Traffic Quiz

[banditbdl]

Two good links. I'd agree that when traffic is very heavy a later merger is a good idea as earlier merges involve the same stopping and just lead to confusion as you point out. I guess living in Minnesota I tend not to encounter these situations as often as in LA. More often, there is plenty of room for people to merge naturally and there are a few who take advantage and disrupt traffic by waiting till the last second to do so.

[Oski]

Yeah, I suppose we had different scenarios in our heads.

[AndysDaddy]

Some links regarding merging and the law:
Oklahoma
Tennesee (last Q&A)
Missouri (part 6)
The Wisconsin DOT reccomends: Slow down, get into the correct lane early and merge cautiously.

Here in Michigan there was talk of an "early merging" law, but I don't know if anything came of it...

There doesn't seem to be any real consesus in state law. Common sense seems to suggest that early merging works best, but that doesn't make it true. My take: If everyone is on the same page, then I agree that late merging should be most efficient in heavy traffic. Of course, we're not all on the same page so in the real world I'd guess that enforcing a merge zone several hundred yards before the last possible point is probably best.

[Oski]

Sure, but the very point it is decided the merge must be enforced, becomes the defacto "merge point." In that case, we should all be getting over 200 yards before that; and if that is the case, why not move the enforcement point to that point, etc., etc.

[Boris]

I usually go with option C. I've been flipped of several times for not letting people in but it offends my sense of justice.

[baggins]

merge when you can. i say continue in the lane you are in and merge when it's convenient. even if that means zipping along to the end and then cutting in.

screw everyone else who merged early and left you a perfectly good, empty lane to pass them in. I like Bernie's idea of looking for trucks to merge in front of. it works well, and they don't really care. they know it's going to happen, and they get paid to sit in traffic.

let the soccermoms sit in traffic a little longer because they need the peace of mind that they've merged at the proper time, etc.

but, once merged, remember to let people merge in front of you as well. except SUV's. the driver is an evil status-craving bastard. ecpecially if it's a lincoln navigator or an H2. [censored] them.

[bernie]

Some trucks care, they just cant accelerate fast enough to do anything about it. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

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