The main problem with zipper merges in practice are selfish people who rush to zipper and cause even more congestion because of their erratic attempt to merge. Like traffic circles they work great when everyone is doing it right and they cam get really messed up when people do it wrong.
It would be great if zipper merging was taught as part of getting a license. Or they actually required someone to learn how to zipper merge as part of their license renewal.
Do you mean “rush to zipper” as in “using an open lane to move forward and then zipper merge into the remaining lane when that one closes?” That is precisely what you should do.
The problem is the selfish people who refuse to let those people actually zipper merge, like OP.
The issue is, at the end of the day, that nobody ever seems to know how to keep a decent distance away from the car in front of them. It doesn’t matter how slow traffic is, leave some space in front of you. It gives you room to slow down in case something happens, and it gives everyone else room to merge.
@Nougat
It’s hard to discuss zipper merging because people use to justify all sorts of dick behavior. Zipping through an empty left turn only lane to skip to the head of a right turn only lane for example. That’s not an example of zipper merging but there’s tons of people who I’ve seen argue that’s acceptable behavior.
Zipper merging requires matching speed with the lane you are merging into so that drivers can make gradual changes in speed to make an opening for the person merging. That avoids sending a wave of brake slams that results from sudden unexpected lane changes. If you’re passing a bunch of people, you’re probably not doing a zipper merge.
You’re also much less likely to end up with someone not letting you over if they see you matching speed instead of speeding up to the merge point.
If you’re passing a bunch of people, you are using the open lane to travel. By the time the lane you are in comes to an end, you then modulate your speed to match traffic in the slower lane, and merge. Because cars have brakes.
You need to start matching speed at the start of the signage for the merge. At that point it’s no longer just a lane, it is a lane with restrictions.
You’re not actually increasing total throughput by speeding ahead, you’re only changing the order. The total throughput is determined by the flow of traffic after the constriction point. That flow is smoothest when drivers match speed.
I mean speeding at a far higher speed than the other plane and then suddenly slamming on the brakes and forcing themselves into the other lane. Rushing to merge, not just zipper merging at a similar speed.
If the lane being used is still open for forward traffic, that is a completely legitimate zipper merge, although it would be safer to match speed more gradually and, of course, wait for an appropriate space to merge into. As a hypothetical, that’s a borderline case, and it’s certainly possible to adjust the details of the hypothetical to make the merging driver into the dick. But I’m not sure that’s a useful pursuit.
How is matching speeds to merge and finding a space an edge case? That is how merging works.
Not matching speeds is how people going slower than the flow of traffic when merging from on ramps causes issues. Matching speeds when merging is crucial.
In traffic circles, even if someone messes up, the problem is usually resolved and the circle is back to normal operation within a minute or so. Unless someone is literally camped in the middle of the circle, life finds a way.
Theory: Everyone down voting you has never driven outside the US.
We don’t teach the proper way to zipper merge, so people block those doing it for cutting in line. It’s a different culture that should be changed for efficiency, just like middle lane squatting, but it’s just not important enough to address.
I mean. The UK (particularly Northern Ireland) are gods of zipper merging. It is like all of the queuing is to train them for exactly that. Every single time I felt like an asshole because I slowed down even a km/h or two to “let someone in” when they knew exactly how much space they needed and had it under control.
Germany… I am honestly gobsmacked at how bad Berlin and Frankfurt were at zipper merging. It felt like if I suddenly discovered that nobody in mainland China could make rice without a rice cooker. Like… I think the US might somehow actually be better. And we are HORRIBLE at zipper merges. At least New England, if not Chicagoland.
If I am traveling internationally and driving? The bare minimum is that I’ll ask the person at the rental counter if there are any “gotchas” to be aware of. And if I have any friends in the area, I’ll chat with them on a hangouts/discord call before I fly over.
Hell, I SHOULD do the same when driving domestically but at this point I can handle NYC, LA, Boston, Chicago, and all the stupidity in between so… fuck it and sorry if I cut you off.
But also…
Theory: People think speaking in absolutes based on driver’s ed manuals is stupid? And you actually have to understand “the rule of the road” and how to drive defensively.
No, it fucking doesn’t because we don’t live in a perfect world and entitled/dumbasses fill the road. If I’m in the right lane and some chucklefuck is matching my speed in the on-ramp next to me and doesn’t either speed the fuck up or slow the fuck down in the 2 whole minutes they have in that lane, they’re gonna end up slamming their brakes at the end. All it would take is a modicum of awareness to get over and stop this awkward bullshit. That’s just ONE example.
This isn’t a traffic jam. This isn’t the middle of Delhi. We’re talking about normal everyday traffic.
It’s 2 cars in a 4 lane highway, and the dumbass can’t even merge.
And no, it’s not my responsibility to make sure they get over. I’m not hand holding idiots.
Point is, we don’t live in a fucking vacuum and all it takes is opening your eyes and judging the situation in front of you accordingly.
I am generally a nice-ish person. I’ll try to slow down a little to give them more room. And then they just slow down too because they don’t know how to drive without matching speed with a car next to them. And, fortunately, they aren’t looking at me so I can’t even wave them in. So it is just a waiting game of “Are they going to speed up and cut me off so that I have to slam on the brakes, or are they going to slam on the brakes at the last second and stop their lane until my lane stops to let them in?”
Nobody is saying to force your way in to the merge lane five miles ahead of the closure. If traffic is moving along, move along. But if you see an opening and know the lanes are going to merge? Merge then and there.
We’re talking about two different things then. Open road, light fast-moving traffic, lane ending - the “merge zone” lengthens with that speed and space.
Heavy slow-moving traffic, lane ending, use the lanes which are available and zipper merge at the end. Merging too soon in this situation does create congestion.
The number of people I’ve seen use the inner lane to turn out of the circle pisses me off. Change lane to outer circle, then exit the circle. The number of times I’ve nearly been hit because some asshat in a giant truck decided they own all the lanes is too high to count.
My favorite is when they are in the right lane, merge to the middle and back out when going straight so they don’t have to actually slow down and go in the round outside lane, defeating the point of the roundabout.
You mean they just cut through the circle like it’s a straight-away? There’s a circle near me that has 1 entrance-exit pair that happens all the time. And an entrance b/t the two is really hard to see when entering and has nearly zero visibility to that left entering lane. I’ve nearly been creamed by people doing 30mph through there like that.
It’s a shittily designed roundabout but they need some traffic calmers there.
But if I catch some dirty shitbag pull out of the lane to get into a clearly ending lane just to skip ahead a few cars…I’m going to glare rather harshly as I let the dirtbag back in.
Zipper merge is effective if it takes place at the end of the line, not the merge point. Essentially as traffic backs up, the merge point should back up as well. That isn’t practical in reality; you can’t dynamically move the merge point IRL.
You should be using all lanes of traffic, and zipper merge at the end.
The main problem with zipper merges in practice are selfish people who rush to zipper and cause even more congestion because of their erratic attempt to merge. Like traffic circles they work great when everyone is doing it right and they cam get really messed up when people do it wrong.
It would be great if zipper merging was taught as part of getting a license. Or they actually required someone to learn how to zipper merge as part of their license renewal.
Do you mean “rush to zipper” as in “using an open lane to move forward and then zipper merge into the remaining lane when that one closes?” That is precisely what you should do.
The problem is the selfish people who refuse to let those people actually zipper merge, like OP.
The issue is, at the end of the day, that nobody ever seems to know how to keep a decent distance away from the car in front of them. It doesn’t matter how slow traffic is, leave some space in front of you. It gives you room to slow down in case something happens, and it gives everyone else room to merge.
@Nougat
It’s hard to discuss zipper merging because people use to justify all sorts of dick behavior. Zipping through an empty left turn only lane to skip to the head of a right turn only lane for example. That’s not an example of zipper merging but there’s tons of people who I’ve seen argue that’s acceptable behavior.
We agree that that’s not what we’re talking about, and those people are wrong. That wasn’t hard at all.
Zipper merging requires matching speed with the lane you are merging into so that drivers can make gradual changes in speed to make an opening for the person merging. That avoids sending a wave of brake slams that results from sudden unexpected lane changes. If you’re passing a bunch of people, you’re probably not doing a zipper merge.
You’re also much less likely to end up with someone not letting you over if they see you matching speed instead of speeding up to the merge point.
If you’re passing a bunch of people, you are using the open lane to travel. By the time the lane you are in comes to an end, you then modulate your speed to match traffic in the slower lane, and merge. Because cars have brakes.
You need to start matching speed at the start of the signage for the merge. At that point it’s no longer just a lane, it is a lane with restrictions.
You’re not actually increasing total throughput by speeding ahead, you’re only changing the order. The total throughput is determined by the flow of traffic after the constriction point. That flow is smoothest when drivers match speed.
I mean speeding at a far higher speed than the other plane and then suddenly slamming on the brakes and forcing themselves into the other lane. Rushing to merge, not just zipper merging at a similar speed.
If the lane being used is still open for forward traffic, that is a completely legitimate zipper merge, although it would be safer to match speed more gradually and, of course, wait for an appropriate space to merge into. As a hypothetical, that’s a borderline case, and it’s certainly possible to adjust the details of the hypothetical to make the merging driver into the dick. But I’m not sure that’s a useful pursuit.
How is matching speeds to merge and finding a space an edge case? That is how merging works.
Not matching speeds is how people going slower than the flow of traffic when merging from on ramps causes issues. Matching speeds when merging is crucial.
Or just do what they do in Ontario, drive on the shoulder and zipper merge onto the 1 actual lane.
In traffic circles, even if someone messes up, the problem is usually resolved and the circle is back to normal operation within a minute or so. Unless someone is literally camped in the middle of the circle, life finds a way.
The other issue is people who have no spatial awareness of their vehicle and need like eight car lengths to merge over.
Done with a modicum of competence: Zipper merges are efficient and you should only merge near the end
In reality? If you see an opening, merge over sooner than later to prevent disruptions to traffic
This actually creates disruptions in traffic. Use all lanes, zipper merge at the end.
Theory: Everyone down voting you has never driven outside the US.
We don’t teach the proper way to zipper merge, so people block those doing it for cutting in line. It’s a different culture that should be changed for efficiency, just like middle lane squatting, but it’s just not important enough to address.
I mean. The UK (particularly Northern Ireland) are gods of zipper merging. It is like all of the queuing is to train them for exactly that. Every single time I felt like an asshole because I slowed down even a km/h or two to “let someone in” when they knew exactly how much space they needed and had it under control.
Germany… I am honestly gobsmacked at how bad Berlin and Frankfurt were at zipper merging. It felt like if I suddenly discovered that nobody in mainland China could make rice without a rice cooker. Like… I think the US might somehow actually be better. And we are HORRIBLE at zipper merges. At least New England, if not Chicagoland.
If I am traveling internationally and driving? The bare minimum is that I’ll ask the person at the rental counter if there are any “gotchas” to be aware of. And if I have any friends in the area, I’ll chat with them on a hangouts/discord call before I fly over.
Hell, I SHOULD do the same when driving domestically but at this point I can handle NYC, LA, Boston, Chicago, and all the stupidity in between so… fuck it and sorry if I cut you off.
But also…
Theory: People think speaking in absolutes based on driver’s ed manuals is stupid? And you actually have to understand “the rule of the road” and how to drive defensively.
The United States has a strong general culture of “I got mine, fuck you.” That is certainly playing a part in this thread.
No, it fucking doesn’t because we don’t live in a perfect world and entitled/dumbasses fill the road. If I’m in the right lane and some chucklefuck is matching my speed in the on-ramp next to me and doesn’t either speed the fuck up or slow the fuck down in the 2 whole minutes they have in that lane, they’re gonna end up slamming their brakes at the end. All it would take is a modicum of awareness to get over and stop this awkward bullshit. That’s just ONE example.
This isn’t a traffic jam. This isn’t the middle of Delhi. We’re talking about normal everyday traffic. It’s 2 cars in a 4 lane highway, and the dumbass can’t even merge.
And no, it’s not my responsibility to make sure they get over. I’m not hand holding idiots.
Point is, we don’t live in a fucking vacuum and all it takes is opening your eyes and judging the situation in front of you accordingly.
God yes.
I am generally a nice-ish person. I’ll try to slow down a little to give them more room. And then they just slow down too because they don’t know how to drive without matching speed with a car next to them. And, fortunately, they aren’t looking at me so I can’t even wave them in. So it is just a waiting game of “Are they going to speed up and cut me off so that I have to slam on the brakes, or are they going to slam on the brakes at the last second and stop their lane until my lane stops to let them in?”
Nobody is saying to force your way in to the merge lane five miles ahead of the closure. If traffic is moving along, move along. But if you see an opening and know the lanes are going to merge? Merge then and there.
We’re talking about two different things then. Open road, light fast-moving traffic, lane ending - the “merge zone” lengthens with that speed and space.
Heavy slow-moving traffic, lane ending, use the lanes which are available and zipper merge at the end. Merging too soon in this situation does create congestion.
The number of people I’ve seen use the inner lane to turn out of the circle pisses me off. Change lane to outer circle, then exit the circle. The number of times I’ve nearly been hit because some asshat in a giant truck decided they own all the lanes is too high to count.
My favorite is when they are in the right lane, merge to the middle and back out when going straight so they don’t have to actually slow down and go in the round outside lane, defeating the point of the roundabout.
You mean they just cut through the circle like it’s a straight-away? There’s a circle near me that has 1 entrance-exit pair that happens all the time. And an entrance b/t the two is really hard to see when entering and has nearly zero visibility to that left entering lane. I’ve nearly been creamed by people doing 30mph through there like that.
It’s a shittily designed roundabout but they need some traffic calmers there.
No, the problem is the people who incorrectly merge early, making “rushing” possible.
But if I catch some dirty shitbag pull out of the lane to get into a clearly ending lane just to skip ahead a few cars…I’m going to glare rather harshly as I let the dirtbag back in.
Zipper merge is effective if it takes place at the end of the line, not the merge point. Essentially as traffic backs up, the merge point should back up as well. That isn’t practical in reality; you can’t dynamically move the merge point IRL.