Merging at road works

Hi

Ideally I would stay in the lane, maintain speed limit (if possible) and merge as lane disappears. I have seen people stopped in merge lanes holding up traffic several hundred meters before it actually merges (i.e. with a free lane in front of them). No idea why...must be scared or something. .. why not keep driving and merge..has me baffled.

Cheers
Greg

Drive to the prevailing conditions, (potentially) slow down, merge in an orderly fashion, and above all else use common sense.

I drive the M2 freeway in Sydney every day and the road requires merges at various points, if this was done in an orderly fashion with all giving consideration to the “bigger picture” the traffic would flow more freely, getting everyone to their destination far quicker without the painful stop and start crawl...

But because there are those who need to “duck and weave” to ensure they “beat everyone else” and retain "pole position" the traffic usually ends up in a shambles…

And if that isn’t bad enough, guess what – you get to do it all over again on the way home…

So, on the situation you outline…personally I don't think it matters why the merge is ocurring (roadworks or whatever)...

“Drive to the prevailing conditions, (potentially) slow down, merge in an orderly fashion, and above all else use common sense”.

Phew…rant over (until I hit the M2 later today).

Cheers, Baz – The Landy

If say there were three or four lanes and it became one or two and with plenty of warning of lane closure, then if you immediately cross to those open lanes, then based on my own experience [and I suspect yours], almost certainly the following traffic will continue up the empty lane/s. This may have a signifcant delaying affect. I have noted when towing my big rig that if I go too early, then in extreme conditions I fall back in the queue lots. My expectation of fellow drivers is that they adopt the "One for One rule'' and every alternate vehicle gets to merge. Like most of us, I detest late runners that scream up the closing lane and bully their way in at last moment, often causing some angst. So if everyone remains reasonably in the lane they are in and merge sensibly being courteous but not overly, then traffic flow may continue without major stoppages.
Bob

Merge at the point of the lane closure; one in and one out. It only takes a few drivers that merge too early (and most stop the traffic behind doing so) to stuff it up for everyone.

I like the signs in New Zealand that say "Merge like a Zipper" & show a large picture of alternate cars merging.
Wouldn't it be nice if everyone were patient & do it courteously like this? Unfortunately there are a select few that think they are more important than everyone else on the road & insist in queue jumping.

Cheers
Stu

I always move into the open lane as early as possible. My aim is to get over early before gaps start closing to avoid grief and be courteous to those merging. It's unusual for an orderly zipper merge to occur under these circumstances. Some times it will be barriered to resemble a tapered merging lane and these work best sometimes even getting an orderly zipper merge. However, often the lane is just blocked with a line of cars banked up on the closed lane with varying degrees of courtesy for merging vehicles. Nowadays the roads are marked as roadworks and are mostly signposted to 20 or 40 km/h anyway.

I agree with Greg , gradually merge as the lane is ending , nothing more annoying than the panicked early merger holding up traffic when more cars could easily get in front.

Cheers

Ahh merging, yes well here on the west coast it is more like a scramble than a merge. It's basiclly a test of nerve, of will power, of who's got the biggest car.

It's not by coincedence that we have the SAS barracks here.Their motto "Who dares wins" sort of explains it all.

Merging is reserved for the board room...lol


(;=))

Cheers
Pop

The traffic jam is less if you merge nearer to the obstacle. Early mergers do make the whole process slower. I have noted many times that the ending lane is quicker than the continuing lane because the ending lane is always getting shorter and the continuing lane is getting longer, especially due to early mergers. I rarely see piggish attitudes about letting people in, it really should be a non event but I reckon some early mergers get resentfull that everyone else didn't merge early as well. Then they try and hold people out thinking they are queue jumpers. The whole process would be quicker and more civilised if everyone just merged at the obstacle. Then nobody would get the queue jumper label.

Abide by the road rules.

Two lanes going the same way and one is emerging from the left.

If there are broken lines or the line has stopped where the lanes commence the merge, the left hand driver has righter way into the right hand land.

If the broken line continues all the way through then the right hand lane has the right way.

I find it interesting how the behaviour varies .......... the further you are from capitol cities and higher priced suburbs the more civilised the merging will be.

Likewise the further you are from peak times the more civilised things will be.

There will always be later mergers ...... those will be the people who think they are more important and their time is more vlauable than everybody else ........ very often they will be those driving fancy cars.

It must be realised that unless there is specific signage or linemarking that says otherwise, the lane that ends is required to give way to the continuing lane ...... as such in most cases that means it is wise and courtious to merge early ....... because if you don't you will be relying someone to be less arogant than you ..... or not being offended by your thinking that there is nothing wrong with driving past 5, 10 or 20 other drivers who have done the courtous thing.

What is most significant ...... there IS NO public discussion or information on this matter from the various roads regulators ........ thus there IS NO general public understanding about what is right or wrong.

What is also significant ...... there seems to be a polocy of not activly managing merges or other road blockages for efficient and safe traific flow.

The use of some sort of instructive signs appropriate for the situation would make everybodies life better signs like.
"Lanes continue merge when directed" ...... followed by " merge now, move in turn"
or
"Left lane ends, merge now, give way to continuing traffic"

We simply can not relay on people to know the road rules any more ....... because a large proportion just aren't interested ....... so many plainly don't know even simple rules and meanings ..... unfortunatly the governments at all levels seem uninteresed in informing the public.

cheers

Use common sense, and drive to the conditions??????

Don't know what it was like in other states ....... but 20 years ago up here in QLD, this would hardly have been a matter for discussion.
If you didn't merge early .... no bugger was "letting you in", not even that mild little old lady.

Its only since "expactations of courtesy" have come in and the average household is driving 4wds and SUVs and feeling bulletproof has this become a problem.
Its specifically a problem with women, who are driving bigger vehicles and got accustomed to people getting out of their way

In the past "there was always one", doing the wrong thing.

But now ..... anytime there is a major merge, there are multiple people failing to merge early. ..... then fairly agressivly pushing their way in .... AND getting upset when others resit their arrogant ways.

The issue is not which is right ...... but that there is a discussion about this at all.

cheers

Some of the answers on this thread just reconfirm my opinion that Australian drivers are rubbish. Purposely blocking people out is worse than any other behaviour mentioned. If you do that then take heart that you are the pig. Whatever you think is going on in the head of the other driver is probably wrong (yes, even if it's a city slicker in a fancy pants car), and you are just causing trouble by aggravating him. Talking about who has right of way is also a load of bollocks. If it wasn't then nobody would get out of the merging lane...."too bad buddy, us smarty bums already in through lane have right of way, you should have merged 20 kilometres back down the road." Here's a rule, if a car is at all in front of you and he has nowhere to go, then let him in. You're a better person for it.

The funny thing is that those who refuse to let other drivers in must find themselves in the same position from time to time - my question is they they just cop it, or do they become one of those who force their way into the traffic?

All a bit of a dilemma really.

Personally I am more than happy to have all the aggressive drivers in front of me rather than behind me...and don't concern myself about "having to let someone in" regardless of how they arrived at that point - but do note that if everyone merged sensibly there would be far less stopping and starting on our major roads.

But this thread is far less about "merging" than it is about a statement on the decline of human behaviour and the "I am far more important than you trend" prevalent these days...


Cheers, Baz - The Landy

Reading the Sydney Morning Herald (On Christmas Eve), in between coffee's, whilst I am supposed to be working, but waiting for beer o'clock...

I noticed this article and thought it appropriate for this thread!

Graceless - Behind The Wheel...

Cheers, Baz - The Landy

A classic example of the "I must be first" mentality can be seen every afternoon on the Gateway outside the Nudgee servo There is a left hand lane which is to allow access to the servo but continues on for about 150m.. there are two through lanes outside it and every day the highway bandits roar up the L/H lane and push in, slowing everyone down and making things worse by the minute. Even B doubles do it.

Then when you get around the corner there is another merge lane coming out of the servo.

My solution is to end the first lane at the servo and make them merge earlier where the road is straight. Is a nightmare every day Normal time home from the city is 45 mins After 3 pm can be up to 90 mins.
Had another bottleneck when I drove buses At one small tight roundabout cars would roar up the L/H side of the bus only to have to merge immediately on exiting the roundabout I would end up 10 cars behind where I was going into it. R/H lane was straight through L/H had a left turn option.

As its legal for vehicles over 7.5m long to use both lanes I sat the bus on the middle line and stayed there Fixed the bandits. Got sick of complaints for being late on the same run every day after school with all the helicopter mums around.

Firstly, in 99% of cases, the rate of flow past the obstruction is the determining factor for the amount of overall delay experienced for a particular situation, not where or how many merge points are used.

There seem to be 2 quite distinct groups regarding this discussion, namely
- those who join the queue near or at the tail end, thus retaining the pre-existing order of vehicles (equity is important for this group) and
- those that go as far as practical in the "closed lane" and then try to merge (minimising their own delay is important for this group, although they try to rationalise it by referring to "less delay")

The 2 groups will never agree, despite what ever argument is used, because it is a difference in values that is dividing them.

Cheers
Andrew