Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
The zipper merge is also specific to bottlenecks when traffic has slowed. If traffic is chugging along at the speed limit and someone has a space of 10 car lengths to merge, it's better to just get in and keep traffic flowing than speeding up to get in front of that person 11 car lengths ahead just because that is technically where the merge lane ends. That 10 car gap will quickly disappear if that person has to brake for you.
If you are ever on a freeway and suddenly traffic stops or slows down for a few minutes for seemingly no reason, it is usually because someone causes the person behind them to brake.
https://phys.org/news/2007-12-traffi...maticians.html
It's all about reading traffic. If traffic is crawling, then zipper merge is the best and if someone in the main lane isn't letting the mergers zipper in, they are being a ######. But if traffic is flowing and you have all the time in space in the world to get in to the one lane you need to be in, but still insist on getting to the very front, then you are being the ######.
You have to read traffic and react accordingly. |
What's missing from your post though (in my opinion) is that it's not just on the merging vehicle's driver to "read traffic" correctly.
Don't get me wrong, in your example, I merge into that gap 99% of the time. But technically what should happen is the following:
In your example let's say that their are 10 cars lined up in the lane being merged into (the length of the merging lane - car 1 is the car at then end of the merge lane, car 10 is a the begining). If the 10 foot gap you mention is say between cars 5 and 6 (so the middle of the merge lane), as you say what most people do (myself included) pull into that gap. But really the merging car should still use the full merge lane, and all cars along side the merge lane "should" be aware that a car is wanting to merge. As the merging car nears the end of the merge lane, Car #2 should be making a decision, so I speed up to make room for the merging car behind me, or do I slow down and make room for the car in front of me. In your example, Car #2 has no where to go in front, so they need to slow down and make room (shouldn't need to hit breaks hard if they are aware from the get go of the possibility of merging traffic) and that 10 foot gap you mentioned should just vanish and become a 10 foot gap between car 1 and 2 for the merging car to move into.
I actually think the above is the issue when traffic is backed up. People expect you to take the gap that's there, but what actually needs to happen is use the full lane to keep traffic moving best and the gaps need to just shift to the end of the merge lane.