Thanks for mentioning this, BW.
I thought I was the Last Human On Earth who did/expected this.
Actually I gave up expecting it long ago, but still do it, for some unexplained reason.
wireless, you still do it because it’s the right thing to do.
Never before has so much rested on such a simple hand gesture!
Hrrm I just tend to pull over to I’m half in each lane.
CAN"T GET AROUND ME ANYMORE YOU BASTARDS!
MUWHAHHAHHAHAHAh
Of course, they can always swing onto the shoulder and get around you that way.
Once on a trip with the Big Brown Behemoth™ - our Ford extended Clubwagon van, which is wide enough that it takes up almost the whole lane - we hit a stretch of highway where both lanes were moving at a dead crawl. After one too many people went whizzing past on the shoulder, we edged over until we were blocking most of the shoulder but still keeping our place in line. I wasn’t long before someone came along and started honking at us because we were interfering with his God-given right to be an asshole. When we didn’t pull over to let him pass, he actually drove off the shoulder to get around us.
:wally
Only assuming that traffic is at a relatively slow (read: crawl) pace to begin with. When the lane of traffic that isn’t being merged is moving along at a nice clip, and you wait until you get right up to the bottle-neck, stop, and then try to get in, this is when you cause a problem. It requires the smoothly-flowing traffic to stop to allow you to get in… obviously, this is NOT “maximized” traffic flow.
“Merge” implies a steady, gradual process. The aforementioned “zipper-like” maneuver is more akin to a reverse fork in the road.
Ya know, I agree that 99% of the people who ride the shoulder like this are assholes. But consider that once in a while, you’ll be blocking the guy-who’s-rushing-to-the-hospital-to-see-his-dying-family-member or whatever.
I concede the possibility. The incident I described was taking place on northbound I-65 about 20-30 miles north of Indianapolis (IIRC) on a Sunday afternoon, a relatively rural area. I don’t remember the specifics of the vehicle which passed us, so I can’t say if there was any indication of his reason for being in such a hurry. The odds were against him being on an “emergency” call, considering the time and location.
So do you have a rebuttal to my explanation of how it makes no difference?
I have to agree with the “use both lanes until merge point” folks. In fact, when driving through West Virginia a few months ago, I noticed signs that instructed you to do just that. If only everyone else would follow suit, we’d all have a lot less driving stress (since nobody’s taking advantage of anyone else).