re: A reminder that zipper merging is how your supposed to handle merging

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A reminder that zipper merging is how your supposed to handle merging

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have to deal with this every evening on tigerbend past Jones Creek.....

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We approach the right lane closure, I am in the left, and have been for some time and I’m supposed to just let the people over who purposefully ignored the sign.

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Yes, because it reduces traffic considerably.

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frick all that.

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You’re the problem.

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Right Lane closed: 1 mile

Right lane closed: 1/2 mile

Right lane closed: 1000 feet

We approach the right lane closure, I am in the left, and have been for some time and I’m supposed to just let the people over who purposefully ignored the sign. frick all that.

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We've found the problem folks....idiocy.

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They’re causing it by being a knob trying to skip to the front of the line instead of being proactive. They can wait. frick what the “right thing to do” is.

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Nope. You’re wrong. frick off.

Being “proactive” is what causes the delays. You being proactive makes everyone else go slower. And riding the bumper of the car in front you to prevent people from merging only makes the traffic worse.

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I’ve come to terms that in theory this works better but so few practice it, it’s pointless.

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This is the obvious answer and I'm not why sure people won't accept this.

Virtually NO ONE that rushes up on the right side in front of the long line on the left is doing so because they're aware zipper merging. They see the long line and decide it would be faster to run up in front of everyone. Which, of course, only slows everything down worse, because 95% of everyone driving doesn't understand zipper merging, so both sets of people are doing it wrong. And because of that, the left lane feels cheated by people "cutting" and refuse to let anyone is, and the right lane is literally trying to cut the line. Double gridlock ensues.

You'd have to have a decade of dedicated PSAs running nonstop to even put a dent into this.

I’ll probably get downvoted, but I really don’t care. To me, zipper merging is one of those theories that works in principle, but fails in practice due to the face that it relies on humans acting logically/rationally.

The zipper merging hinges on several basic assumptions, none of which are particularly consistent in the real world. For example, in order for zipper merging to work, the cars in the continuing lane should all be moving consistently at the same speed while maintaining enough distance for the merging car to fit. Good luck with that dream. It also assumes that the merging car will reach the same speed as those on the highway by the time they merge, thereby preventing any need for braking. Don’t know about you, but for every baw doing 100 in the merge lane, there is a granny merging at 15mph slower than the flow of traffic. And for good measure, throw in the number of people who leave the driving lane so that they can use the merge lane to pass other cars.

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an a-hole by passing everyone

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if you're doing it right, there is no long line in one lane and no empty lane. if someone is passing, it's because the dumbasses who start lining up at the one mile sign created the problem.

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can assure you that 90% of the people that I see driving up to a few feet in front of the barrier before forcing their way over aren't thinking "well if I recall the zipper merge technique, this is the best way to handle this situation as efficiently as possible".

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I agree with you, but he stated that people were ignoring the signs below, as though he was getting over as soon as he sees the first sign.

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Right Lane closed: 1 mile

Right lane closed: 1/2 mile

Right lane closed: 1000 feet

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If you're merging a mile early, you're an idiot. You get a mile notice before off ramps, and I continue to drive as normal and will make another pass before exiting, rather than backing up traffic because 50 cars are lined up for the exit that's a whole mile away still.

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if you're doing it right, there is no long line in one lane and no empty lane. if someone is passing, it's because the dumbasses who start lining up at the one mile sign created the problem.

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Correct. The people moving forward in the open lane are trying to reduce traffic. The fricktards slowing down and merging early and the fricktards closing the gap so people don’t “cut” are causing all the problems.