Do yourself and everybody else a favor: learn to merge properly.
Merge Into Traffic Like A Pro
Let’s face it, most people just don’t know how to merge when driving. You might complain that other drivers go slow in the fast lane, don’t signal, or tailgate – those are all valid concerns. But the inability to merge correctly has a huge negative impact on traffic flow. Learning to merge properly helps everyone to get where they’re going faster and safer.
Getting Onto the Highway
Believe it or not, merging onto the highway isn’t difficult. It is easy to learn and will make your driving much more pleasant and safer as well.
Entrance ramps are designed for one primary function: to give drivers time to accelerate up to the speed of traffic on the main highway. People who drive too slowly on the ramp are not being safe – they are actually putting everyone, including themselves in danger. If you reach the main highway at a speed well below that of the traffic, then try to merge, you could cause a serious accident.
The key to successful merging is reaching the same speed as the rest of the traffic. Not faster, not slower, but the same speed. If your car does not have a lot of power, you may have to accelerator hard on the entrance ramp to match the speed of the vehicles on the highway. But going too fast on the ramp can also lead to an accident. The idea is to match the speed of the cars already on the highway.
Before you merge from the ramp into the right lane of traffic, turn on your signal on, look for an upcoming gap in the right lane traffic, then drive into it. But don’t forget to pay attention to what’s going ahead of you on the ramp. Too many drivers slam into the back of the car in front of them because they are solely focused on the traffic lane they want to merge into. Once you find that gap, move over into it quickly. Never stop at the end of the ramp and wait for a gap – this makes it nearly impossible to merge into traffic, and you could be rear-ended.
If you are driving in the right lane near an on-ramp, you need to be aware of cars that are entering the highway to merge. If possible, move over a lane and give them some space. This keeps you out of the danger zone.
The Closed Lane Merge Problem
Many drivers are inconsiderate jerks. Once they see a lane closing ahead, they make it difficult for drivers in the affected lane to move over. This is very bad behavior and makes a difficult situation worse. If you try to keep other drivers from getting into your lane, some will get frustrated and just cut in. Then the cars behind them have to slam on their brakes, which makes traffic backs up even more. This is how being overly aggressive in merging situations hurts everyone.
A much better solution is zipper merging. It may sound strange, but it is definitely worth knowing about.
The Zipper Merge
When a lane is ending or is closed for some reason, drivers should zipper merge to keep traffic flowing smoothly. More organizations, including the Minnesota Department of Transportation, are promoting this method because it works so well.
Have you ever watched a zipper when you zip it up? The teeth come together from alternate sides, one at a time. That’s how cars should merge when a lane is closed: first a car in one lane goes, then a car in the other lane, repeating over and over. If everyone cooperates, zipper merging works beautifully, causing fewer slowdowns in the pace of traffic.
Studies have proven that zipper merging works much better than the traditional method of moving over far in advance of the actual merge. It speeds up traffic, cuts down on the risk of crashes, and reduces congestion by 40 percent. With zipper merging, you simply drive all the way up to where the lane ends, then move over.
Here’s Why It Works
When you merge too early, it actually backs up the through lane more and causes all the traffic to slow down. It also makes it harder for other drivers to predict when you’re moving over, which can lead to cutting off other cars and even road rage incidents.
Those same smart people found that traffic backup is cut down by up to 40 percent when zipper merging is used, versus everyone just getting over whenever.
When A Traditional Merge Makes Sense
Zipper merging is a great thing, but there are times when it is not necessary. If traffic is moving at a normal speed and is not backing up, just move over safely when you can.
