Merging on a Highway

[longboard55]

Where do you live that this happens?

I live in Southern CA, where we have massive 6 lane freeways with merge points like every quarter mile. Traffic is a beast here, but at least it's not an issue at merge points because for the most part, people know how to merge properly.

I find driving behavior very regional. In Northern VA, for example, NO ONE knows how to merge. It drove me mad for the 4 years we lived there.

I think the issue is if we did not drive that way we would all be dead now. So cal freeways are pretty amazing. I counted the transition at the 405 5 split. Its like 24 lanes

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

The zipper won't work here in North Carolina because there is nobody in the right lane.

Really? Because I'm in NC and when traveling during rush hour in heavy traffic with lane closures or lanes dropping, I see (and participate in) successful zipper merging quite frequently. It really reduces some of the stress of being in heavy traffic.

(And by 'participate in,' I mean sometimes I'm in the lane that's ending and I zipper merge in on my turn, and sometimes I'm in the lane that needs to allow others in, and I always do so at the merge point).

I wonder if it's drivers who typically are stuck in heavy rush hour commuting traffic that are more familiar with zipper merging and its benefits, and the anti-zippers have less frequent experience with heavy traffic scenarios.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Let's face it. The people who've lined up all these years have bruised egos, and they'll fight to the death about how they think they're right, even when given the facts.

Yep. The need to be right is evident in many areas, not just the (seemingly) straightforward zipper merge.

I think when you have someone who needs to be right because of the ego, the brain actually doesn't cooperate to process & comprehend information, because to do so would mean they would come to realize they were wrong, which to that brain would be worse than being uninformed. So for people that have to be correct, facts and evidence are just bits of noise that are summarily discarded by the brain before they even register, because the brain subconsciously realizes it needs to protect the 'being right' feature more than it needs that particular information.

 

[DLgal]

I think the issue is if we did not drive that way we would all be dead now. So cal freeways are pretty amazing. I counted the transition at the 405 5 split. Its like 24 lanes

Accurate. I live very close to that merge point so that's what I'm familiar with.

People get so scared of driving down here and call us "crazy" drivers because we go fast. We drive defensively here, but safely for the most part. I think for all the grief it gets, the freeway system down here is the best in the country in terms of efficiency in design.

I was reminded how difficult it is to obtain a license here when my son recently went through the process. It took him 3 tries on both the written and behind the wheel test, and he was NOT the only person failing numerous times.

 

[gmi3804]

Accurate. I live very close to that merge point so that's what I'm familiar with.

People get so scared of driving down here and call us "crazy" drivers because we go fast. We drive defensively here, but safely for the most part. I think for all the grief it gets, the freeway system down here is the best in the country in terms of efficiency in design.

I was reminded how difficult it is to obtain a license here when my son recently went through the process. It took him 3 tries on both the written and behind the wheel test, and he was NOT the only person failing numerous times.

When we lived in upstate NY, people up there drove like they were driving tractors. I couldn't wait for our trips to NYC where people knew how to DRIVE. It was fantastic.

 

[DLgal]

When we lived in upstate NY, people up there drove like they were driving tractors. I couldn't wait for our trips to NYC where people knew how to DRIVE. It was fantastic.

Nailed it.

I lived in Cortland, NY for a few years.

 

[gmi3804]

Nailed it.

I lived in Cortland, NY for a few years.

So you get it!

 

[DLgal]

So you get it!

I feel so free living in Orange County, CA where I can drive like a bat out of hell.

 

[gmi3804]

I feel so free living in Orange County, CA where I can drive like a bat out of hell.

You don't even have to drive like that. People in these places just know how to DRIVE.

PS: And they zipper too.

 

[DLgal]

You don't even have to drive like that. People in these places just know how to DRIVE.

PS: And they zipper too.

I drive fast AND well! I'm most comfortable at 80mph. Not one accident or ticket in 30 years. And I know how to zipper AND how to use roundabouts.

 

[firefly_ris]

When we lived in upstate NY, people up there drove like they were driving tractors. I couldn't wait for our trips to NYC where people knew how to DRIVE. It was fantastic.

In Western NY I don't see a lot of zipper merging but at least we understand pass left, then move right and also move right to allow people behind to pass instead of the "no one should be going faster than me" mentality I see a lot of when traveling the coast. I'm from the Baltimore area, where no one understands this. Or uses a blinker. Or anything. You are supposed to be a mind reader. I'm used to it since that's where I grew up and learned to drive but it's wild west around there. And major road ragers.

 

[gmi3804]

I'll admit I do a little mental jig of glee when someone behind me changes lanes because they don't think I'm driving fast enough AND THEN THEY GET BACKED UP IN THAT LANE.

 

[DLgal]

I'll admit I do a little mental jig of glee when someone behind me changes lanes because they don't think I'm driving fast enough AND THEN THEY GET BACKED UP IN THAT LANE.

Karma!

 

[snowwite]

I think you're being a bit more literal on the zipper part. The zipper is just meant to illustrate how cars should work on merging where each person takes turns on merging but the zipper part of the name doesn't mean to start from bottom and work to top. They don't want you to merge early and that would not be what a zipper merge is. You start the zipper merge at the merge point and the merge point isn't all the way back.

Respectfully you've got the zipper merge backwards and are describing the old way.

Here's how my state's DOT shows it
View attachment 783194
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View attachment 783196
I know it's hard, I was a really long resister of it and can still find myself doing it just based on my past from time to time but if you actually had 2 miles of warning for a lane closure and you're told to use the zipper merge you should wait and NOT merge early

Thank you for sharing. I’ve never seen these before. In New England we follow the top one and people who late merge seem like they are cutting the line which is a pet peeve for sure. That and people who do not use their blinker!

 

[snowwite]

I drive fast AND well! I'm most comfortable at 80mph. Not one accident or ticket in 30 years. And I know how to zipper AND how to use roundabouts.

We have roundabouts everywhere here but until I went to Scotland I never saw them with traffic lights. It seems to defeat the whole purpose. CA has the best on ramp system.

 

[RedHead0186]

We have roundabouts everywhere here but until I went to Scotland I never saw them with traffic lights. It seems to defeat the whole purpose. CA has the best on ramp system.

I have never heard of/seen evidence of a roundabout with traffic lights!

Contrary to popular belief, the purpose of roundabouts is not to reduce the number of accidents, rather, it is to reduce the severity of accidents. Since you're 'curving', you're more likely to go more slowly through a roundabout and therefore if you hit another car it will be less severe than blowing through a stoplight at (or above) full speed. Of course that's not always true, but that's the general idea.

If you think about it that way, then traffic lights at a roundabout sort of makes sense? The traffic light controls traffic, but the roundabout makes you slow down . . .

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have never heard of/seen evidence of a roundabout with traffic lights!

Contrary to popular belief, the purpose of roundabouts is not to reduce the number of accidents, rather, it is to reduce the severity of accidents. Since you're 'curving', you're more likely to go more slowly through a roundabout and therefore if you hit another car it will be less severe than blowing through a stoplight at (or above) full speed. Of course that's not always true, but that's the general idea.

If you think about it that way, then traffic lights at a roundabout sort of makes sense? The traffic light controls traffic, but the roundabout makes you slow down . . .

It's actually also to reduce accidents as well. You're correct you're usually going slow (usually the ones around me are 15mph speed limit) so the severity of the accident should it occur would be less. I do think simple ones that have either 1 or 2 lanes (which are the predominant ones here) work the best in terms of learning curve (no pun intended).

And when I actually consider in my area (which has an abundance of them and keeps on growing) there rarely is an accident in one, actually haven't heard of one other than the dumb dumb who plows straight through it but really that's pretty rare. But 4-way or 2-way stops and traffic signaled intersections yeah those still have quite a lot of accidents.




***Rotaries in MA IME operate very differently.

 

[DLgal]

We have roundabouts everywhere here but until I went to Scotland I never saw them with traffic lights. It seems to defeat the whole purpose. CA has the best on ramp system.

Traffic lights at a roundabout? That's hilarious.

 

[snowwite]

Traffic lights at a roundabout? That's hilarious.

Hubs thought is was weird that we don’t have them!

 

[Robber Baron]

Really? Because I'm in NC and when traveling during rush hour in heavy traffic with lane closures or lanes dropping, I see (and participate in) successful zipper merging quite frequently.

That was a little tongue in cheek because around where I am it seems people get on the highway and go immediately to the left lane and stay there until they exit.

And heaven help you if you're in the right lane with a lane closure coming up because cars in the left lane will close ranks and won't leave 5 feet between cars for anyone to merge. They are defending their territory.