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In an article that acquired well over 300 replies on the normally-subdued Ars Technica comment board, it was reported that the Zipper Merge is the safest and fastest way for two lanes of traffic to merge.
The Zipper Merge is the polite name for those "rude" drivers that cruise to the head of the soon-to-be-closed lane and then merge with polite drivers at the last minute, cutting off and "delaying" all the polite drivers who moved to the remaining lane as soon they see the lane reduction signs.
Minnesota, and Washington state have found after extensive study, that having drivers filling both lanes and taking turns merging right at the point of closure was more efficient and safer than any other method of handling a lane closure.
Both states now officially endorse this method, but have a lot of driver re-education to do.
Washington state has a ways to go to catch up to Minnesota's efforts [PDF], however. In particular, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has added sensors to key roads; when they recognize pile-ups and congestions, electronic signs turn on and tell drivers to fill both lanes and merge at a later point.
MnDot has also provided a YouTube video to show how it should be done.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday July 25 2014, @04:58PM
Actually that IS the idea, and the drivers in the continuing lane are at fault for not allowing the merge, or actively trying to prevent it.
Part of the problem is that the laws about merging vary from state to state. That is why it will probably take a decade for this to become the normal mode of handling lane closures.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Friday July 25 2014, @10:35PM
Shush, I'm quite happy for people on a 4 lane road to queue up in the inside lane for 3 miles while people like you and I travel up to the end.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by anubi on Saturday July 26 2014, @01:27AM
I agree that the zipper-merge looks like the most efficient model - but what I am afraid of is what if I now have no option and *have* to merge - because I am now at end of lane going 40 MPH, and the guy in the other lane won't let me in - and my other option is hitting a big concrete barrier?
If I see beforehand that my lane is going away, I try to get over while I can while I still have the option to delay.
Its a tragedy of the commons thing. Somebody may want to see me hit the big concrete barrier just for the fun of it, or die trying to merge my little car in front of his truck. Once I stop because I can't merge, then its like a jammed zipper.
If one is going to have these zipper merge spots, at least have a camera on them so if anyone deliberately causes another car to ram the barrier, all kinds of financial hell can be placed on the asshat that fouled up the merge...
I hate zipper merges on freeways. To me they are an indication of really poor design. A lane should never just end, but it is quite acceptable for it to peel off as an offramp. That way, an unsuccessful merge left only leaves one having to re-access the freeway from the side road, not ambulances and wrecker trucks.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday July 26 2014, @05:47AM
There is this pedal, just to the left of the gas pedal.
Try pushing that some time, and surprising things happen.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by anubi on Saturday July 26 2014, @06:19AM
Kinda obvious there... I end up stopping... while the lane I am trying to merge into is going maybe 40MPH.
I have a low powered car, and even those stoplights they put at freeway onramps provide a problem for me, as often I find myself trying to merge into 60MPH traffic when I could only get to 40 or so. I guess thats a nice thing about working for the government - if I put up a pool and a kid drowns in it, I am liable, but if I work for the government, put up a stop light, then expect people to stop then accelerate up to merge speed in a couple of hundred feet, but they do not succeed and get killed or maimed so they could obey my little light, so be it.
The problem is once I lose velocity, merging becomes just that much more difficult. If I merge before I have to , I have the option of not merging if I do not think I can do so safely... but if I wait for the very end, I am at the mercy of someone else to "let me in", and experience has taught me there are a lot of drivers out there who would just as soon see me hit the pilings. A lot of people completely change once they get behind a wheel.
Not all, but a very small percentage is all it takes to send me to the hospital.
Yes, I know about that law about if you hit a car behind the door or something like that, it is automatically the rear driver's fault, but I have no intention of pitting the laws of man against the laws of physics. If it looks like a collision is imminent, I will chicken out and not force the issue. Besides, I have noted that the worst ones are usually quite rich people and they have ways of buying their way out of a legal jam.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]