# Two cars moving into same lane **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 30, 2016, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-cars-moving-into-same-lane/756076 "2016-05-30T10:56:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [May 31, 2016, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-cars-moving-into-same-lane/756076/21 "2016-05-31T09:48:42Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > So what were the error(s) made here, and what technically should happen if this situation does occur (e.g. does one car have right of way)? I don’t think any errors were made. Both drivers checked, the space was clear and it was safe for each to start their lane change, so they did. The situation changed, though - the space each wanted was later no longer clear. If both cars were side by side (one not in front of the other) and there was a collision, I think fault would be assigned 50/50. > [@Mijin](#): > > And many of the answers say you should be aware of cars two lanes over… Yes, this. When I’m in the OP’s scenario I recognize that the other car may also want that space. If I enter the space first and then later notice the other car is starting to move in, then if I have substantially more of that space than the other guy, I tend to hold my line and continue moving into the space while also watching the other car to see if the driver sees me and yields to me. If that driver does not yield to me and continues in, then I yield. If the other car has entered the space first, or if it has more of the space than I do, then I yield. The OP’s scenario happens occasionally, from time to time. > [@Mijin](#): > > I ride a bike in Shanghai. You don’t need to tell me the importance of staying alert and second-guessing when a car is going to turn across me at speed without looking or signalling… No kidding. I’ve ridden a motorcycle in Manila while visiting. You have to be super defensive there, and in Shanghai too although I have not ridden there. Not yet anyway. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2016, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-cars-moving-into-same-lane/756076/22 "2016-05-31T09:51:58Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > My car has a little amber light on the side mirror that comes on if anyone is in my ‘blind spot’. Mine does too. But in the OP’s scenario my car’s warning alarm would not trigger because the other car is beside me and two lanes over. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyCarbon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/848f3c/32.png) [@MostlyCarbon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyCarbon)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-cars-moving-into-same-lane/756076/23 "2016-06-01T02:08:06Z")
I can only report how the Texas traffic laws read in regard to this but… As quoted in the other thread: Sec. 545.061. DRIVING ON MULTIPLE-LANE ROADWAY. On a roadway divided into three or more lanes and providing for one-way movement of traffic, an operator entering a lane of traffic from a lane to the right shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle entering the same lane of traffic from a lane to the left. This statute seems to address the exact scenario you asked about. In this case, the driver moving from the slow lane must yield to the driver moving from the fast lane. (The right-of-way is never assigned to one driver over another - only the duty to yield to another driver.) But also, 545.060 says: (2) may not move from the lane unless that movement can be made safely. So possibly both drivers are in violation (not fault -A police officer cannot determine fault - only a court can do that. The police officer can only determine if a violation was committed.) As to the original question… maybe the driver moving from the slow lane to the center lane would be 60% at fault and the driver moving from the fast lane to the center lane would be 40% at fault. (Assuming statute 545.061 applies in this jurisdiction) Also, speed has no bearing on right-of-way. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-cars-moving-into-same-lane/756076/24 "2016-06-01T14:11:19Z")
> [@MostlyCarbon](#): > > an operator entering a lane of traffic from a lane to the right shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle entering the same lane of traffic from a lane to the left. Excellent. Thank you. 🙂 ---
**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:** [June 1, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-cars-moving-into-same-lane/756076/25 "2016-06-01T15:40:35Z")
Yes that is good to know, and it makes sense because the driver being on the left is in a better position to see the situation. I would guess the law is the same in California and other states too, if a law for such a situation exists for the state. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-cars-moving-into-same-lane/756076/26 "2016-06-01T16:47:16Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > When I am changing lanes I make myself very aware of any other cars in the vicinity and their possible moves that might interfere with my lane change. The problem is one of perspective. Since you’re moving over, you expect the car abreast of you to be getting closer to you. It’s not always going to be immediately apparent whether it is getting closer simply because you’re moving closer to it, or because it is also independently moving closer to you. It’s similar to being on a moving train passing another train, and trying to determine whether the other train is stationary or moving too. > [@boytyperanma](#): > > In MA ‘right of way’ is something you yield not something you have. I’ve driven there. In MA, ‘right of way’ is something you yield over your cold dead body. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-cars-moving-into-same-lane/756076/27 "2016-06-01T22:09:17Z")
I witnessed such a collision southbound on the NJTP a few years ago. I was in the “fast” (fastest) medianside lane behind a box-body truck which moved to the right into an empty slot at the same time that a flatbed semitrailer in the 3rd lane from the median moved left into the same slot. The sideswipe overturned the box truck which then slid on its side for a couple hundred feet. As I passed it on the right, its driver was standing, apparently uninjured, on his side window, trying to figure how to exit the cab. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-cars-moving-into-same-lane/756076.md?page=1)