# How were you taught to merge onto a freeway (motorway) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489 "2012-10-22T03:50:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/1 "2012-10-22T03:50:33Z")
How I was taught in driver’s ed, and how I enter to this day: Accelerate as rapidly as necessary on the on-ramp in order to be going the same speed as the traffic already on the freeway. Look for a gap in the traffic, and pace myself as I travel down the ramp so that the gap arrives at the end of the ramp at the same time as I do. Give a proper signal well in advance (what I’m doing should be obvious, but some people are oblivious to the obvious – and a flashing light just catches people’s attention) Yield to (give way to, not stop for) anyone who would otherwise be along-side you at the end of the ramp – really means nothing more than adjusting your speed as necessary to fit in the gap you should have already picked out long before that has a chance of becoming an issue. Curious as to whether this lines up to how others were taught to merge. Group one proceeds at a steady 30-35 mph the whole way down the ramp, and just seems to expect the freeway traffic to slow down to allow them to enter. They never accelerate on the ramp, they wait until they’ve already entered the freeway and caused some drivers to hit the brakes or take evasive action before they accelerate to freeway speeds. Group two is pretty much the same as group one, except group two won’t barge in onto the freeway, what they do is even worse; they come to a full and complete stop on the ramp at the first sign of any traffic. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/2 "2012-10-22T03:56:59Z")
What you have outlined is what I was taught…to temper my speed to the flow of traffic, accelerate into the gaps and that it is MY obligation to slow down, not the person on the highway already at speed. Signal, look back at the flow of traffic, don’t just drive along mindlessly…and don’t stop unless absolutely, positively necessary to avoid an accident. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/3 "2012-10-22T04:06:19Z")
Your description is 100% correct. Unfortunately good driving skills are not for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/4 "2012-10-22T04:08:33Z")
I should have added (thought I did, but it didn’t get posted)… Group One and Group Two represent the way I see most people here in Maine pretending to merge. The reason I make mention of it is because those two groups seem to outnumber people who merge the way I do at least 6 to 1. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/5 "2012-10-22T04:08:44Z")
Say a Hail Mary and floor it. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/6 "2012-10-22T04:09:35Z")
The strategy suggested by the OP is also basically the same as you would use for doing a lane change – match your speed to the target lane, watch for a gap there, and merge into that gap. Strangely, I don’t recall having been taught that. Somehow over the years I just figured it out by myself, as best I remember it. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/7 "2012-10-22T04:22:30Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > I should have added (thought I did, but it didn’t get posted)… Group One and Group Two represent the way I see most people here in Maine pretending to merge. The reason I make mention of it is because those two groups seem to outnumber people who merge the way I do at least 6 to 1. Your way is the proper way. The other way is the way the majority of driversdo it. I am suprised when I can follow someone onto the freeway or expressway and we are both at speed when we merge with trafic. I also object to the people who slow down then change lanes in frontt of me causing me to slow down. Where if they had been operating right would have changed lanes with out slowing down. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/8 "2012-10-22T04:27:13Z")
I agree with what has been said. At times if I felt the driver in front of me wasn’t gaining speed, I’ve had to slow way down to let them get ahead and then accelerate to speed behind them. Obviously this only works if you have a long ramp so I tend to hang back first to make sure I feel the driver in front will proceed correctly. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/9 "2012-10-22T05:33:49Z")
What a timely thread. A Group 1 driver tried his best to get me killed just last week. He proceeded down a highway entrance ramp at a steady 30 mph, then entered the freeway. I was right behind him, and he didn’t leave me enough room to properly accelerate before the ramp ended, which forced me onto the highway right in front of a semitrailer rapidly bearing down on me. I floored the accelerator of my company Prius (literally jamming the accelerator all the way to the floor), just barely avoiding ending up as a hood ornament on the semi. I passed the idiot shortly thereafter (no surprise, as he was driving 10 mph below the speed limit), and he was completely oblivious. If I hadn’t been in a company car, I would have honked at him and flipped him off. On a related note, there are the awful entrance ramps on the Merritt Parkway here in Connecticut. The road was not built to modern standards or modern highway speeds, being constructed back in the 1930s. Anyway, many of the entrance ramps actually have _stop signs_ for some reason, making it almost impossible to safely enter, or to avoid almost hitting people who enter the highway from a dead stop. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/10 "2012-10-22T05:47:56Z")
The best way to drive safely is to not surprise anyone. You can deal with all sorts of hazards this way, from blizzards to deer, to stoplights that are malfunctioning. The two groups that you outlined are scary. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/11 "2012-10-22T06:30:12Z")
I can’t think of a local on ramp that allows me to see traffic on the Interstate. The OP is asking a lot to observe that traffic and pace the car before the ramp merges onto the Interstate. I’m usually too busy looking straight ahead on the on ramp to risk looking at the Interstate. I wouldn’t want to rear end somebody doing 50 mph. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/12 "2012-10-22T07:42:44Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Anyway, many of the entrance ramps actually have _stop signs_ for some reason… :eek:😕Wow, that’s pretty screwed up! On the Berlin inner city freeway (where fortunately you don’t drive full freeway speeds, maybe up to about 50 mph) there’s an entrance with a very sharp 270 degree turn right before (because this is in the middle of the city) and literally no on-ramp - you better say your Hail Marys here! [This](https://maps.google.com/?ll=52.493579,13.290602&spn=0.001236,0.003484&t=w&z=19) is what it looks like. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/13 "2012-10-22T08:11:24Z")
Many years before I could drive and many years before they had freeways in Australia I had learned how to do it from [Goofy on a Disneyland episode](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI2rFZOBSUw) I saw several times. Funny what sticks with you. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/14 "2012-10-22T11:38:25Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I can’t think of a local on ramp that allows me to see traffic on the Interstate. The OP is asking a lot to observe that traffic and pace the car before the ramp merges onto the Interstate. There are a couple of cloverleaf interchanges near me that have this problem. For some reason the DOT saw fit to plant all kinds of landscaping inside the 270-degree ramp, making it extremely difficult to see what traffic might be approaching until you’re nearly ready to merge. IME the best policy is to accelerate hard before I can see, building up speed early. If I do encounter traffic once my view is unobstructed, I can always get on the brakes hard, whereas if I wait to accelerate, I’m more likely to be screwed. All cars can decelerate (brake) far more rapidly than they can accelerate. Hopefully some time in the next few years they’ll rebuild these cloverleafs into the new style, which includes an accel/decel lane that’s entirely separated from the main lanes of traffic; this way you’re not trying to merge with traffic that’s whizzing by at 65+ MPH. > [@](#): > > I’m usually too busy looking straight ahead on the on ramp to risk looking at the Interstate. I wouldn’t want to rear end somebody doing 50 mph. You need not dedicate your eyeballs to one single spot in the scenery (i.e. \*_either_ the on-ramp in front of you **or** the highway onto which you’ll be merging); practice taking brief glimpses to get the information you need. If you’re so close to the vehicle in front of you that you’re worried about rear-ending him when you take your eyes off of them for a second, then you are following _way_ too close. Back off, give yourself some time and space to react if he does hit his brakes, and you will have more than enough cushion to be able to look over your shoulder at the lanes into which you’ll be merging ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/15 "2012-10-22T12:01:39Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > How I was taught in driver’s ed, and how I enter to this day: > > Accelerate as rapidly as necessary on the on-ramp in order to be going the same speed as the traffic already on the freeway. > > Look for a gap in the traffic, and pace myself as I travel down the ramp so that the gap arrives at the end of the ramp at the same time as I do. Give a proper signal well in advance (what I’m doing should be obvious, but some people are oblivious to the obvious – and a flashing light just catches people’s attention) > > Yield to (give way to, not stop for) anyone who would otherwise be along-side you at the end of the ramp – really means nothing more than adjusting your speed as necessary to fit in the gap you should have already picked out long before that has a chance of becoming an issue. > > Curious as to whether this lines up to how others were taught to merge. I don’t remember if this is what I was taught in driver’s Ed., because I remember the Michigan Secretary of State commercials that said the same thing, from years before I was ever driving. I don’t remember all the words now, but it ended with “adjust your speed, and move smoothly into the traffic lane.” > [@](#): > > Group one proceeds at a steady 30-35 mph the whole way down the ramp, and just seems to expect the freeway traffic to slow down to allow them to enter. They never accelerate on the ramp, they wait until they’ve already entered the freeway and caused some drivers to hit the brakes or take evasive action before they accelerate to freeway speeds. But they’re afraid to go faster because merging onto the freeway is _so hard_. I hate being behind these people. ETA: > [@OldGuy](#): > > so I tend to hang back first to make sure I feel the driver in front will proceed correctly. This. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/16 "2012-10-22T12:07:27Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Say a Hail Mary and floor it. I run into a lot of people who do it this way. Well, not literally. I will when possible move into the left lane to allow merging drivers to smoothly enter the highway. What some don’t understand or care about is that it is not always possible to do this, and one should not expect a driver in the right lane to hit his brakes to accomodate your merge. He’s the one with the right of way, not you. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/17 "2012-10-22T12:15:30Z")
Can’t recall seeing a ramp with a _stop sign_. I’d probably have an accident staring bug-eyed at the thing. While I agree with the OP, It actually is okay to come to a full stop on the ramp, IF you do it at the _start_ of the ramp, not the end, and for a good reason. For example, I have sometimes been behind a slow, hesitant person who is obviously going to roll down to the merge point, panic, stop, and wait with blinker on. It would be stupid of me to use up my _acceleration lane_ by running up behind this person and getting stuck also; so I’ll stop waaaay back up at the start of the ramp until he or she sorts things out. _Then_ I’ll roll down the ramp, coming up to highway speed, and merge into a gap I’ve been watching for. A corollary to your thesis is the required behavior of drivers on the main highway when they see people entering at ramps. While it is acceptable to move over to the left to make more room for them, it is not required nor is it always safe to do so. What IS required is that the drivers already on the highway _maintain a fixed speed._ There’s a reason for this rule: physics. The drivers entering the road are trying to gauge your speed. That’s one of the most important duties of the person merging, and _changing_ your speed throws that person off. _Speeding up_ (to “get ahead” of someone merging in, even a detestable vehicle like a slow bus) or _slowing down_ “to let them in” are both wrong and dangerous. When I see someone starting down the merge ramp I monitor my speed and try to stay at the rate I’m already going. This makes it easier for the merging person, safer for everyone, and me not a moron. That said, there are a few folks I meet occasionally who believe it is not only required that I move to the left lane, at any cost, even if I am disrupting overtaking traffic, so that they can enter the highway on the right, and they apparently believe this with such conviction that they’re willing to die to enforce it. Or else they’re robot assassins from the future. Because on several occasions, when I’m monitoring my fixed speed, someone coming down the ramp to my right will look directly over at me, and if pulling ahead, will SLOW DOWN, or if falling behind, SPEED UP, to parallel me on the ramp, and then with a final look directly at me, lunge at may car like the Terminator. It’s particularly baffling when the person was already ahead of me and going faster – why not just merge over and go your merry way? Hence my conclusion that they’ve been sent to kill me. It’s not common, but it’s happened enough that I look for it now and do see it occasionally. My best “real” guess is that these are indeed people who are furious that I did not brake on the Interstate to make a bigger gap for them to merge into. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/18 "2012-10-22T12:31:57Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > That said, there are a few folks I meet occasionally who believe it is not only required that I move to the left lane, at any cost, even if I am disrupting overtaking traffic, so that they can enter the highway on the right, and they apparently believe this with such conviction that they’re willing to die to enforce it. I encounter this behavior all the time. It’s like the concept of yielding to the cars in the right lane is foreign to them. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/19 "2012-10-22T12:39:52Z")
I usually will be moving fast enough on the ramp to merge very early, sometimes passing Type 2 or Type 3 drivers ahead of me. Idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489/20 "2012-10-22T12:52:35Z")
> [@robby](#): > > …he didn’t leave me enough room to properly accelerate before the ramp ended, which forced me onto the highway right in front of a semitrailer rapidly bearing down on me. I floored the accelerator of my company Prius (literally jamming the accelerator all the way to the floor), just barely avoiding ending up as a hood ornament on the semi. IOW, you were almost responsible for creating a serious accident - not a good way to respond to the questionable (but unfortunately common) driving of the guy in front of you. > [@](#): > > If I hadn’t been in a company car, I would have honked at him and flipped him off. Which had zero chance of improving the situation and some real chance of making it worse. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-you-taught-to-merge-onto-a-freeway-motorway/638489.md?page=2)