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Grumpy4
Premium Member
join:2001-07-28
NW CT

1 recommendation

Grumpy4

Premium Member

Highway merging

After a multi year hiatus, I recently went back to driving a 5 or 6 axle truck as an occupation.

Is it just me, or does it seem that 8 out of 10 cars now try to merge into a 65 MPH lane at 30 MPH? Was there some directive "on the TV" about merging at half speed that I missed in the past ten years?

Seems like it used to be more like 2 out of 10 couldn't merge well with others.

Just checking...

Lurch77
Premium Member
join:2001-11-22
Green Bay, WI

2 recommendations

Lurch77

Premium Member

I hate that. I especially hate when I am behind those people, and they force me to enter the highway at low speed. Big safety issue for everyone. On-ramps are intentionally designed for people to be at or near highway speed when entering.

Many drivers are stupid.

Grimm
join:2011-05-23

Grimm to Grumpy4

Member

to Grumpy4
While I agree with you both that drivers are really bad these days, I'm going to point out that you also have the DB drivers already on the highway who have the option of moving to a left lane but don't. Obviously they aren't required to, but that helps some mergers.

The soccer moms who are worried about their phone call more than the actual driving are the ones who end up coming to a full stop and cause back ups.

All in all, it's just people these days being more concerned about things OTHER than driving, which is all that should be thought about while behind a wheel.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

2 edits

Anonymous_ to Grumpy4

Premium Member

to Grumpy4
said by Grumpy4:

After a multi year hiatus, I recently went back to driving a 5 or 6 axle truck as an occupation.

Is it just me, or does it seem that 8 out of 10 cars now try to merge into a 65 MPH lane at 30 MPH? Was there some directive "on the TV" about merging at half speed that I missed in the past ten years?

Seems like it used to be more like 2 out of 10 couldn't merge well with others.

Just checking...

some freeways have traffic lights or stop signs. at the top of the entrance. you basically have to floor it to get upto speed

I ignore these signs if it's safe to do so. other wise it makes for a long wait at the light or stop sign..
said by Lurch77:

I hate that. I especially hate when I am behind those people, and they force me to enter the highway at low speed. Big safety issue for everyone. On-ramps are intentionally designed for people to be at or near highway speed when entering.

Many drivers are stupid.

Another issue is when cars in the slow lane are going 55 when the speed limit is 65 or 75
this can make merging harder to do.

Faster56
Premium Member
join:2013-03-09

Faster56 to Grumpy4

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to Grumpy4
In California the bottom of the on ramp is frequently treated by drivers of cars with decent power as the start line and white flag for the start of the race. You see a lot of cars that hit the freeway going faster than the traffic they are merging with.

CylonRed
MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
·Metronet

CylonRed to Grumpy4

MVM

to Grumpy4
Yep - agree completely along with people not moving to the middle lane (if one) when coming up on ramps to ease merging. I am finding more people on the highway wanting to cut off the area in front of them when A) there is plenty of room for a car to get in front of the car and B) there is a line of traffic behind the car that would prevent someone from being able to get in.

An old guy who writes for BMW CCAs Roundel magazine - he calls them BDBH (Brain Dead Booger Heads).
quote:
some freeways have traffic lights or stop signs. at the top of the entrance. you basically have to floor it to get up to speed
Columbus, Ohio have some of these and they are used during rush hour on on-ramps that are very short and they work well since during rush hour you are not going to be able to do highway speed on these ramps. Those are the times it should be used... I believe many jurisdictions that have these also have cameras to know when people run the red light.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to Grumpy4

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to Grumpy4
When I visited Anaheim once I almost blew through one of those ramp stoplights because where I have always been one gets up to highway speed on the ramp so I pulled onto the ramp and pushed it up to 70 as I would in NJ or CT.

Upside is I had a nice V8 caddy as a rental so starting from a dead stop was not a big issue.

Grumpy4
Premium Member
join:2001-07-28
NW CT

Grumpy4

Premium Member

I'm fine with moving left to allow merging, and do so whenever possible - my problem is I'm in a 70' long vehicle, and maybe half the drivers out there will let me move over. The other half completely ignore my signal lights, and instead drive with a F U attitude.

At an 80,000 lb vehicle weight, it often takes me a mile or two to get back to highway speeds once I'm slowed to 30 MPH. Now I am creating a hazard by going 30 in a 65 for a mile or three, even though I had no intention of doing so.

Pet peeve #2 - I like to follow traffic way back, at least 300'. When you pass me, please don't drop in 30 or 50 feet ahead of me and go my speed. Now I'm tailgating. Don't want to, but "you" put me there. Very annoying.

Faster56
Premium Member
join:2013-03-09

1 edit

Faster56 to Grumpy4

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to Grumpy4
It's a good thing that most California freeways have a significant and high quality right shoulder when it comes to merging from a ramp---especially if there is one of those big rigs in the far right lane. You just pass them on the shoulder while in the process of merging. If you don't do that you can all ways slow down, maybe way down or come to a stop on the freeway shoulder--the greater of two "evils" or wrongs and the most unsafe.

The amount of traffic on the freeway and the speed it is traveling is a major determining factor in degree of safety and choices to be made.

Unfortunately certainly in California and from what I've seen in some other states a contributing factor are those high number of dickheads that are the fastest moving traffic that stay to the right and pass mostly on the right instead of staying left and passing on the left. Again their acts are made worse in high speed heavy traffic.

ADDENDUM: the situation I describe is like two different levels when we compare the situations and responses I describe between if its night v day. That dramatically impacts the situation and changes the game while raising the stakes.

ironweasel
Weezy
Premium Member
join:2000-09-13
Belen, NM

1 recommendation

ironweasel to Grumpy4

Premium Member

to Grumpy4
I feel your pain.....I really do.

I drive local in straight trucks as well as tractor-trailer and I typically log about 1200 miles a week....I see all kinds of stupid stuff. Merging at less than highway speeds is pretty common as is the whole "haul ass to go around the big truck then cut in front of it and stomp on your brakes" thing.

When I got my CDL many years ago...my instructor imparted a small bit of wisdom on me when he said: "It's their job to merge, not your job to let them in." If I'm in the right lane and I have traffic to my left and someone is merging into my lane at 20 miles under what traffic is doing I don't stomp on my brakes to let them in....I just keep cruising. I ran one guy off the road once because he got next to my cab and just stayed there the entire length of the on-ramp....didn't try to speed up or slow down...ended up in the dirt on the end of the ramp.

As far as people slamming on their brakes after getting in front of you.....a quick downshift with the jake brake engaged and a couple taps on the air horn while a Kenworth T800 grill takes up their entire rear view is usually enough to get them to speed up or move over another lane.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

honestly unless a car is an underpowered POS it has no reason to not be going the speed of the right lane on entry. Even my 1988 Beretta that was my first car, had about 100hp in its 4cyl and made of steel could get up to safe merge speed on an up hill ramp.

Faster56
Premium Member
join:2013-03-09

Faster56

Premium Member

Come to California.
snedo
join:2008-07-20
Hilliard, OH

snedo to Grumpy4

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Part of the reason I will never own a 4 cylinder engine. My car isn't fast but it has 200hp/tq and on the ramp I'm usually 60-65 in in a few seconds. I just feel safer with a little more power under the hood, even if it eats more gas.

Next car will be a V8, though.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984 to Grumpy4

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to Grumpy4
That is what happens constantly in houston.
I never see cops writing tickets for this.

It is like they see no hazard in trying to merge into 75 mph traffic while going 40 mph.
r81984

r81984 to snedo

Premium Member

to snedo
said by snedo:

Part of the reason I will never own a 4 cylinder engine. My car isn't fast but it has 200hp/tq and on the ramp I'm usually 60-65 in in a few seconds. I just feel safer with a little more power under the hood, even if it eats more gas.

Next car will be a V8, though.

I drive a 2004 1.8 liter 4 cyl Toyota Corolla and I out accelerate just about everyone on the roads.
I am blown away by this, but my car somehow accelerates faster than any 8 cylinder.

In houston they have "feeder" roads along the highway so you have long distance to accelerate before having to take the on ramp and merge. The on ramps are also long.
The slowest cars can accelerate to 70 mph without problem.
The people who are trying to merge 30 to 40 mph below the speed limit are doing it on purpose.

My problem is in my corolla I try to speed up to the flow of traffic, but the car in front of me wants to go 30 mph.
Then I am stuck trying to merge in at 30 mph into a 70 which is very dangerous just because I am stuck behind a dare devil.
These bad drivers put everyone's lives at risk.

I wish people knew how to drive and they understood that pressing your gas pedal will not harm your car.

Vchat20
Landing is the REAL challenge
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Columbus, OH

Vchat20

Premium Member

We also have a good handful of these 'feeder roads' in the Columbus area which are extremely useful save for those times, as you said, when you get stuck behind somebody doing 30 up until they get right to that merge zone. Annoys me to no end. I don't go for confrontational things but I usually tailgate ~10ft behind to hopefully get the message across.

I have a 2.0 liter 4cyl Focus and certainly it has no problem accelerating to highway speeds from an on-ramp. Not once have I felt in danger when trying to merge into highway traffic, even at rush hour on I-270 here.

Grimm
join:2011-05-23

Grimm to r81984

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to r81984
said by r81984:

I wish people knew how to drive and they understood that pressing your gas pedal will not harm your car.

QFT
snedo
join:2008-07-20
Hilliard, OH

snedo to r81984

Member

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No doubt you do, most people on the roads suck at driving. The thing I hated about most of the 4c cylinder cars I've driven is passing. Going above 70 in the Ranger sucks sometimes. As did the Prizm (felt dangerous on the highway no matter the speed you were going)

I feel safer because of the extra boost in power. Not bad MPG highway either, I get 26-27 (not bad for a 13 year old car) What pisses me off more than highway merging is people going 60 in the left lane. Slows everyone down.

Cthen
Premium Member
join:2004-08-01
Detroit, MI

Cthen to Grumpy4

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to Grumpy4
said by Grumpy4:

After a multi year hiatus, I recently went back to driving a 5 or 6 axle truck as an occupation.

Is it just me, or does it seem that 8 out of 10 cars now try to merge into a 65 MPH lane at 30 MPH? Was there some directive "on the TV" about merging at half speed that I missed in the past ten years?

Seems like it used to be more like 2 out of 10 couldn't merge well with others.

Just checking...

I love it even better when they all speed to the on ramp, way over speed on the on ramp curve, and slow down to merge. Then drive like shit when they merge all so they can gun it to 90mph merging into the other lanes.

Vchat20
Landing is the REAL challenge
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Columbus, OH

Vchat20 to snedo

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to snedo
said by snedo:

No doubt you do, most people on the roads suck at driving. The thing I hated about most of the 4c cylinder cars I've driven is passing. Going above 70 in the Ranger sucks sometimes. As did the Prizm (felt dangerous on the highway no matter the speed you were going)

I feel safer because of the extra boost in power. Not bad MPG highway either, I get 26-27 (not bad for a 13 year old car) What pisses me off more than highway merging is people going 60 in the left lane. Slows everyone down.

I have to ask: How old are these 4cyl cars you have driven? I only say this because from personal experience it seems over the course of the last decade they have gotten better at tweaking and gearing them for better highway performance.

My aunt has an older 2000 Cavalier that I have driven and it had abysmal movement on the highway to the point that you had better reached your desired speed on the on-ramp and stay there because if you slowed down any, it would take miles to get back up. When I was looking at getting my own car I thought like you and was looking for nothing less than V6 cars for this reason. Out of my control though I was tossed into a '07 Ford Focus and I have also driven my mom's '07 Kia Sportage, both have 2.0L 4Cyl engines in FWD config, no turbos or anything fancy. Both of them I have been pleasantly surprised. At the very least it seems like the transmissions are better geared for a wider range of power and with them having moved to being electronically controlled the ECU can better watch the overall powertrain and tell the transmission to shift when necessary to maintain desired performance. My Focus will rapidly downshift with the slightest throttle change if conditions are right.

As someone who lives in the Columbus area you know how much of the city lends towards highway travel. My ~24mi daily commute is about 70% highway with the goofiest interchanges to deal with.

Boricua
Premium Member
join:2002-01-26
Sacramuerto

1 recommendation

Boricua to Faster56

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to Faster56
said by Faster56:

Unfortunately certainly in California and from what I've seen in some other states a contributing factor are those high number of dickheads that are the fastest moving traffic that stay to the right and pass mostly on the right instead of staying left and passing on the left. Again their acts are made worse in high speed heavy traffic.

I am guilty of this and the main reason being you have "dickheads" who want to drive like miss daisy on the left lane (#1) so I have no choice but to use the right lane to pass.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

Anonymous_ to Faster56

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to Faster56
said by Faster56:

In California the bottom of the on ramp is frequently treated by drivers of cars with decent power as the start line and white flag for the start of the race. You see a lot of cars that hit the freeway going faster than the traffic they are merging with.

Yes sometimes IT IS NOT safe to stop if there is light traffic .

When there is light traffic with the signal going this could be a issue.
said by Grumpy4:

At an 80,000 lb vehicle weight, it often takes me a mile or two to get back to highway speeds once I'm slowed to 30 MPH. Now I am creating a hazard by going 30 in a 65 for a mile or three, even though I had no intention of doing so.

yeah yesterday I got stuck behind a big rig going about 20mph. he should have gotten off the freeway and re-got on it.

Faster56
Premium Member
join:2013-03-09

Faster56

Premium Member

said by Anonymous_:

said by Faster56:

In California the bottom of the on ramp is frequently treated by drivers of cars with decent power as the start line and white flag for the start of the race. You see a lot of cars that hit the freeway going faster than the traffic they are merging with.

Yes sometimes IT IS NOT safe to stop if there is light traffic .

When there is light traffic with the signal going this could be a issue.

I'm only referring to ramps that either have no meter or if they do the meter is in the solid green mode.
Faster56

Faster56 to Boricua

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to Boricua
said by Boricua:

said by Faster56:

Unfortunately certainly in California and from what I've seen in some other states a contributing factor are those high number of dickheads that are the fastest moving traffic that stay to the right and pass mostly on the right instead of staying left and passing on the left. Again their acts are made worse in high speed heavy traffic.

I am guilty of this and the main reason being you have "dickheads" who want to drive like miss daisy on the left lane (#1) so I have no choice but to use the right lane to pass.

And what state or state freeway are you driving on?

Vchat20
Landing is the REAL challenge
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Columbus, OH

Vchat20

Premium Member

I see this a lot in the Columbus area myself depending on the time of day. I think the key is that many drivers are completely forgetting some of the more easy-to-forget rules of the road. Stuff that wouldn't normally get you ticketed so it is easy to get away with and no consequences!
Expand your moderator at work

Faster56
Premium Member
join:2013-03-09

Faster56 to Vchat20

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to Vchat20

Re: Highway merging

On high speed freeways like many in California there are lots of dangers and many things that drivers do wrong, all of which increase the danger level.

However traffic speeding in the right-hand lanes, the further right the greater magnitude of danger by far is easily one of the most dangerous combined with constantly changing lanes in a weaving like style of driving.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to Grumpy4

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to Grumpy4
I do have to ask, Why does CA put those lights on the ramps? Seems like it does not make sense to stop someone from picking up speed from the bottom of the ramp itself.

CylonRed
MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
·Metronet

CylonRed

MVM

Highways are so crowded in rush hour (and other times) that it can determine when there are gaps in traffic and let people go and merge. When I have had to use it in Columbus - it does work well. People need to accelerate but should not be a need to floor it.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramp_meter
quote:
Why are they effective?

Without ramp meters, multiple cars try to merge simultaneously. Drivers on the freeway slow down to allow the cars enter and these slower speeds quickly cause backups. If cars enter the highway in controlled intervals, they are less likely to cause a disruption to the traffic on the freeway. A short wait on the ramp allows drivers to increase their average freeway speed and shorten overall freeway travel times. Ramp meters also reduce the number of accidents that often occur when multiple vehicles merge onto the highway at the same time.
How do ramp meters work?

Ramp meters are part of a large computer-operated system that is managed in WSDOT's Traffic Management Centers (TMCs). Magnetic "loops" are embedded in the pavement that provide the TMCs with information about traffic flow, such as the volume and speed of vehicles on freeways and ramps. This traffic data is continually fed to the ramp meters, which automatically alter their cycles to maximize traffic flow on both the ramps and the freeways.
snedo
join:2008-07-20
Hilliard, OH

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I think you could be right. The vehicles I mention are based off the 1998 Chevy Prizm w/ the 1.8L engine (120ish hp) and the 2003 Ford Ranger with a 2.3L engine (140sih hp) Just didn't cut it for me. City driving was fine, but passing on the highway sucked.

Yeah, Columbus highways are busy, and always under construction somewhere. Luckily I work in the Dublin area so I only have to travel 6 miles to work. I do go on trips and the Duratec 3.0L in the Taurus has been bulletproof sense. 145,000 miles and counting I average 26-28 on the highway and about 18-20 in the city. I feel the extra bump in power makes me a safer driver.

I hear the newest Focus is a great car. Might check one out in a few years. A hatchback ST would be awesome.