lane. I think it's rude to toodle along in the right lane when you know that your car and the merging car will meet and the other car won't be able to merge. In your situation I would changed lanes or slowed down and allowed the merging car to get into my lane. In their situation, I would have made a rude gesture at you.

 

[sam_gordon]

Who has the right of way on a highway - the car already on the highway or the car merging onto the highway?

I'm pretty sure I was in the right in this situation, but the other car was clearly mad at me so I'm asking here. I was driving to work this morning and I was in the right lane as I was getting off in about a mile. Traffic was light and there were no other cars directly in front of or behind me.
I drove by an on ramp going a steady speed and a car coming onto the highway drove up right alongside me and laid on his horn when I didn't hit my brakes to let him in. The lane was wide open behind me. I think it was on him to adjust his speed to be able to merge into my lane.

They also got off at my exit and honked at me again when I was waiting at a light to make a left turn.

While you had the LEGAL right of way, I think it's in bad form to NOT move over to the left (or center) lane to allow the merging traffic on, provided there is space to do so. The other reason I would not move over is if my exit is immediate (like the oncoming ramp becomes the off going ramp as part of a "cloverleaf" interchange).

Since you had a mile to your exit, if there were no cars in the next lane preventing you from moving over, I feel you should have moved, allowing the merging car on.

 

[PattnFmly]

You were in the right. Personally in this scenario I would have expected the car on the onramp to match his speed to safely pull in behind you. There was no one there. Myself, when entering a highway, never expect the car in the right-of-way to adjust for me. I adjust for them.

 

[spewey]

Again, speaking from Ontario, here drivers on the highway do have a duty to get out of the way of a merging vehicle, if they can. Meaning if the lane beside you is free, even if you technically have the "right of way", you are supposed to move over.

Now, what they actually means in terms of enforcement, I have no clue. I doubt anyone will ever be pulled over and given a ticket for not doing this; is a "duty failure" even an offence? But more importantly, as someone who has read way too many traffic studies (and even a book on it, the wonderful "Traffic" by Tom Vanderbilt), drivers simply should do what they can to keep things flowing whenever possible, and this includes getting out of your lane if cars are entering the merge ramp up ahead.

 

[auntfrannie]

I think the way some states have merge and exit points set up is ridiculous. PA is horrible about the merge points and they do nothing to fix it when road projects are done. A few years ago PA had a multi-year, multi-million dollar project on I-79/I-70. I thought they would improve the merge situation...nope. Now it's a blind spot for people on I-70 that can't see the cars merging on from I-79.

 

[kymom99]

I would speed up a bit but you don’t have to.

 

[JLTraveling]

You legally had the right of way. But it's still a jerk move not to either speed up, slow down, or move over. Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD do it. In a case like you described, with light traffic, it costs exactly zero to be nice.