When 2 lanes merge into 1, who has the right of way, the car in the left lane, or the car in the right lane? (Assume they arrive at the merge at the same time). This has been a source of confusion for me. I’m not talking about an onramp to a highway here, just two lanes on an ordinary road that narrow into a single lane.
In this region,CA,NV,AZ there is usually signage directing traffic : “Lane ends merge right” or “Lane ends merge left”
In the case of “Lane ends merge left” the car on the right merging to theleft must yield .
That’s great if there is such a sign saying “merge left” or “merge right” but in my neighborhood there are no such signs, hence the confusion. What if there is no sign?
…and in my region as well(Southeast). The traffic in the lane that is ending gives the right of way to the other lane.
[rant]And it never fails that some a-hole will fly past, in the ending lane, and try to merge in at the last minute even though they could have planned ahead, like the rest of us, and gotten over. [/rant]
That’s ‘merge’, dammit! Alternate! Left, right, left, right! Let people in, and don’t rush ahead! Bunch of jerks!
(You might have noticed that this is one of my pet peeves. The rule given above works fine except when the traffic is jammed up.)
I don’t think anyone has truly answered the question yet; I think what DaveRaver is asking is this:
At a 4-way stop the vehicle to the right goes first if two cars arrive at the intersection at the same time. Is there any comparable rule of thumb if you are exactly the same speed and position as the car in the lane next to you, and the two lanes merge to one?
And I’ll add my own question here: On a multilane highway, if you on the left and another car on the right both seek to change lanes to the lane in the center, who has right of way?
I suspect there may not be an answer to the first question, but I recall that at least in Texas, there is a rule for the second.
Going south on the NJ Turnpike, there’s a big ol’ merge where the “cars only” join the “cars and trucks” lanes. When the respective right and left lanes become one, there is no indication who has the right-of-way (IIRC). Fortunately most folks follow the rjk Rule aka the Alternate, dammit! Rule.
(I looked on the Turnpike and NJ DMV websites, but could find no appropriate citation.)
I do, dammit! Whatsamatter? You gotta problem with that? 
In theory it’s what the sign says whichever lane ends. In practice it’s the more aggressive driver, always.
I was right after all, I AM the only person that knows how to drive.
Everyone is making this way too difficult.
I have never seen an instance where a lane merges with another without some type of signage to indicate which lane has the right of way. It never says “right/left lane has the right of way”, but it will say something like "left lane ends’ or “merge right”.
In any case, if you are in the lane that is ending, you yield to the other lane.
dqa, if people would pay attention to the signs this would not occur. The person who is in the ending lane should see the sign and adjust his speed by speeding up or slowing down (I prefer speeding up) so that he/she may merge into the other lane without impeding the flow in that other lane. In short, it just means that someone is not paying attention.
Again, this is obvious if the signs are read. If, as you say, the “cars only lane” merges with the “cars and trucks lane” then this means that the “cars only” lane is ending and you must yield to the traffic in the “cars and trucks” lane.
also, dqa asked
My own common sense way of dealing with this issue is to never change lanes directly beside someone else. If, however, someone else really needs to, I would guess that the person moving left to right has the right of way over the person moving right to left since they would have a better view of the opposing vehicle’s turn signals (the little lights at the corners of your vehicle which noone uses).
Now it’s time for me to ask my question;
If you are in the left lane of a multilane highway and you are 1)barely doing the speed limit, 2)talking on your cellphone and 3)wiping boogers on the carpet (or whatever it is that has your head disappearing and your car weaving), when you look in the mirror and see me behind you, why don’t you get the hell over? Have you ever heard the phrase “slower traffic keep right”? Well, do it!
While we’re at it, why don’t you hang up the freakin phone? You are, afterall, driving a car not a phonebooth.
How about this for simple- Whoever is ahead of you has the right of way.
That’s the way I was taught.
I have never heard of a rule for this situation. I’m with those that assume if everybody was paying attention, and being considerate (haha) there is no need for a rule. Whichever car is ahead has right of way; unless they are going [painfully slowly & I can safely pass.
As to merging into the center lane, I’m with mojo.
Common sense. I always pull far enough ahead of the adjacent car so they can clearly see what I am intending to do. Assuming they are paying attention to the little blinky thing on the corner of my vehicle. I used to drive a truck OTR. A guy died right in front of me because he in the left lane, & car #2 in the right lane were both racing along side of me (in a semi in the center lane) to get in front of me. I saw it coming & started to slow down as both cars cut right in front of me & blammo. Tough price to pay for driving like a jerk. And having the ringside seat to watch someone go halfway through the windshield, then be slammed againts the drivers’ side window practically decapitated will definitely put a damper on your day. 
Bottom line: being alert & common sense. Only in the absence of these two things do we actually need many traffic rules.
That reminds me of a question I once had. Four vehicles arrive at exactly the same time at a rural intersection, void of any signs or signals. One is the president of the United States on his way to avert a nuclear holocaust; another is a policeman on the way to an armed robbery in progess; the third is an ambulance on its way to a life-and-death emergency; the fourth is a fire-truck on its way to a fire at an orphanage: Which of these vehicles has the right-of-way?
I made phone calls (there was no Internet at the time) and got wishy-washy answers until I called the local highway patrol. A patrolman answered the phone, and I asked him my question. He replied instantly, “I dunno. But if the mailman were there, he would have the right-of-way!”
Yeah, I agree. The traffic should close up like a zipper, and it can then keep moving at a respectable speed. However, all it takes is for one arsehole to speed up and force one guy to wait, and then you have one fast moving lane, and a bunch of people in the other lane stuck there stopped indefinitely.
In Sydney, (we drive on the left of the road), the left lane usually has to give way to the right. There is a sign saying “Left lane ends. Merge right”, and a broken white line which the cars in the left lane must cross (it has the same legal meaning as a white “give way” or “yield” line at an intersection. The cars in the right lane just keep driving along at full speed - it’s not their problem.
When driving in Melbourne however, I’ve found they don’t have this system. In that city, the line between the lanes simply stops at the point where the road begins to narrow. I think the traffic just has to fight it out. It freaked me a bit.
The only reasonable way I have found it to alternate merge at the actual merge - not before. I have found (and you have too, I know you have) that when 2 lanes merge people start to get over to the lane that goes through. Some continue to the merge. This means that people in the through lane get screwed so I always take the shorter line - it just makes sense.
One state that I have seen gets it right. While driving through PA construction zone there was a sign something like right lane ends STAY IN YOUR LANE TILL THE MERGE - they alternate.
Also in practice the right-of-way goes away in place of an alternate merge in traffic jams.
…or such is my humble O
AMEN TO THAT!! We have an intersection here where there is ALWAYS a backup because people DON’T know how to merge. They see the ‘lane ends 1/2 mile - merge left’ sign, so they do… ignoring the part that says ‘1/2 MILE’. I say screw 'em, and stay in the right hand lane until the merge… I rarely even have to slow down, while the left lane is crawling at 10 miles per. A local newpaper column called ‘The Road Warrior’ (isn’t THAT original!) asked the State Patrol why they don’t ticket people who do like I do. The cop’s response? “Well, because they aren’t doing anything wrong!” bwa-ha-ha!!!
Another right-of-way question. Here in Washington (and in a few other states to boot) they have a thing called the ‘Road-Hog Law’. Basically, if you are on a two lane road, and you notice 5 or more cars lined up behind you, you are supposed to move to the right at the first safe opportunity and let them by. Does this include if you are already going ten miles an hour over the speed limit?
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AMEN TO THAT!! We have an intersection here where there is ALWAYS a backup because people DON’T know how to merge. They see the ‘lane ends 1/2 mile - merge left’ sign, so they do… ignoring the part that says ‘1/2 MILE’. I say screw 'em, and stay in the right hand lane until the merge… I rarely even have to slow down, while the left lane is crawling at 10 miles per. A local newpaper column called ‘The Road Warrior’ (isn’t THAT original!) asked the State Patrol why they don’t ticket people who do like I do. The cop’s response? “Well, because they aren’t doing anything wrong!” bwa-ha-ha!!!
Another right-of-way question. Here in Washington (and in a few other states to boot) they have a thing called the ‘Road-Hog Law’. Basically, if you are on a two lane road, and you notice 5 or more cars lined up behind you, you are supposed to move to the right at the first safe opportunity and let them by. Does this include if you are already going ten miles an hour over the speed limit? **
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AMEN TO THAT!! We have an intersection here where there is ALWAYS a backup because people DON’T know how to merge. They see the ‘lane ends 1/2 mile - merge left’ sign, so they do… ignoring the part that says ‘1/2 MILE’. I say screw 'em, and stay in the right hand lane until the merge… I rarely even have to slow down, while the left lane is crawling at 10 miles per. A local newpaper column called ‘The Road Warrior’ (isn’t THAT original!) asked the State Patrol why they don’t ticket people who do like I do. The cop’s response? “Well, because they aren’t doing anything wrong!” bwa-ha-ha!!!
Another right-of-way question. Here in Washington (and in a few other states to boot) they have a thing called the ‘Road-Hog Law’. Basically, if you are on a two lane road, and you notice 5 or more cars lined up behind you, you are supposed to move to the right at the first safe opportunity and let them by. Does this include if you are already going ten miles an hour over the speed limit? **
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Yo,the sign says"lane ends 1/2 mile" not "merge left 1/2 mile"Did you ever think that the people merging are cooperating and you ar e the brazen jerk safely insulated from the people you don’t even know and brush off with"fuck em"Screw you, I’ve risked confrontation with jerks like you by keeping my car over far enough where you can’t get by and got more cooperation from the rest in line.I won’t be doing this any more as I value my life enough to not to have to involve myself with the miserable assholes who disregard everyone else in this world.Grow up,work together.As for the road hog law.I say teach this in driver ed and make it a mandatory question on all drivers tests.
Oh, so I’m a jerk because I do something that is PERFECTLY LEGAL???
Ahhh… but the point is that I am doing nothing wrong… and the cops have backed that up in print … If you aren’t supposed to USE the pavement for 1/2 a mile, then why the hell have it there??? MY point is that if MORE people did what I do that friggin’ back-up wouldn’t be as bad! Don’t panic, stay calm, and ALTERNATE who gets in… it’s so simple, people.
By the same token, in situations where I get stuck in the left lane (usually, if I’m there, I’m not about to switch into the right lane) I ALWAYS let others get in front of me…as many as need to… as it is obnoxious AND DANGEROUS to 'move over to try to block them off by “keeping my car over far enough where you can’t get by”