Use both lanes and merge
Discussion
borcy said:
Some people only use one lane because they think it helps the flow of traffic. I've heard people I work with say driving right up to the cones cause more tail backs as others have to brake to let them in.
Many think it's genuinely the right thing to do to get out of the closed lane as soon as it's sign posted.
Done properly, "zip merge" driving is as smooth as it gets. BOTH lanes should open up gaps big enough for a car to move lanes into the gap. Then BOTH lanes should ensure that "their" gap is alongside a vehicle in the other lane, and they are alongside a gap.Many think it's genuinely the right thing to do to get out of the closed lane as soon as it's sign posted.
No-one is suggesting that it can be done at the same speed as on approach to the closure/merge, but smooth is generally fast, and traffic can readily "un-merge" itself upon return to two lanes. The more smoothly cars enter the restriction, the sooner they'll be out the other side and accelerating again.
Sadly, though, no matter how smoothly people merge, the bigger problem is that there's always some a
hole crawling through past the incident so that they, or a passenger, can film it for Youtube or Twitter, ensuring that everyone ends up crawling along with little in the way of gaps into which it's safe to merge. As I experienced the other day on the M3. Traffic at a crawl for a few hundred yards, then when we got past the three cars on the hard shoulder showing minor damage and a couple of people on their phones, the road ahead was actually mostly empty and I was swiftly up to speed again. But the truth is, there was little to no need for us to have lost so much speed in the first place as none of the live lanes was in any way affected by any of the three cars that had suffered a minor coming together.yellowjack said:
But the truth is, there was little to no need for us to have lost so much speed in the first place as none of the live lanes was in any way affected by any of the three cars that had suffered a minor coming together.
Agree it seems the people going past which dictate the speed and it always seems far too slow especially if there is plenty of space coned off. I understand the speed will drop every now and again if it's a lorry passing after slowing to merge, but when there's no lorries in sight and you can accelerate up to 70 (briskly but not flooring it) and have 500m clear lane behind you got to think why people aren't trying to help clear the tailback.Glenn63 said:
The way to do it would be to create a ‘new’ lane down the centre line with cones that way you don’t get the ‘your not pushing into MY lane’ brigade everyone will have to merge properly like the ‘zip’ then once everyone is single file the lane can move to whichever side is needed.
Might be a good idea, but I bet loads of people would totally confused if they came across such a thing. So driving along a multilane road at the speed limit, as you pass a vehicle in lane 1 you note ahead stationary traffic in lane 2, do you move back to lane 1 (indicating left or not) and then proceed up lane 1 to the merge point or do you stay in lane 2 so you can not be accused of passing on the left.
Cookie_Crunch said:
I remember a while back that I was the lone vehicle in lane 2 approaching road works while everyone else queued in lane one for a mile totally ignoring the signs every 100yds or so saying "Use Both Lanes". Then other drivers deliberately blocked my merging.
Queuing is a British trait and nobody likes a queue jumper. Ignore the signs and carry on is what people do because that's how they always behave.
Exactly!Queuing is a British trait and nobody likes a queue jumper. Ignore the signs and carry on is what people do because that's how they always behave.
The majority of drivers do not understand what "merge in turn" actually means, and are probably never likely to.
The process works very well when done correctly, but it needs the understanding and cooperation of all drivers.
It is the mindset of drivers that needs to change, but this is unlikely to ever happen in the UK.
The British psyche about queuing is a problem. We do not want to come off as pushing in. I wonder if having specific signage saying "use both lanes and zip merge in turn at the end" or similar would help.
I have a merge scenario on my daily commute and it tends to go one of two ways. The left lane is always congested in rush hour.
1.Slip road off a main road. People use right hand lane of slip road, turn left at the roundabout onto the right hand lane. Go over a roundabout and then there's a sharp merge into one lane. People who do this are passing a large queue of cars on the left. I've seen many people try to block motorists doing this and others with hand gestures and/or horns when they merger in front of them.
2. Stay in left lane of the slip road. Turn left into left lane and queue with everyone else. Right lane is fairly clear as people don't want to be seen to be pushing in.
I wonder how our non UK based posters view our weird traits.
I have a merge scenario on my daily commute and it tends to go one of two ways. The left lane is always congested in rush hour.
1.Slip road off a main road. People use right hand lane of slip road, turn left at the roundabout onto the right hand lane. Go over a roundabout and then there's a sharp merge into one lane. People who do this are passing a large queue of cars on the left. I've seen many people try to block motorists doing this and others with hand gestures and/or horns when they merger in front of them.
2. Stay in left lane of the slip road. Turn left into left lane and queue with everyone else. Right lane is fairly clear as people don't want to be seen to be pushing in.
I wonder how our non UK based posters view our weird traits.
toon10 said:
The British psyche about queuing is a problem. We do not want to come off as pushing in. I wonder if having specific signage saying "use both lanes and zip merge in turn at the end" or similar would help.
I have a merge scenario on my daily commute and it tends to go one of two ways. The left lane is always congested in rush hour.
1.Slip road off a main road. People use right hand lane of slip road, turn left at the roundabout onto the right hand lane. Go over a roundabout and then there's a sharp merge into one lane. People who do this are passing a large queue of cars on the left. I've seen many people try to block motorists doing this and others with hand gestures and/or horns when they merger in front of them.
2. Stay in left lane of the slip road. Turn left into left lane and queue with everyone else. Right lane is fairly clear as people don't want to be seen to be pushing in.
I wonder how our non UK based posters view our weird traits.
The problem is that people are generally stupid and devoid of any critical thought.I have a merge scenario on my daily commute and it tends to go one of two ways. The left lane is always congested in rush hour.
1.Slip road off a main road. People use right hand lane of slip road, turn left at the roundabout onto the right hand lane. Go over a roundabout and then there's a sharp merge into one lane. People who do this are passing a large queue of cars on the left. I've seen many people try to block motorists doing this and others with hand gestures and/or horns when they merger in front of them.
2. Stay in left lane of the slip road. Turn left into left lane and queue with everyone else. Right lane is fairly clear as people don't want to be seen to be pushing in.
I wonder how our non UK based posters view our weird traits.
In the situation that you describe, and as with most merge in turn scenarios, there is no queue jumping.
The way to look at this is that there are 2 separate queues, which merge into one lane at the designated merge point.
Drivers should be asking themselves, do I want to join a longer queue or join a shorter queue?
If more people correctly chose to join the shorter queue, the problem would solve itself, because both queues would be of equal length the the perceived queue jumping would no longer exist.
All it needs is for the stupid people to start thinking. For this reason, it is never going to happen.
borcy said:
Some people only use one lane because they think it helps the flow of traffic. I've heard people I work with say driving right up to the cones cause more tail backs as others have to brake to let them in.
Many think it's genuinely the right thing to do to get out of the closed lane as soon as it's sign posted.
I'm one of them because like a fool I still dream of the day that everyone else will do the same. If you think about it for more than five seconds you will realise that this procedure will keep the traffic flowing, but of course the people who think it is fine to use a blocked lane to 'make a nice bit of progress' (to quote the poster above) will always muck it up by doing their thing. I never see people doing that in supermarket checkout queues, but apparently it's perfectly ok to do it from the anonymity and safety of one's vehicle. Many think it's genuinely the right thing to do to get out of the closed lane as soon as it's sign posted.
Mandat said:
Drivers should be asking themselves, do I want to join a longer queue or join a shorter queue?
All it needs is for the stupid people to start thinking.
Have you ever considered the possibility that there wouldn't be any queues, short or long, if drivers didn't choose to 'make a nice bit of progress' by jumping past those who have moved over in good time? All it needs is for the stupid people to start thinking.
Blackpuddin said:
I never see people doing that in supermarket checkout queues, but apparently it's perfectly ok to do it from the anonymity and safety of one's vehicle.
The old supermarket queue analogy. Unless your supermarket has two queues to one checkout, then the analogy doesn't hold water.
Blackpuddin said:
Have you ever considered the possibility that there wouldn't be any queues, short or long, if drivers didn't choose to 'make a nice bit of progress' by jumping past those who have moved over in good time?
You've obviously seen my post, since you quoted part of it, but it seems that you haven't understood it.To reiterate; there is no queue jumping. There are 2 separate queues, which merge into one lane at the designated merge point.
Some drivers choose to join the longer queue, and some choose to join the shorter queue. The location of the designated merge point doesn't change, so what's the point of purposefully choosing to join the longer queue and then moaning about others who choose the shorter queue.
Mandat said:
The old supermarket queue analogy.
Unless your supermarket has two queues to one checkout, then the analogy doesn't hold water.
Don't get me started on when they open up a new checkout and the people behind you dive into it without asking if you would like to go there first!Unless your supermarket has two queues to one checkout, then the analogy doesn't hold water.
Mandat said:
The old supermarket queue analogy.
Unless your supermarket has two queues to one checkout, then the analogy doesn't hold water.
And if the supermarket did have two queues merging on a one-by-one basis, who would join the queue going all the way around the shop and out the door when the other lane is empty?Unless your supermarket has two queues to one checkout, then the analogy doesn't hold water.
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