# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/81 "2014-11-20T19:59:41Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Excuse me but when you are entering the highway from the ramp it is _you_ who has the merge sign, not me. That means it’s _your_ responsibility to accelerate into traffic at the speed of the traffic. It’s not up to the drivers already on the highway to slow down to let you in. Did I say that? Common courtesy around here is to move into the left lane (which is usually empty) to avoid anyone having to jockey for position. When someone doesn’t, they usually have a non-Northern-New-England plate. I left the question open-ended just to hear from folks, rather than making it a very specific question: In a situation where there is no one else on the road, do you move over? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/82 "2014-11-23T15:08:10Z")
The right-hand lane is typically the only lane where people are going anywhere close to the speed limit where I live. As I would prefer not to be randomly ticketed for speeding, I drive in the right-hand lane. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/83 "2014-11-23T15:26:16Z")
As a driver, I concern myself primarily with the area I have not yet reached in my direction of travel. While I do also attempt to keep tabs on potential threats from behind, my concern with changing lanes extra times is that someone has snuck into a blind spot and I will change lanes into their path. Obviously, I do look, and check my mirrors, but I’d rather stay where other drivers can easily see me and easily predict my behavior, even if it may annoy them. Untold hours of grueling cross-country travel have impressed this approach upon me. If I am merging, I expect it is my responsibility to do so safely, not anyone else’s to yield to me. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/84 "2014-11-23T16:56:57Z")
It’s true that the merging driver has a “duty” to yield (I am not actually sure what the law on that is here) but in real life, it’s not always possible to get up to matching freeway speeds unless you have a quick vehicle. I can think of several on-ramps around here where even if I’m flooring it, my work van simply won’t get up to 65-70 mph by the time I run out of on-ramp. Because they’re on an incline, and/or quite short. For semis, moving vans and other cumbersome vehicles especially. So a lot of times, it’s common courtesy to move over or adjust for merging vehicles and also common practice here. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/85 "2014-11-23T17:00:54Z")
There is no perfect highway system so it’s up to the public at large to use common sense. IF traffic is light and you have time to safely change lanes it’s basic courtesy to change lanes. But in most large cities that isn’t an option because certain people think speed limits are completely at their own discretion and insist on driving faster than the “morons” around them. This makes it dangerous to merge into other lanes in dense traffic. So that leaves zippering as the best means to keep things flowing. If the merging car is ahead of you then slowing down slightly is the answer. If the person merging is behind you then speeding up is the answer. It’s all about adjusting the space between cars and in my city we collectively do this quiet well. The confusion arises with clover leafs where traffic is merging on and off the highway. If you are the driver getting off the highway then the appropriate action is to slow down and and merge behind the driver getting on the highway. Otherwise this forces the person getting on the highway to slow down while you accelerate into a curve. Now getting back to my first statement. All highways are not perfect. When they built them in the 60’s they did not anticipate the traffic density and many of the entrance ramps were simply too short. If this was an uphill ramp then you either came to a complete stop or smashed into a wall when traffic was busy. There was no room to get to speed and merge. Most of these have been eliminated by now if space allows for it but in large cities that’s not easily done. Some ramps are so tightly interwoven with other roadways that it takes a tremendous amount of time and money and to lengthen them. In some cities that are already overly stressed its a major inconvenience to shut down a ramp so they’ve been around long past their ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/86 "2014-11-23T17:24:55Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > Ah, you’re a “middle lane camper”. > > Where I live (southern Ontario), there are plenty of three lane highways. Some four lane highways as well. I’ll stay as far to the right as traffic dictates. Generally I won’t drive over 110 kph (or 67 mph), but I’ll amend that as required by congestion, weather, etc. Mostly, I find myself in the far right lane, with faster traffic passing me on my left, and even faster traffic passing them on their left. I’ve never had a problem allowing traffic to merge. > > Occasionally, I’ll pass someone like you, a “camper” who has decided that their speed and lane is “correct”, everyone else be damned. I suspect we use the same hand gestures to communicate… IME, it’s not that campers think their speed is “correct” so much as it’s that they are either scared of or don’t want to be bothered by having to make any sort of adjustment for merging traffic. They’re endemic around here–my standard driving on a 3-lane roadway is cruising about 5 miles over the limit in the practically-empty right hand lane, passing a huge line of cars all camped in the middle lane doing either right at or just baaaarely over the speed limit. On the occasions I need to change lanes to pass someone driving slower than me in the right lane, I have to either floor it to spurt in front of the line, or brake, merge into the line, merge into the far left lane, pass the whole line, then merge to the middle and merge again to the right. And they think I’m the one driving stupidly and creating dangerous situations. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/87 "2014-11-23T18:23:18Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > CA is now to the point of using “metering lights” to limit the access to on ramps. > That’s right - the nice, high-speed, limited access highway is now reduced to stop lights. Metering lights are on THE ON RAMP. They allow the freeway to move freely instead of being backed up when a green light cycle dumps 40 cars driving bumper to bumper on to the freeway at one time. You wait a minute to get on the freeway, and time you spend actually driving on it is much safer because you’re not going 0-60-0 every mile. > [@usedtobe](#): > > I got fed up with morons - one pulled into the intersection of 4 lanes of off ramp on yellow and got stuck - and then tried to pull around when I (adjacent lane) held back on green. Just as they were starting to pull into my lane, I exercised my right of way and drove through the intersection. His nice shiny new van now has a bit of my paint and I have a bit of his. You never have the right of way to cause a collision. It’s not some Sacred Badge of Righteousness. And you know that - I’m sure you didn’t tell the cop or your insurance agent that you intentionally rammed another vehicle to punish them. I know this isn’t the pit, so I’ll just say that from what you describe you should at the very least never be allowed to participate in traffic again. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/88 "2014-11-24T17:39:12Z")
> [@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. Amen brother! And the left most lane is not the “fast” lane. It is only for passing slower drivers in the middle lane. People are only supposed to drive in the middle lanes and if a freeway only has two lanes then you should not be driving on that freeway at all. ---
**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 24, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/89 "2014-11-24T21:06:53Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > The confusion arises with clover leafs where traffic is merging on and off the highway. If you are the driver getting off the highway then the appropriate action is to slow down and and merge behind the driver getting on the highway. Otherwise this forces the person getting on the highway to slow down while you accelerate into a curve. This situation is when turn signals really help, since without them neither driver knows what the other wants to do. Another problem with this configuration is that there is no place which is natural for merging, like the end of a merge lane. If a person who wants to merge left does not have a signal on, the drivers in the slow lane may think he is exiting and see no reason to let him in. When done right though you can smoothly switch places. Metering lights give enough room for it to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/90 "2014-11-25T03:07:22Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > This situation is when turn signals really help, since without them neither driver knows what the other wants to do. Another problem with this configuration is that there is no place which is natural for merging, like the end of a merge lane. If a person who wants to merge left does not have a signal on, the drivers in the slow lane may think he is exiting and see no reason to let him in. > When done right though you can smoothly switch places. Metering lights give enough room for it to happen. old style clover leafs are too short for any kind of metering and anybody approaching the highway is more than likely to be entering. But absolutely, turn signals make everything work well. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/91 "2014-11-25T04:47:42Z")
All of our on-ramps in Maine are posted with yield signs, but I’d say 90% of people will move left if they can. Whether I will or won’t depends on where I am in relationship to the merger, and on how many cars are coming down the ramp. If I can speed up slightly and avoid a lane change, I’ll do that instead. > [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Well, in my state we have four goddamn lanes for the freeways. Four. It’s called civilization. And only morons drive in the right hand lane. > > The left hand lane is for people flagrantly violating the speed laws, which is de riguer in California. The middle two are for drivers over the age of 45 who want to go slightly above the speed limit, but not really fast. People who drive less than the speed limit and exit and enter the freeways drive in the right hand lane. And the ones who stay in the right hand lane for distance always see the same signals from other drivers: a raised middle finger. Lane hogging is illegal here. Once you’re done passing, you’re required to move back to the right lane, no matter how many lanes there are on the highway ([cite](http://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-A/title29-Asec2052.html)). There are stretches of the Maine turnpike that have three lanes for long, continuous stretches, and you can be ticketed for loafing in either of the left or middle lanes. The rule is the same in Massachusetts, which has quite a lot more traffic than Maine. They apply it to _all_ roads, not just limited-access highways ([cite](https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter89/Section4b)). New Jersey is the same ([cite](http://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=176921&Depth=2&depth=2&expandheadings=on&headingswithhits=on&hitsperheading=on&infobase=statutes.nfo&record=%7BEFF1%7D&softpage=Doc_Frame_PG42)). I’m not sure how many states have similar language. Many reserve the left lane for passing, but I think we three are in the minority in reserving the middle lanes for passing as well. So, we may all be morons, but we’re law-abiding morons. One more thing you may want to consider, before you hurl insults at other drivers in the future: We “morons” in the right lane have an extra escape route that you don’t have in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/92 "2014-11-25T06:12:45Z")
Ditto. On open interstates, I’ve seen plenty of signs that spell out “Keep Right Except To Pass”. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/93 "2014-11-25T11:15:56Z")
If it’s safe and clear, then yes of course I move to the right when a car is merging onto the highway. If I can’t move right then I adjust my speed accordingly, either faster or slower, but not dramatically so (e.g. I avoid dropping my speed by 20-30+ MPH), unless safety dictates otherwise. Certainly it’s the responsibility of the merger to merge safely and appropriately, but I help them when I can, sure, and I almost always can help. The Golden Rule, and all that. > [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > When a Stone family member ™ dies, we stay down and wait out the end of the world in Colma like any respectable San Franciscan. Unless you’re in the Columbarium. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/94 "2014-11-25T11:25:25Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I don’t drive in the right hand lane. That is for exiting and entering the highway. Only morons stay in the merging lane when they drive a long distance. The right lane is not the merging lane. If you drove this way in Germany where drivers have good lane discipline (which I wish we had here in the US), you’d be flashed over. Look for flashed high beams in your rear-view mirror – that’s the thing hanging from near the top center of your windshield. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/95 "2014-11-25T15:09:10Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > If it’s safe and clear, then yes of course I move to the right when a car is merging onto the highway. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/96 "2014-11-25T20:45:42Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I don’t drive in the right hand lane. That is for exiting and entering the highway. Only morons stay in the merging lane when they drive a long distance. Wow. Only a complete moron would think this and complete morons are rare. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/97 "2014-11-25T20:54:38Z")
In merging on the freeway I usually pick an open spot and hit it, matching speed with the flow. I never go in expecting people to make room. I think it’s the merging drivers responsibility to merge in with the flow. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869/98 "2014-11-26T01:58:04Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Wow. Only a complete moron would think this and complete morons are rare. Maybe he’s special. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-move-over-when-someone-is-merging-onto-the-highway/704869.md?page=4)