In reply to jfryjfry :
The challenge is defining that reasonable distance. Is it at the first warning sign, at 1 mile, 1000ft, 500ft,100 ft, or when they have no other choice but to merge?
The different opinions on that are where we get into trouble.
One person may decide it’s reasonable to merges at the first warning sign, while some else may wait until the lane ends.
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never pull through a parking space to be "front out" unless its at a crawl or there's nobody around. i've seen far too many people pull through in a tight parking lot and another car comes screaming in from the other direction, resulting in an almost head-on collision within the 2 parking spaces. i hate parking lots in general - order and logic tend to go out the window and most people are absolute E36 M3 at backing their cars up, cameras and all.
Nothing like being on the interstate when traffic is backed up forever because of construction or an accident when some self important person uses the emergency lane or shoulder to drive past everyone else only to force their way in at the obstruction. In my opinion everyone should tighten up the gap between cars an never let this entitled idiot in.
SVreX said:vwcorvette said:SVreX said:If all cars are merging into one lane because of a hazard ahead, you DO NOT have the right to take advantage of the situation and use the empty lane to get ahead a few cars and cut in.
This is incorrect. Two lanes are designed to handle the traffic flow of two lanes. Just cause you moved over early and now regret that decision does not over ride my desire to move efficiently through traffic. There is no me first, you second. Nobody gets a trophy at the end of the day.
There aren’t two lanes. Hazard ahead. Everyone will be forced into one lane.
Your desire to prove you are a shiny happy person will not change that.
This is a complicated issue, and why it is hotly contested. I tend to land on the side of SVreX's initial position on the issue. I've been on both sides of the equation. Zipper-method comes down to intent. It's efficient and the way it SHOULD be, but in my experience it is the playground of shiny happy people.
Example A--
An on-ramp merges down to one lane before several hundred yards before meeting the interstate. There is ample warning for a half mile and once the paint runs out, you have 200yds of wide road, but only one painted lane. The interstate is backed up...it backs up every day. People are queued...shiny happy people fly past waiting cars to force thier way into traffic when they know the lane has ended and have foregone opportunities to have merged into traffic before that happens. Yes...we do this every day, and every day I see the same shiny happy people do this. No, it has nothing to do with efficiency and everything to do them.
Example B--
A wreck or construction or whatever isn't normal flow of traffic -- use a reasonable amount of space and merge in and let others do the same...not a a half mile back, but also not a kamikaze move at the last moment. Nobody saw this event coming and we all suffer together. I'm okay with using the remaining space if people are queued too early. I think the key here is intent -- if they're stop-n-go, then don't do 60mph past them. If it's really a zipper-appropriate situation, the closing speed would allow others to fill into the remaining space.
I was one of hundreds of cars stuck in Cape Cod traffic one summer. One car, with no exit in sight, decided he was more important than the rest of us and illegally used the breakdown lane to get ahead of us losers.
It almost brought a tear to my eye to see us all band together, obviously without speaking, and block this shiny happy person from squeezing back in by getting INCHES from each other’s bumpers and staying there. He disappeared in my rear view before he ever got back in line.
It was a solemn moment!
Pull over for the ambulance or fire truck even if they're oncoming traffic.
When you get pulled over, turn the car off, the dome light on, and stuff your hands on the dash through the steering wheel spokes.
Don't honk at pedestrians, cyclists, roller skaters, whatever.
I really appreciate it when the guy in front of me going through the green light keeps his speed up so I can get through it too.
If two cars are at an unmarked intersection, the car on the right goes first. Same rule for simultaneous arrivals at a 4-way stop.
Why do guys who have been driving 67 in the left or middle lane for three miles speed up to 73 when I finally decide I should pass them?
If somebody does you a solid in traffic, give 3 quick flashes of your hazards to thank them.
ebonyandivory said:I was one of hundreds of cars stuck in Cape Cod traffic one summer. One car, with no exit in sight, decided he was more important than the rest of us and illegally used the breakdown lane to get ahead of us losers.
It almost brought a tear to my eye to see us all band together, obviously without speaking, and block this shiny happy person from squeezing back in by getting INCHES from each other’s bumpers and staying there. He disappeared in my rear view before he ever got back in line.
It was a solemn moment!
Legal or not, I am perfectly happy to block the lane and stop Mr ShinyHappyPerson.
I drive a big ugly truck. With a huge brush guard AND a half a million miles. If Mr SHP wants to take me on, I am more than willing to.
If I get caught out in the wrong lane, I just stop right where I am. Somebody always comes along and bails me out of my stupidity/inattention before long, provided I don't get greedy about it. So far, nobody's plowed me from behind for it.
SVreX said:In reply to vwcorvette :
I did a little homework, and am going to backtrack what I said.
You are right. In most cases, the law calls for zipper merging.
However since this is a thread about “unwritten rules”, I gonna add my opinion...
I believe the engineers are incorrect on this one. I agree that in theory it is a better and more efficient way to merge, but it fails to take human limitations into account. I have been part of road crews working in those construction zones, and I have not witnessed zipper merging to be most efficient in practice.
What I have seen is that the drivers who have merged earlier and are waiting are slowed further by the zipper mergers. The early mergers are the more timid drivers. The zipper mergers are the most aggressive drivers. When several ZMs force themselves in at the last minute, the early mergers (more timid) apply their brakes, which slows the entire line. 5 or 6 ZMs may get through quicker, but dozens and dozens of early mergers are further slowed down. This leads to frustration (and sometimes road rage).
The math theory of zipper merging is correct. The practical human application is different.
I concede you are correct and I am incorrect. But as an “unwritten rule of the road”, I still think zipper merging is problematic.
As in all things, one cannot write a rule for all applications. If the traffic is heavy enough that it comes to a standstill or close, zipper merge is the only way to go. The downside is when someone in the disappearing lane either won't take the hole you have left or doesn't want to go up to the front of the lane where he is supposed to merge, for fear of , I don't know, following the rules or something. Then there's the douche in the through lane doesn't follow the left/right/left lane rule.
If the traffic is light enough that we can all join up and keep going, then zipper merge is a waste of time. Once again, it fails when the coward in the sixteen foot long car won't take the sixty foot hole you have made for him.
The problem with all merging into the back of the long line of traffic is that you can't always tell in time that there is trouble ahead. Once you are in the closed lane, and see the signs, what alternatives do you have? Might as well go to the front and merge, or pull into the ditch and commit Hari Kari.
JBasham said:When you get pulled over, turn the car off, the dome light on, and stuff your hands on the dash through the steering wheel spokes.
to add to this, if your windows are tinted, lower them down if possible so the officer can easily see you and anything in the other seats. just helps put them at ease.
In reply to ScottyB :
D.C. cop told me many moons ago they were allowed to command the driver to lower the windows. 
Tyler H said:Example A--
An on-ramp merges down to one lane before several hundred yards before meeting the interstate. There is ample warning for a half mile and once the paint runs out, you have 200yds of wide road, but only one painted lane. The interstate is backed up...it backs up every day. People are queued...shiny happy people fly past waiting cars to force thier way into traffic when they know the lane has ended and have foregone opportunities to have merged into traffic before that happens. Yes...we do this every day, and every day I see the same shiny happy people do this. No, it has nothing to do with efficiency and everything to do them.
Conversely, the people in the lane that doesn't end think that somehow their spot is sacred because they merged early. The merge point is, by definition, where one of the lanes ends. That's where the merge has to happen in a planned merge. Not a half a mile before it. It happens at 35.9573123, -79.007356 on Google maps every day. Everybody knows the left lane is ending. They even designed it so that it is a slow squeeze. Everybody knows that letting a car or even five cars in front of you won't make more than a 20 second difference getting home, because there are more cars than road trying to get through that area. Yet every day, the "merge early" folks and the "drive until the merge is mandatory" folks slug it out. Your example happens at 35.8834319,-78.840725 on the same road, btw.
Example B is pretty spot on.
I think the key to SVreX's statement is hazzard. it's not a normal merge, or even a temporary construction merge. Those have numerous signage and clues as to what will happen soon. A hazzard is in an unusual and unlikely place.
Shooting up a lane vacated due to a hazzard makes the situation more dangerous than nessesary.
Honk your horn when exiting from a blind alley to let pedestrians know you are coming out.
Another pet peeve of mine regards traffic lights. Evidently people now think a yellow caution light is merely a suggestion that they stop. It seems many have the idea that the caution light is there as a sign for them to speed up to see if they can get through the light before it turns red. I have actually been fully stopped only to have someone zip by me with the light fully red. Just yesterday the light turned green and as I started to move a car went through the intersection. Can’t tell you how many times I have started to move on a green light only to brake because I was not sure a car was going to stop. You never know now with so many distracted drivers on phones or whatever.
i am of the opinion when the light turns yellow your foot should be put on the brake to stop in anticipation of the light turning red. I have even had people flash lights and honk horns because they thought I should have gone through the light. If you are running that late for work, taking the kids to school or whatever perhaps you should have left a few minutes earlier.
Sitting at a red light turning left. Car across from me is turning left also. Ricer in a slammed somethinghonda shoots up the shoulder and takes a right. Almost into my door! The next three miles were a show of bright lights and horn blowing.
Years from now my tombstone will say "I was right". Wait your turn knucklehead!
As per behavior when pulled over, I've always kept my hands in sight. If it wasn't for that I'd be dead.
I got pulled over because I matched the description of an armed robber. Long story, I'll save it for another time.
Now I put my hands out the window, and other than when I comply with instructions to do things like get out my paperwork, they stay there the entire time, resting on the window sill in plain sight. When I do go for my paperwork, I described exactly where I'm going with my hands.
If I have to open the glove box I tell the officer, get permission, open the door, then move my hands away to offer a clear sight line into the glove box before reaching in. Same thing when reaching for my wallet, I first ask for permission.
Oh, and all windows down while I'm stopping the car, even if it's raining, although I haven't had to do this in a real downpour.
Finally, if there's a way to do it, I will intentionally box my car in when they pull in behind me. It makes it pretty obvious I'm not going to run. I've also put my keys on the roof.
Remember, these are highly vigilant, alert, and possibly anxious people with guns, who are dealing with the fact that you might try to kill them. you can make their important jobs easier and possibly save your own life.
When pulled over, I always shut the car off, put the keys on the dash and keep my hands visible on the upper part of the steering wheel.
The best rule I was taught was that as much as possible, other drivers shouldn't have to adjust what they're doing to accommodate you. Meaning, don't pull out in front of someone and not speed up, don't cut into too small gaps, forcing the other driver to back off, etc. Basically it's another way of saying don't be a dick.
One that really bugs me around here is, don't stop on an on ramp! There's one in particular that's a 90 degree downhill blind corner, going from one highway to another and people don't seem to understand merging and will stop a line of cars behind them because there's one car coming on the other road.
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