To zip file or not to zip file?

[gemini]

An extra stretch of road is built in the outside lane to increase capacity (e.g. York ring road A19 roundabout)
Or
Roadworks are put in place.

Two lanes becone one.

You can zip file and use the full stretch of both lanes allowing the traffic to crawl on, or leave 400 yards of perfectly usable tarmac unused, stop, indicate left and try to get into the inside lane, causing both queues to stop!

Lordy my head!

Lorry drivers who block the lanes!
Car drivers who fail to let you in at the filter point!
The world has some poor drivers!

[markmullen]

People are idiots and take it as an afront that you've done it right and used the outside lane.

Hopegrove Eastbound is another, when it is busy all the sheep get into the left lane early and get most upset when I correctly use the outside lane and filter at the pinch, that is if some trucker hasn't decided to play at being a policeman and blocked it.

[Escort3500]

They're especially unwilling to let you in at Hopgrove Eastbound if you're driving a nice motor, like a Porsche Mr M

[threespins]

It even happens where two lanes go across a roundabout and the outside filters down to one to go straight ahead. The inside drivers think you are in the wrong lane and just try to give you grief.
Make a study of the roadcraft manual mandatory!!

[Paul O]

Its the old British way of "fair queueing". Those in the inside see that as a fair position to queue, rather than going to the end. These are also the fools who don't realise that roads are typically built like that to enable more cars to get through a congestion point quickly (such as traffic lights, where 2 lanes become one just after the lights). They'd rather sit in a longer queue for more time and complain about the roads than to actually understand it and get moving.

Like London centre, Leeds is great example of these types of roads working well. The roads are all busy, so maximum use of all lanes is the general rule and collectively people seem to do it - and it keeps traffic moving.

[gemini]

Just been up the A168 toward Thirsk where theres a contraflow.
The outside lane was empty for 900 yds.


The anger when I drove up to the zip point was huge!
People were leaning on their horns.

Amazing!

[mrmr96]

They don't know the difference between "British queuing" and "using the available tarmac". When people do this at a junction near me, when the motorway is queueing, it means that instead of using the full sliproad they stop to merge as early as possible - meaning that the queue backs up onto local roads. If the full slip was used then the local roads would stay clear.

[Basil Brush]

Coming down the M6 last week, there was a long queue to the A66 turn off and one car had left it a bit late as he was too busy keeping himself exactly centred over the 3 lanes. Once he realised what was happening, he then decided to put on his indicator and stop in the middle lane. The other traffic approaching at 70mph was obviously very impressed.

[jock mcsporran]

Drives me nuts too...

The dual going up the hill from Otley towards Pool Bank was queued back for the entire dual section one day. I managed to drive the entire distance from Otley to where it merges back to one lane in the outside lane as nobody was queuing in it.

[Tonto]

Only solution is education. Signs saying "Use both lanes" and "Merge in turn".

[snotrag]

Tonto said:

"Merge in turn".

Your right, of course, but you go out and question a sample of the general public, and see if they know what that phrase actually means.

I'd be very interested to see those results!

[probedb]

Tonto said:

Only solution is education. Signs saying "Use both lanes" and "Merge in turn".

This doesn't work at all. They changed the road outside my office to be like this and people still queue in the single lane that it turns into.

Most drivers are stupid.