Late Mergers/Lane Changers: Do You Let Them In?

[LeGOATski]

Depends on the situation. Like someone mentioned above, a construction zone is totally different then a commonly back-up area or a merging lane with clear signs ahead of time. Construction zone, I'll always let people in. In normal situations, it depends on my mood.

 

The way people drive is the best indicator of their true nature, so I love when I get to see people I know behind the wheel.

[Teddy KGB]

In Hampton Roads we have a few spots that people know will result in this interaction but they try to “beat the line” by cutting people off who have waited 10 mins etc. 

 

Id rather die then let them in.  

[muppy]

The worst offenders are the folks who want to go to the head of the line heading into Disneyland. When it is blatant a car is attempting to squeeze their way in just to avoid the 30 minutes of wait the folks in the correct lanes THEN I'm not a fan and refuse to allow that. It would open the floodgates to other cheaters behind THEM. Bad precedent.

 

In regular freeway type situations I always let people in to merge. I am never in such a hurry that the extra time is that big of a deal. I Try to demonstrate Grace. They may just have their mind on more important things than traffic. *shrugs*  Or if they are indeed jackholes I too will blow that off too. LOTS of discourteous drivers here in socal. 

 

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[LeGOATski]

^^ that reminds me, I hate when people on the highway drive slowly in the merging lanes with no intention to merge. If you're not merging, get out of the right hand lane. They're the antithesis of people who speed in the hov lane

[SinceThe70s]

29 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

^^ that reminds me, I hate when people on the highway drive slowly in the merging lanes with no intention to merge. If you're not merging, get out of the right hand lane. They're the antithesis of people who speed in the hov lane

 

So what's the HOV etiquette? I get aggravated when I get behind someone driving the speed limit in the HOV lane. But if I'm doing 70+ I'm not happy with someone riding my bumper. Different set of rules if I'm left lane driving - given open road ahead I'll make way for the driver that wants to drive much faster than me.

[Saxum]

Best example I can think of is the Wilson bridge going from Maryland to Virginia before it was replaced.

 

There was a driver in an expensive imported sports car zigging and zagging between lanes cutting in front of people forcing them to stop and then repeating this like a game of leap frog.  Driver would tailgate people less than 1 car length until people moved faster to give him cut thru gaps. Traffic was very busy so bridge was going less half speed limit. 

 

I saw the driver get in my lane behind me (I was in right lane of bridge) and I slowed down to match speed with driver in middle lane not giving any cut thru area. He started tailgating me and I refused to speed up. He then started honking horn.  Driver next to me was looking at me and saw I continued to slow down a bit so he did same thing.  Car in middle lane then moved up in parallel to zig zagger so he had no way to change to middle lane.  Car behind zig zagger who had to slam on breaks when he cut in then reduced distance to bad driver.  Third car in middle lane then went parallel to car behind bad driver.   We all slowed down a bit and traffic in far left now was going much faster than it was before because drivers were not stopping to avoid hitting car cutting in.  At this point he rolled down window and started yelling using language which make a navy seaman blush.  When we got to end of bridge there is an exit and he hit the gas to get out before anyone else could get to exit and hit corner of barrier forcing his car to spin and slam into restraining wall. All of the cars which were in blocking convoy then started honking their horns as they passed.

 

There was a report on local traffic news radio station about a driver needing to be towed and who was ticketed for several violations.

 

In known documented areas with signs warnings about merge I will not allow people to cut in from exit lane to merge in.  They can get off exit and get back on.  If there is no way for people to know ahead of time I will let one car in but not allow a series of cars get in just because they drove faster in lane which is being merged in.

[SinceThe70s]

1 hour ago, Limeaid said:

Best example I can think of is the Wilson bridge going from Maryland to Virginia before it was replaced.

 

There was a driver in an expensive imported sports car zigging and zagging between lanes cutting in front of people forcing them to stop and then repeating this like a game of leap frog.  Driver would tailgate people less than 1 car length until people moved faster to give him cut thru gaps. Traffic was very busy so bridge was going less half speed limit. 

 

I saw the driver get in my lane behind me (I was in right lane of bridge) and I slowed down to match speed with driver in middle lane not giving any cut thru area. He started tailgating me and I refused to speed up. He then started honking horn.  Driver next to me was looking at me and saw I continued to slow down a bit so he did same thing.  Car in middle lane then moved up in parallel to zig zagger so he had no way to change to middle lane.  Car behind zig zagger who had to slam on breaks when he cut in then reduced distance to bad driver.  Third car in middle lane then went parallel to car behind bad driver.   We all slowed down a bit and traffic in far left now was going much faster than it was before because drivers were not stopping to avoid hitting car cutting in.  At this point he rolled down window and started yelling using language which make a navy seaman blush.  When we got to end of bridge there is an exit and he hit the gas to get out before anyone else could get to exit and hit corner of barrier forcing his car to spin and slam into restraining wall. All of the cars which were in blocking convoy then started honking their horns as they passed.

 

There was a report on local traffic news radio station about a driver needing to be towed and who was ticketed for several violations.

 

In known documented areas with signs warnings about merge I will not allow people to cut in from exit lane to merge in.  They can get off exit and get back on.  If there is no way for people to know ahead of time I will let one car in but not allow a series of cars get in just because they drove faster in lane which is being merged in.

 

So no weaponized poo? Good to know. 

[LeGOATski]

9 hours ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

So what's the HOV etiquette? I get aggravated when I get behind someone driving the speed limit in the HOV lane. But if I'm doing 70+ I'm not happy with someone riding my bumper. Different set of rules if I'm left lane driving - given open road ahead I'll make way for the driver that wants to drive much faster than me.

Totally agree. HOV lane outside of commuting hours is simply another passing lane. Within commuting hours on a busy highway, you're kind of stuck going the speed limit of the person in front of you, they're not obligated to move over.

[Nextmanup]

Never.

 

Now, if you find yourself in need of shoving in on a lane change late in the game, don't worry!

 

American drivers are so slow, passive, and distracted, it's quite easy to find almost anyone leaving a 2 or 3 car length gap in front of them with their slow reaction time, and there you go.

 

Americans are like clueless, sleeping sheep in traffic.  It's infuriating.

 

 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

It is context specific, but I almost always let people in. This is based on two things:

 

1) you never know the other person’s situation. We have all been there where a lane closure sneaks up on you and you are stuck in the wrong lane. could be very innocent.
 

2) people are crazy. I am just looking to avoid any type of confrontation on the road— never know when some crazy dude will engage in road rage.

[John from Riverside]

I grudgingly let them in
 

It’s more important that I get to my next destination safe

[Rico]

Great topic! 
 

In a related question, do you EVER slow down to let someone who puts their turn signal on into your lane, regardless of merge or not? The answer is NO, because you could end up driving as slow as they do. If they knew how to drive, they wouldn’t rely on the help of strangers, they would just take the lane.

[WhoTom]

42 minutes ago, Rico said:

Great topic! 
 

In a related question, do you EVER slow down to let someone who puts their turn signal on into your lane, regardless of merge or not? The answer is NO, because you could end up driving as slow as they do. If they knew how to drive, they wouldn’t rely on the help of strangers, they would just take the lane.

 

I do, for two reasons: 1) if they're forced to change lanes aggressively, they put other drivers (like myself) in danger; and 2) by making someone else's day a little easier, that person might pay it forward to the next person, which generally makes the world a better place for me.

 

If I let them in and they drive too slow, then I just pass them.

 

 

[shrader]

The worst spot of all in that scenario is the car immediately behind that one in the left lane.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Speaking of HoV lanes... This is a no-brainer:

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradtempleton/2019/08/06/carpool-cheats-may-be-helping-traffic-how-hov-lanes-can-fail/?sh=10d0e7b93d5d

 

"...Caltrans, which manages California highways, estimated as many as 39% of the cars in the carpool lane may be cheating. When you watch one of those cheaters go by as you are stopped in traffic, you get naturally angry.

Maybe you shouldn’t. It turns out that in many situations, carpool cheats may be improving traffic flow and speeding up your commute.

To understand why, you must understand the mistake that was made in original carpool lane design. Carpool lanes are of dubious effectiveness at the goal of reducing congestion and improving the throughput of people on the roads. They can often make traffic worse rather than better. Traffic engineers know this, and in most towns, there are now efforts to change carpool lanes into HOT (High Occupancy Toll) or “Managed” lanes. These lanes act like carpool lanes, but allow solo drivers to pay a toll to use them. The amount of the toll goes up if demand and congestion go up to stop..." the solo drivers from overflowing the lane. ..."

 

The same applies to merge weasels in a way...

2 hours ago, Rico said:

Great topic! 
 

In a related question, do you EVER slow down to let someone who puts their turn signal on into your lane, regardless of merge or not? The answer is NO, because you could end up driving as slow as they do. If they knew how to drive, they wouldn’t rely on the help of strangers, they would just take the lane.

Agree!

[Fleezoid]

I was in the left lane of a two lane merge where the right lane merges left just before entering highway. It was bumper to bumper and the right lane traditionally moves faster. As I approached the spot where the merge ends, some dick moving faster tried to pass right at the end and squeeze in front of me. Normally reaction is to hit the brakes, but I stayed on the bumper in front of me and dared to him to hit me, which he almost did. He ended up on the shoulder and had to fall in behind about 2 cars back. 

 

Best day of my life. 

[Rico]

On 2/25/2023 at 9:48 PM, LeGOATski said:

^^ that reminds me, I hate when people on the highway drive slowly in the merging lanes with no intention to merge. If you're not merging, get out of the right hand lane. They're the antithesis of people who speed in the hov lane

If you merge too soon though and someone who is behind you merges in front of you, that's unacceptable.

[Teddy KGB]

On 2/27/2023 at 4:40 PM, Fleezoid said:

I was in the left lane of a two lane merge where the right lane merges left just before entering highway. It was bumper to bumper and the right lane traditionally moves faster. As I approached the spot where the merge ends, some dick moving faster tried to pass right at the end and squeeze in front of me. Normally reaction is to hit the brakes, but I stayed on the bumper in front of me and dared to him to hit me, which he almost did. He ended up on the shoulder and had to fall in behind about 2 cars back. 

 

Best day of my life. 

 

VICTORY !! 

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

Pretty simple answer really, yes, yes I would

[ExiledInIllinois]

Look what this pick-up truck does to a vehicle attempting to merge properly. 

 

Merging early causes more problems.  It's best for traffic that vehicles utilize both lanes fully right up until the merge point, then "zipper it up", alternate vehicles...

 

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/watch-pickup-truck-slams-into-driver-attempting-correct-zipper-merge?utm_source=newsshowcase&utm_medium=gnews&utm_campaign=CDAqEAgAKgcICjCrsIILMI2h_wIwgonhAg&utm_content=rundown