But, it’s more efficient if everyone merged gradually, using the whole merge lane, not leaving an empty lane for a mile. If people don’t know this, how is it my fault if I use the whole merge lane?
NB
So, what do you think about the people that get off at Gateway, hang an immediate left and then zip along the on-ramp, cutting back in just before Fish Ranch?
I want to shoot each and every one of them.
And I will plan for morons like you making things dangerous for everyone else and have a gap I am aiming for where I will slot in unobtrusively 
I heart xkcd. 
Well, no, we’re not. Some of us have managed to figure out that if we leave with plenty of time to spare, we don’t have to feel rushed.
Also, you’re missing the point. It’s not about entitlement, it’s about using all available resources to reduce congestion. If everyone prematurely merges and leaves a mile or so empty lane, it unnecessarily reduces the actual capacity of the highway and spreads congestion out over a longer portion of highway. It’s been mentioned here before, I believe, that in some areas, transportation departments have posted signs encouraging drivers to use all available lanes (though I haven’t personally seen them). The upside is that if everyone changed their behavior and made use of the merging lane as long as they could, it eliminate the opportunity for unsafe drivers to fly down an unused lane at four or five times the speed of the lanes next to it.
I do and will continue to use merging lanes all the way up to the cones and will continue to pace myself so that I can get through a traffic jam with the least brake use.
I know of a couple of roundabouts in use in Charlotte and I’m quickly becoming a fan. The ones I’m thinking of eliminate a stopsign or light at the end of freeway offramps. I think if it manages to keep traffic moving, even if at a slower pace in heavy traffic, it’s much more efficient.
I’m possibly going to suggest an unpopular idea that we should consider the efficiency as well as safety aspect of road rules. For instance, if you come to a four-way stop at an empty intersection and you are clearly not endangering yourself or anyone else by yielding (i.e., slowing to check for obstacles and proceeding as soon as safe passage has been determined) as opposed to coming to a full stop, why shouldn’t we recognize fuel efficiency that doesn’t come at a cost to safety, especially lately when we as a nation are concerned with our rate of consumption? As to the OP, if the maneuver can be done safely and more efficiently than waiting at the light, what’s the problem? If it runs afoul of the law, perhaps the municipality ought to consider whether traffic flow design plays a negative factor. I’ll bet everyone in this thread can name at least one instance in their daily travels of poor traffic flow design.
People misinterpret “using all lanes until the choke point” to think that it means you should zoom to the end and cut in. It doesn’t. You’re supposed to maintain equal speed with the folks in the lane next to you, and then take turns at the choke point. I do this, invariably opening up a large space in front of me where people who don’t understand the idea go zooming and cut in. Also invariably, the losers behind me see that large open space and think I’m not doing it right, so they honk and try to pass me, and get quite pissed off when I box them out.
It’s a strategem best left to where you know the area, I occasionally do this, or simply treat the red light, like a stop sign. It’s proper usage is best used on off peak times when red lights are calibrated to ensure flow of traffic in the oncoming lane,ie, you are driving north to south and waiting at a set of lights for the west to east lanes.
Legality, it’s questionable for the u- turn, but either dangerous or careless driving would cover any set of circumstances if there was no specific charge handy. The red light is a bit more vague, and it’s probably cops discretion, as they would not answer me directly when I posed that question.
Declan
This is the most sane explanation of this I have ever seen. Perhaps you could create a series of public service announcements?
You should be curtious and let him turn left. A half of a second of your time could save him minutes if there is a line of traffic behind you. He either gets in there in front of you or waits for everybody to pass. I think this is a legit maneuver on his part and have no problem with it.
You’re from Boston, aren’t you?
I strongly disagree. He’s making a dangerous turn, and counting on you to concede the position in the game of chicken that he’s initiated. It’s not “courtesy” to slam on your brakes to (try to) avoid hitting someone who cuts in front of you; it’s self-preservation. The second option you mention - wait for everybody to pass - is the only one of the two that I’d consider valid.
Sometimes making left turns can be really slow in heavy traffic - several light cycles’ worth of wait. I know this, and I either find another route or deal with it; the maneuver we’re talking about is (IMO) rude and dangerous, and also extremely rare here (which I consider a very good thing).
“Courtesy” on the road is obeying right of way. The more drivers that operate in a predictable, consistent manner, the fewer dangerous situations and accidents there are.
No, I am somewhat close, but don’t relate to them at all!
That’s why I said he must be from Boston - that’s SOP in that area, so much that it actually is behaving in a “predictable, consistent manner” to do it.
I’m curious about U turns in general; I see signs occasionally that prohibit them (at intersections where they’d happen all the time otherwise) but if there’s no sign and no oncoming traffic, are they generally legal?
The “trick” in the OP is one I’ve pulled occasionally, generally at very slow lights during low traffic; I don’t think I’d pull it in front of a cop, but that’s just because I don’t like giving bored cops any reason to look twice at me. I have no idea if it’s defensible legally.
I know that you’re not allowed to cut through a business parking lot to avoid traffic; a friend of mine cut through a gas station to skip the long line of cars turning right, and got a ticket for it.
I see people do it all the time though. Me, I’d be the schmuck who gets a ticket for it, too.
I just witnessed this the other day, only we were on the same side of the street, the guys net gain was less than five seconds of time. I thought it was the stupidest dodge in the book, and I’m living in Chicago where there’s an unwritten rule that three cars get to run the red on a left turn arrow.
This definitely varies by area. In the Chicago area, they’re prohibited within a certain number of feet of an intersection (100? 200? not sure, but it might impact the OP’) - unless they’re specifically allowed. There’s usually a sign if they’re permitted at an intersection, but I find them very infrequently. On the other hand, when I’m driving in N.C. they seem to be allowed everywere, unless specifically prohibited. I’ve surmised this is due to rural-type roads, with generally less traffic, where you frequently can only access an exit via one direction, so they let you make a U turn at the next intersection.
Yup. unfortunately, most of the time, that’s the only way to make a left turn in Chicago. They are slowly adding more turn signals, but with high traffic levels, frequently, the only cars that turn left are the ones that cram into the intersection before the light turns red. As long as there isn’t a turn signal the other direction that you’re interfering with, I don’t see much of a problem with it…
They should be stabbed in the eyeball at least once and possibly twice. I saw people pull that stunt all the damned time and admit that I did not look charitably upon letting them in. Unfortunately I had a small car that was not suitably equipped for elbowing people. Your proposed method works just as well.
It didn’t take me long to stumble on the best answer to this, though, which was to take the train.
Well yeah, if you want to wuss out. 
Actually, I’m on BART daily, and always fear having to drive into SF on weekends just because of the traffic mayhem at the Caldecott since it’s challenging to predict which way the center bore will be running at non-commute times. Guess wrong, and add 20 minutes to your schedule. 
I really do all I can to avoid driving into SF. Two hours to Gilroy? Let’s go! Drive four hours to South Tahoe? No problem! 40 minutes to SoMa? Ehhh… Are you *sure *we can’t take BART?
Oh, then there’s the approach to the Bay Bridge. Another class of people that deserve extinction are the ones that fly up the carpool lanes, then cut into the pay lanes at the very last moment or the ones that try to swim along in the FasTrak lanes that are theoretically moving at a steady 25 MPH, then jump out into the pay lanes that have been doing a stop and creep for the past 3/4 mile.
My fantasy vehicle for this area is an old beat-up ugly pickup truck. The more crunched spots and rust, the better. Something that people in their pretty plastic cars will avoid for fear that the dents are contagious. Ya wanna play chicken with this, Lexus Lady?
That’s a maneuver I never saw until I moved here. I call it the Boston Holeshot.
I see the CHP there a lot, just sitting in the breakdown lane waiting…
I hate driving into SF too, but I have the worst luck with BART. I’m a weirdo-magnet. If there is a crazy anywhere in the whole system he will gravitate to my car and the seat next to me.
More on topic: In downtown on Market ST. the left lane is bus and cable-car only. I’ve seen people exceeding the speed limit in this forbidden lane only to make a wild right turn at a red light without stopping.
At night I suggest stopping at the blinking yellows because taxi drivers don’t even slow down for the blinking reds.
The ‘KEEP CLEAR’ areas are only obeyed if a cop is present–which they routinely are during the evening rush, for this reason.
SF traffic = :mad: