# Do you move over when someone is merging onto the highway? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 17, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869 "2014-11-17T17:43:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/41 "2014-11-17T23:12:29Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Please tell me that bad weather is also a valid exception? Drivers must adjust their speed to drive safely for all conditions. That does not mean that moron drivers may impeded the flow of traffic in bad weather by driving slower than is safe. It means that moron drivers should get the fuck off the freeway. Traffic will be slower in bad weather for all drivers. That is not an excuse for fucking bad drivers to be even worse drivers. If you are the kind of imbecile who always drives in the right hand lane of a multi-lane freeway, you are always a danger to other drivers and should not drive. Your great-grandchildren should drive you places in that event. If you want to tootle along at 25 mph, take the streets. Oh, and if you are legally blind: do not drive! Once you have macular degeneration, do not fucking drive anymore, even to the store. Even really slowly. If you suffer from dementia, do not drive anymore. Put on your FSM-damned seat-belt before the car starts moving. Passengers too. Do not text and drive. Do not telephone and drive. Shut the hell up and drive. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/42 "2014-11-17T23:14:26Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > Yeah, they’re Massholes. I drive 128 daily. I disagree. The year I spent driving around Boston last year I had a very good impression of merging on 128. I will say, they expect the merging traffic to hit the gas. People will let you in if you’re getting up to speed. The ones who come to a dead stop on the on-ramp are SOL. And Massachusetts drivers can handle a zipper merge (for construction or cops) better than anywhere else I’ve ever driven. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/43 "2014-11-17T23:47:11Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I’d prefer people who drive at 30 to 50 mph on the open freeway not be let out of their long term care facilities, especially to drive. Unless it is clogged traffic, the speed limit is the only polite minimum speed. > > As for people who don’t want to drive with me in the car (or on the same freeway) the feeling is mutual. Nervous nellies who plug along at speeds that bore grandmas should not be allowed to have drivers licenses. Morons who putt along in the right lane interfering with all people entering and exiting should read the signs. Just because they don’t see the middle fingers don’t mean they aren’t there, it means they are oblivious to everyone else while the “derp, derp, derp” their little songs as they go down the road. Seriously, get with the fucking flow of traffic. So, you actually don’t object to people in the slow lane, but only people driving too slowly for conditions. Can’t argue with that. I don’t like the clowns who, when traffic is moving at 10 mph at best, feel they need to leave ten car lengths of space in front of them. And slam on the brakes when it gets down to eight. We must all deal with the idiots we’re dealt, but I’d rather have them in the right lane than in a place where they will be passed on the left and the right, which is more likely to cause an accident. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/44 "2014-11-17T23:56:37Z")
I object to the continued existence of fucking morons who drive in the right hand lane. It isn’t a FSM-damned “slow” lane, it is a lane for getting on and off. I wish intestinal discomfort on dipshits that think it is a lane for slow people. Slow people should live in group homes and ride on short buses. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/45 "2014-11-18T00:02:41Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I object to the continued existence of fucking morons who drive in the right hand lane. It isn’t a FSM-damned “slow” lane, it is a lane for getting on and off. I wish intestinal discomfort on dipshits that think it is a lane for slow people. Slow people should live in group homes and ride on short buses. Whether you like it or not, people have the legal right to drive in the right lane as long as they keep up with the rest of the traffic. No state restricts people from driving in the right lane. So just suck it up, Snowflake. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/46 "2014-11-18T00:04:50Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I object to the continued existence of fucking morons who drive in the right hand lane. It isn’t a FSM-damned “slow” lane, it is a lane for getting on and off. I wish intestinal discomfort on dipshits that think it is a lane for slow people. Slow people should live in group homes and ride on short buses. Seriously dude, you have issues and you really should consider taking some driving lessons because your doing it wrong. You sound like one of those douchebags that likes to weave in and out of traffic with a total disregard for everyone’s safety because “God Dammit” you need to get somewhere fast, and how dare these other morns exist on the same highway you happen to be driving on. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/47 "2014-11-18T00:08:09Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > I was taught that the people coming onto the highway has to yield to the traffic. Apparently I’m the only driver on our roads that was taught this, so most of the time I move over because the person on the on ramp has no clue how to merge. Isn’t that called a yield? It sounds like you are the one that doesn’t know how to merge. If the sign says merge the merging vehicle is supposed to match traffic speed and pick an opening, the vehicles in the highway lane are supposed to adjust their speed or move over into an adjacent lane to make room. Traffic is much safer if every one is going a similar speed. Expecting merging traffic to yield is foolish. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/48 "2014-11-18T00:28:15Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > Isn’t that called a yield? It sounds like you are the one that doesn’t know how to merge. If the sign says merge the merging vehicle is supposed to match traffic speed and pick an opening, the vehicles in the highway lane are supposed to adjust their speed or move over into an adjacent lane to make room. Traffic is much safer if every one is going a similar speed. Expecting merging traffic to yield is foolish. Yes, it is called a yield, and traffic coming onto the freeway is expected to yield. As per the OP, traffic on the freeway making it easier for the yielding traffic to enter the highway is simply being Mr. Nice Guy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/49 "2014-11-18T01:42:58Z")
My biggest issue isn’t that people on the highway won’t shift over to get out of the way of merging traffic, but that the cars on the on-ramp simply won’t use their engines and get their asses up to the speed of the existing vehicles. On my twice-weekly commute, I now take a u-turn to go onto the cloverleaf on ramp rather than use the right-hand ramp, because of all of the morons who will be going 40-45 at the merge, often making it very dicey to merge onto the highway. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/50 "2014-11-18T01:49:13Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Seriously dude, you have issues and you really should consider taking some driving lessons because your doing it wrong. > > You sound like one of those douchebags that likes to weave in and out of traffic with a total disregard for everyone’s safety because “God Dammit” you need to get somewhere fast, and how dare these other morns exist on the same highway you happen to be driving on. No, “dude”, I’m the one with cruise control set at 66 mph driving in the second or third lane. Seriously “dude” I’ve got mine on cruise control, it’s you, not me. It is not legal to impede traffic. It is not legal to weave in and out of traffic, I don’t do that. I drive in the correct lane at the correct speed. You might imagine that the only people who object to really shitty driving are maniacs, but that is self-delusion. Every sensible person on the road objects to shitty slow drivers almost as much as the shitty drivers who weave in and out of traffic. There are far more right lane putt putts clogging up the freeway onramps and offramps than traffic weavers. They are sad, clueless fucks that cause skid marks near the exits and on their underwear. They can’t drive and they can’t wipe. I do want to extend special thanks to the FSM for the existence of this thread. Clearly is SDMB is populated by uncoordinated, clueless spastics who are not safe for roadways and are self-deluded to that point. This thread might not open their oblivious eyes, but it does allow me to vent. Right lane drivers are shit stains on the road. They deserve to understand how fucking inconsiderate they are as drivers. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/51 "2014-11-18T02:06:58Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > No, “dude”, I’m the one with cruise control set at 66 mph driving in the second or third lane. Seriously “dude” I’ve got mine on cruise control, it’s you, not me. It is not legal to impede traffic. It is not legal to weave in and out of traffic, I don’t do that. I drive in the correct lane at the correct speed. You might imagine that the only people who object to really shitty driving are maniacs, but that is self-delusion. Every sensible person on the road objects to shitty slow drivers almost as much as the shitty drivers who weave in and out of traffic. There are far more right lane putt putts clogging up the freeway onramps and offramps than traffic weavers. They are sad, clueless fucks that cause skid marks near the exits and on their underwear. They can’t drive and they can’t wipe. > > I do want to extend special thanks to the FSM for the existence of this thread. Clearly is SDMB is populated by uncoordinated, clueless spastics who are not safe for roadways and are self-deluded to that point. This thread might not open their oblivious eyes, but it does allow me to vent. Right lane drivers are shit stains on the road. They deserve to understand how fucking inconsiderate they are as drivers. LOL. Maybe you should start taking the bus, because clearly, driving is going to give you a heart attack one day. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/52 "2014-11-18T02:34:37Z")
I stay right unless passing, as is just and proper. I leave enough room between me and the car in front of me so that anyone merging at proper speed can easily fit in. There are a few, isolated situations, where signage invalidate the stay-right rule. These are the only times when you should drive in the second-from-the-right lane when not passing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/53 "2014-11-18T02:49:36Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > LOL. Maybe you should start taking the bus, because clearly, driving is going to give you a heart attack one day. In my family, when one of us has a heart attack, we drive to the emergency room, we do not fucking block traffic whining and wondering if our time has come. We get off the fucking freeway and don’t interfere with 400,000 of our neighbors trying to get home. We pull fully off to the shoulder and then die. 20 years ago I used to get really wound up in traffic. I got into therapy and got tools to cope. I did hypnosis. Now I leave really early and laugh and “derp, derp, derp” at the idiot spazes. I probably will die of a heart attack, but not due to idiot drivers. I plan to go peacefully in my sleep, like my uncle George, not screaming in terror like his 40 passengers. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/54 "2014-11-18T03:05:23Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I slow down to let the person merge in front of me. Much safer than changing lanes, at least around here. No, no, no! The person already on the highway is supposed to maintain a constant speed, to allow the person who is merging onto the highway to gauge whether HE needs to speed up or slow down. HE is the person who is yielding to YOU, not the other way around. By slowing down, you’re causing confusion. He slows down to get behind you just as you slow down to allow him in; he speeds up to get in front of you just as you speed up. Quit trying to be nice and maintain your speed. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/55 "2014-11-18T04:44:33Z")
Yes, I move over a lane to the left if I can safely to allow people to merge into the right lane. Because it seems that too many people merging like that concentrate on the car they’ll be pulling in behind and really don’t think to consider the vehicle they’ll be pulling in front of. Oh, that and it’s a pain in the rear to have to do a “brake check” on an 18 wheeler that grosses more than 60K lbs. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/56 "2014-11-18T06:31:56Z")
Stay East of the Rockies and West of the Mississippi and all will be fine. This time of year also stay out of the Dakotas and some of them other frozen places. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/57 "2014-11-18T06:39:00Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Yes, I move over a lane to the left if I can safely to allow people to merge into the right lane. Because it seems that too many people merging like that concentrate on the car they’ll be pulling in behind and really don’t think to consider the vehicle they’ll be pulling in front of. Oh, that and it’s a pain in the rear to have to do a “brake check” on an 18 wheeler that grosses more than 60K lbs. Correct-a-mundo! And always remember that it is easier and safer for your/my car to move, change lanes, speed-up or slow-down than for a commercial truck. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/58 "2014-11-18T07:24:30Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > No, no, no! The person already on the highway is supposed to maintain a constant speed, to allow the person who is merging onto the highway to gauge whether HE needs to speed up or slow down. HE is the person who is yielding to YOU, not the other way around. By slowing down, you’re causing confusion. He slows down to get behind you just as you slow down to allow him in; he speeds up to get in front of you just as you speed up. > > Quit trying to be nice and maintain your speed. Our merges are probably not like your merges. There is a steady stream of cars in the merge lane and a steady stream of cars without much space between them in the slow lane. If cars in the slow lane did not slow down (from 10 mph to 5mph most times) cars would never get to merge or push in unsafely. 101, which I don’t usually drive on, has some very short merge lanes with poor visibility which are followed immediately by exit lanes, so a car not getting into traffic would either have to exit or stop - neither very good. Again, slowing just enough to let one car in improves things for everyone - and doesn’t confuse anyone, since that is standard procedure for these situations. Bay Area drivers do many things incompetently, but they merge pretty well. Long empty freeways like I5 are another story. There I get over to the left and maintain my speed. But I seldom have the option around here. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/59 "2014-11-18T18:23:51Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Drivers must adjust their speed to drive safely for all conditions. That does not mean that moron drivers may impeded the flow of traffic in bad weather by driving slower than is safe. It means that moron drivers should get the fuck off the freeway. Traffic will be slower in bad weather for all drivers. That is not an excuse for fucking bad drivers to be even worse drivers. If you are the kind of imbecile who always drives in the right hand lane of a multi-lane freeway, you are always a danger to other drivers and should not drive. Your great-grandchildren should drive you places in that event. If you want to tootle along at 25 mph, take the streets. Well, there physically are no “streets” between home and work where the highway runs, so if I want to go home in a snowstorm, guess what, I will go 30 on the highway. I’m not the only one. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/60 "2014-11-18T18:40:52Z")
30 seems reasonable in a snowstorm. It isn’t reasonable on a clear day with light traffic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869.md?page=4)