Learn to merge . . . .

1747 Views 25 Replies 16 Participants Last post by thebigjimsho, May 23, 2009

Aron9000

Discussion Starter · May 21, 2009

Just something that really pisses me off. My number one pet peeve while driving is people who try to merge at 45mph.

THAT ****ING RAMP IS 1/4 OF A MILE LONG FOR ****S SAKE!!!!!!!!!!!

This happened to me twice yesterday. The first one was downtown on a very short ramp. Some jackass in an Explorer is just dwadling along at 40mph when he reaches the merge point on the ramp. I am one car behind him.

The guy in front of me sees that there is no way we are going to beat this 60 mph semi-truck, so he just rides this guy's ass and merges about 2' from the end of the truck. I don't give him an inch of space and the guy behind me doesn't either. This idiot is now on the brakes and stops in the shoulder. I'm laying on the horn the whole time. The seven or eight cars behind him would've been screwed, but there was a huge opening behind this semi. This jackass almost caused a wreck.

The next time is in the suburbs on a very long ramp. When I had my Z28 Camaro, I could reach 110mph at the end of this ramp. Its a two lane ramp, and this jackass in a minivan is going so damn slow a big Uhaul-type box truck passes him on the right, along with 3 or 4 other cars. He's going maybe 50mph at the end of the ramp, traffic is going 75-80 I'm one car behind him again just laying on the horn again:bomb:

1 - 20 of 26 Posts

dirt_cheap_fleetwood

· #2 · May 21, 2009

Time to install some train horns.

I have had this happen to me several times and have just learned to go around. If I have to cross the white line and merge a hundred feet or so before where I am supposed to so I can avoid being sandwiched between a retard and a semi, I will do it. Around me most of the on ramps have shoulders and I have passed people several times on the shoulder because they were attempting to merge onto the highway at 40 mph when cars are whizzing past at 70.

eXile

· #3 · May 21, 2009

chicago driving is one of a kind eh dirt?

EcSTSatic

· #4 · May 21, 2009

Kansas passed a law this year to restrict driving in the left lane outside of city limits. It means more traffic for the merging lane.

Aurora5000

· #5 · May 21, 2009

The person in the continuing lane has the right of way. The person whose lane is merging with said lane must yield until they have a clear and safe path to enter that lane.

Most of the time when you see actions like this, someone is not paying full attention to driving...Usually on the cell phone.

EcSTSatic

· #6 · May 21, 2009

That sounds good in theory but I find that traffic moves smoother if I move over and let the merging car have a clear lane. Traffic conditions don't always allow it which is why drivers should stay off the phone and stay aware of what is going on around them.

Submariner409

· #7 · May 21, 2009

The real eye-opener is when you're looking over your left shoulder as you turn into the merge lane, assessing the traffic for a spot to get in, and the dork in front of you STOPS IN THE MERGE LANE !!!

Ranger

· #8 · May 21, 2009

Some people just should not be allowed behind the wheel. Unfortunately, you cannot legislate stupidity.

EcSTSatic

· #9 · May 21, 2009

submariner409 said:
The real eye-opener is when you're looking over your left shoulder as you turn into the merge lane, assessing the traffic for a spot to get in, and the dork in front of you STOPS IN THE MERGE LANE !!!

That happened to me once. It caused a chain reaction and my 280Z was totaled. The person that caused it wasn't touched and kept going. :nono:

dirt_cheap_fleetwood

· #10 · May 21, 2009

eXile said:
chicago driving is one of a kind eh dirt?

I cannot stand idiots. I have to deal with them all day at work so I want nothing to do with them during my free time.

jey

· #11 · May 21, 2009

submariner409 said:
The real eye-opener is when you're looking over your left shoulder as you turn into the merge lane, assessing the traffic for a spot to get in, and the dork in front of you STOPS IN THE MERGE LANE !!!

That reason alone is why I never look over my shoulder when there's a car in front of me anymore. First thing I do when I get it a car to drive it is adjust the driver's side mirror so I can see any traffic in the lane I'm about to merge into without having to look over.

Good thing too. Just this morning getting onto the Interstate, everyone's going 50 mph and all of a sudden someone at the front of the long line of cars merging STOPS. A tinted HHR was in front of me so I had no warning and all of a sudden HHR goes into full brakes hauling down to almost a stop. What's even dumber is this onramp gets its own lane when it merges with the Interstate, so merging was not even necessary! Just drive straight!

DopeStar 156

· #12 · May 21, 2009

NJ doesn't let people cruise in the far left lane either. Sometimes the state police will roll through the left lane at like 85 MPH and tailgate just to clear it out. The worst is when someone on your right going 10 MPH slower than you decides to pull into your lane AND DOESN'T ACCELERATE!!! Usually this little lane jump is done right when my front bumper is like a foot behind their rear.....

I dunno when looking went outta style.....

C0RSA1R

· #13 · May 22, 2009

eXile said:
chicago driving is one of a kind eh dirt?

I guess I'll have some learning to do when I first move out there. I only got to drive the rental car twice on my business trip to Lisle last week, both short trips. My company wouldn't let me rent one - some 'under 25' policy they have. I think it's a company policy, could be the rental company though. Either way, both times I saw a few eye-opening traffic maneuvers - and the Friday was rainy as hell, so visibility was poor.
:crowded:

Ranger

· #14 · May 22, 2009

C0RSA1R said:
I guess I'll have some learning to do when I first move out there. I only got to drive the rental car twice on my business trip to Lisle last week, both short trips. My company wouldn't let me rent one - some 'under 25' policy they have. I think it's a company policy, could be the rental company though. Either way, both times I saw a few eye-opening traffic maneuvers - and the Friday was rainy as hell, so visibility was poor.
:crowded:

It's no different here than anywhere else. Perhaps a bit more congested than some places.

V-Eight

· #15 · May 22, 2009

C0RSA1R said:
I guess I'll have some learning to do when I first move out there. I only got to drive the rental car twice on my business trip to Lisle last week, both short trips. My company wouldn't let me rent one - some 'under 25' policy they have. I think it's a company policy, could be the rental company though. Either way, both times I saw a few eye-opening traffic maneuvers - and the Friday was rainy as hell, so visibility was poor.
:crowded:

Yeah, a lot of rental companies have that policy. Some won't let you, some will force you to pay a huge premium

the cadillac kid

· #16 · May 22, 2009

Yeah, I hate that. What I would do in situations like that is look over and see if I can get over or not. However, I have not done that in one year and 5 months. Back in January of last year I was in a similar situation; getting on the highway with an SUV in front that could NOT have been going faster than 35 miles an hour while the merge lane was about to end.
There was about 1/8 of a mile of no cars on the highway, so I'm not sure why this person was yielding, but I merged.

...Well, 2 seconds later my radar goes off. Cop, he said he saw me cross the white line. :banghead: Issued me a ticket for Careless Driving--that's AFTER I gave him a PBA card :bigroll:

indeed, people need to learn to merge...

V-Eight

· #17 · May 22, 2009

the cadillac kid said:
Yeah, I hate that. What I would do in situations like that is look over and see if I can get over or not. However, I have not done that in one year and 5 months. Back in January of last year I was in a similar situation; getting on the highway with an SUV in front that could NOT have been going faster than 35 miles an hour while the merge lane was about to end.
There was about 1/8 of a mile of no cars on the highway, so I'm not sure why this person was yielding, but I merged.

...Well, 2 seconds later my radar goes off. Cop, he said he saw me cross the white line. :banghead: Issued me a ticket for Careless Driving--that's AFTER I gave him a PBA card :bigroll:

indeed, people need to learn to merge...

Wait, if you merge before someone else you get in trouble?

Ranger

· #18 · May 22, 2009

Here are some interesting stats.
http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/aut...xNDkEc2VjA2ZwLXRvZGF5BHNsawN3b3JzdC1kcml2ZXJz

orconn

· #19 · May 22, 2009

Generalizing about a state's bad drivers is very subjective. From my experience, Wisconsin would be a strong contender for bad drivers. Not so much because they are rude, but rather because they are oblivious. I imagine this has been further aggravated by the introduction of the cell phone.

Virginia would fall somewhere in the middle of the pack; suffering from the same affliction as Wisconsin, but to lesser degree. However, if one is talking about Northern Virginia, the causes are totally different. You would have to go to Philadelphia, Boston and New York to experience the same level of rudeness and "me" entitlement driving .... however, given the relatively high level odf education Northern Virginian drivers probably test better.

lawfive

· #20 · May 22, 2009

V-Eight said:
Wait, if you merge before someone else you get in trouble?

Not per se. At least not in California... there's no law preventing you from crossing the white lines at an on-ramp (or for that matter the white lines at an off-ramp that form what cops call the "gore point").

1 - 20 of 26 Posts

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