We are having a lot of work done on the freeways out here, which is good. Sometimes they close the slow lane, sometimes the fast lane.
They have big fucking signs that say "Lane ends in 2 fucking miles, 1 mile, half a mile, 1500 feet, 500 feet, etc. It’s not a surprise.
But of course you have these stupid fucks that MUST blast on through up to the fucking barrier, come to a complete stop, and then try to muscle over.
Get a clue morons. If you merged on in a mile or so ago, traffic would keep moving. It fucks everybody up when you do this “I have to be first” bullshit, and come to a stop.
And no, I won’t let your ass in when you do that crap. I would be glad to let you in a ways back when traffic is actually moving.
Incidentally, I will sometimes cover both lanes so you can’t do that shit.
If someone makes a good-faith effort to get over as soon as the first sign that the lane ends appears, then I will let them over.
If they try to take it to the end before getting over, I will gladly martyr myself to fuck them over.
Oh man. There was a long pit thread on this about a month back, but I’m too lazy to find it. IIRC, the thread was started by someone who thought he had a right to keep driving up until the very barrier of the closed lane and became annoyed at “holier than thou” drivers who wouldn’t let him merge properly :rolleyes:
Hey I got news for ya: It is a freakin’ race. When I get home each day, 30 seconds earlier 'cuz I managed to pass 10 or 20 cars through creative use of a closed lane or exit ramp, I get out my car and jump up and down in the driveway shouting “I won!!!” “I won!!!”.
And the thing about sleazing forward in a closed lane is that there’s always some pussy-boy who Doesn’t Understand and who lets you back into traffic.
By the way, I think traffic would flow just as well if EVERYONE waited until the last minute to merge. There’s a web-site out there which makes a pretty convincing argument on this point. I’ll try to post a link if I can find it.
Also, keep in mind that blocking people from changing lanes DOES slow up traffic (in certain circumstances).
But yeah, it’s satisfying to thwart a queue-jumper.
I don’t have a problem with merging if drivers do it politely…one car lets one merge, then he goes forward, then the car behind lets the next car merge, etc…but I find my frustration level rises when I’ve been creeping along in the correct lane for forty-five minutes and then some jerk comes flying by in his pickup truck and attempts to edge over. We’re all in this together, moron, and you are not going to get to your destination any faster!
Did we all forget our lessons in school about not cutting in line??
My rule-of-thumb is, if the asshole puts on his turn signal, I’ll let him in.
But he’d damn well better give me the “thanks” wave.
Of course, if he came up from at least ten spots back, and I’m fewer than ten spots from the FMP (final merge point)…fuck 'im.
[sub] I’m using the third person masculine because, for the most part, I’ve seen far fewer women attempt this than men–by at least a 10-to-1 margin. And if she’s cute, I’ll let her in anyway[/sub]
My understanding is that if you merge when cars are spread out pretty well, you don’t slow down traffic, because you can merge at a relatively higher speed.
If you merge when cars are close together, however, then you do slow down traffic, since you have to slow down to perform a more precise maneuver. And that slows down everyone behind you.
I’ve taken to leaving a good 40 feet in front of me when I get stuck in traffic, an invitation to let anyone merge who wants to merge. I think it doesn’t slow folks down, and since it takes me out of the driving competition, it lowers my stress level. The 40’ window allows people to merge at a reasonable speed, rather than slowing to almost nothing when merging.
What pisses me off no end is when the asshole right behind me sees that I’m leaving a space in front of me & letting folks in, decides that that’s putting them too far behind in the Car Race Ratings, and passes me just to get into my 40’ window. Idiot!
This thread has a few nice cites: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=116434&highlight=merge
Mathematically, if all lanes were used until the merge, and people politely took turns integrating, traffic flow would be maximized. People being what they are, this never happens, so in practical terms it’s generally better to merge sooner than later.
ya know that guy who come flyin’ past right to the end of the lane, then FORCES his way into the lane, cause he’s drivin’ an old, beat up truck that has zero value and therefor nothing to lose by simply running into you, and looks like if you didn’t allow him in and you did hit him, he would end up killing you with any of the various tools, shovels, picks or metal bits littering the back of the truck, sitting there in the cab unshaven, dirty, nasty and looking a little crazy?
ya know that guy who come flyin’ past right to the end of the lane, then FORCES his way into the lane, cause he’s drivin’ an old, beat up truck that has zero value and therefor nothing to lose by simply running into you, and looks like if you didn’t allow him in and you did hit him, he would end up killing you with any of the various tools, shovels, picks or metal bits littering the back of the truck, sitting there in the cab unshaven, dirty, nasty and looking a little crazy?
That’s exactly it. If everybody could just take turns and merge zipper-fashion, it would work wonderfully. But no, everybody has to be all competitive “You’re not gettin’ in front of me!” like being one car length further back is going to make a friggin’ bit of difference. I also despise those people who come zooming up from the rear, but simply staying in the lane until you get to the merge point shouldn’t be seen as such a cardinal sin.
I’M WITH YOU IVY…sorry, didn’t mean to shout. I’m perfectly happy to let somebody in, ONE somebody, because it’s polite and what goes around come’s around. When two or more drivers try to squeeze in though, when one guy hangs right on another’s bumper, I get really annoyed. I won’t let them in. Screw 'em. They’re no better than me and they can wait their turns.
You’re right too about cutting in line in school. That used to burn me so much, I’d refuse to let people cut in line, even if they could beat the shit out of me. It was the principle of the thing.
The Zipper, the “weave”, whatever you want to call it…it would work much better if the pinheads in the continuing lane would let them in, one at a time, like they’re supposed to. Those are the guys that are fucking it up!
