Talk > Automotive Social > Highway merging

Highway merging

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.

reply to Grumpy
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.
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Slydermv--In short.. hookers save lives.

reply to Grumpy

reply to Grumpy
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.

reply to Grumpy
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:

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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

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reply to Grumpy
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.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports

reply to Grumpy
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.

reply to Grumpy
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.

reply to Grumpy
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.
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I'll be stretching out the rhyme like gravity stretches time.

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.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports

Come to California.

reply to Grumpy
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.

reply to Grumpy
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.
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...brought to you by Carl's Jr.

reply to JonRup

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.
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I swear, some people should have pace-makers installed to free up the resources. Breathing and heart beat taxes their whole system, all of their brain cells wasted on life support.-two bit brains, and the second bit is wasted on parity! ~head_spaz

reply to r81984

reply to r81984
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.

reply to Grumpy

reply to JonRup