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Original poster

Merge in turn

59 replies

FrogsWormsandButterflies · 18/05/2023 08:25

What do people actually think this means?
I’ve just had an encounter with a very angry man accusing me of “pushing in” when I used the right hand lane and merged.
What do people think the lanes are for? I phoned my friend and she said “well you did use the naughty lane”
Honestly if people merged properly there would be less traffic on those roads!

OP posts:
TeenDivided · 18/05/2023 08:29

If people have merged nicely 200m before the end and then a car comes storming down the 'free' lane, then it is irritating.

But I agree we aren't very good at doing this in general, Jersey is better.

Original poster
FrogsWormsandButterflies · 18/05/2023 08:29

TeenDivided · 18/05/2023 08:29

If people have merged nicely 200m before the end and then a car comes storming down the 'free' lane, then it is irritating.

But I agree we aren't very good at doing this in general, Jersey is better.

But the whole lane is there for merging, why should we do it 200m before the end?

OP posts:
MrsSkylerWhite · 18/05/2023 08:30

Guess it depends. Where we are, there’s a long stretch heading up to a junction with a left hand turn and a right hand turn lane, clearly marked with arrows several hundred metres prior to the junction. There’s always a queue for the left. Most people turning left get into the correct lane and wait patiently. You can always tell the cheeky buggers who will push in, you can see them speeding up the right hand lane in your mirror, indicators on, then trying to force their way in at the head of the queue. That sort of “merging” is really annoying and I make them wait.

If it’s a merge in turn sign after a junction, then you’re correct.

musixa · 18/05/2023 08:35

A poster on here once said 'Don't be a dick, merge like a zip' 😃

LittleMonks11 · 18/05/2023 08:36

Merge Rage - get alit a lot round outr way

Original poster
FrogsWormsandButterflies · 18/05/2023 08:52

MrsSkylerWhite · 18/05/2023 08:30

Guess it depends. Where we are, there’s a long stretch heading up to a junction with a left hand turn and a right hand turn lane, clearly marked with arrows several hundred metres prior to the junction. There’s always a queue for the left. Most people turning left get into the correct lane and wait patiently. You can always tell the cheeky buggers who will push in, you can see them speeding up the right hand lane in your mirror, indicators on, then trying to force their way in at the head of the queue. That sort of “merging” is really annoying and I make them wait.

If it’s a merge in turn sign after a junction, then you’re correct.

I definitely mean lanes that say merge in turn, trying to push in when it’s clearly marked is cheeky!

OP posts:
CatsOnTheChair · 18/05/2023 08:52

It's a banned topic on our local Facebook group.

Use both lanes as far as possible, then merge.
If everyone sits in the left lane, the Junction behind snarls up. If both lanes are used, it all works fine as there is sufficient capacity.

OhFFS! · 18/05/2023 09:01

I would agree with you OP. Both lanes are there to be used. I do get irritated by those who come steaming up and expect to get in at the very last second but there is no need for a very long queue in one lane and the other being clear. If people used both lanes there wouldn't be pushing in as it would follow the natural order of when people arrived

xogossipgirlxo · 18/05/2023 09:31

TeenDivided · 18/05/2023 08:29

If people have merged nicely 200m before the end and then a car comes storming down the 'free' lane, then it is irritating.

But I agree we aren't very good at doing this in general, Jersey is better.

But what's the purpose of having it for another 200m then? If you merge this soon, you are making even more traffic. Move to the end and wait for your turn. You free up 200m of space for other cars.

DappledThings · 18/05/2023 10:37

I had a long thread on this OP. You are quite right and it is mystifying. Even when signs were added at the roadworks that lasted months near me that very clearly said "USE BOTH LANES UNTIL THE MERGE POINT" or similar people were still moving over at the 400 yard warning leaving a free lane for me to merrily sail up to the merge point.

LadyOfTheCanyon · 18/05/2023 11:49

To me, merging is something you are doing while in motion. So as long as the queue is moving and people are getting towards the merge point and merging harmoniously, all good. People racing up the outside lane and then STOPPING is not merging. It's pushing in.

RafaistheKingofClay · 18/05/2023 11:57

They’d only have to stop if people weren’t merging. Use the whole lane.

I think Jersey has fewer filters I’m than Guernsey, but you are right in that drivers are much more used to giving way to equal priority lanes. As far as I can tell I’m the U.K. people just get annoyed by the people using the system properly.

ArcticSkewer · 18/05/2023 11:58

LadyOfTheCanyon · 18/05/2023 11:49

To me, merging is something you are doing while in motion. So as long as the queue is moving and people are getting towards the merge point and merging harmoniously, all good. People racing up the outside lane and then STOPPING is not merging. It's pushing in.

This is why.

The British love a queue. The longer the better. And hate 'pushing in'.

You can't argue against culture with silly reasons like 'it's the highway code' or 'it's more efficient'.

Queues are governed by more complex rules than that in the UK

DappledThings · 18/05/2023 11:59

LadyOfTheCanyon · 18/05/2023 11:49

To me, merging is something you are doing while in motion. So as long as the queue is moving and people are getting towards the merge point and merging harmoniously, all good. People racing up the outside lane and then STOPPING is not merging. It's pushing in.

But sometimes there is a queue that has stopped only because of the weight of traffic insisting on using one lane when two are available. So if people are choosing to join a queue and slow it down further but moving over way before the merge point leaving a lane free for me I'm going to keep using it.

And I'm not pushing in!

FlipFlopEnthusiast · 18/05/2023 12:00

I'm with you OP. It's baffling. I don't understand this weird notion of 'pushing in' - just merge in turn! It's not difficult!

RafaistheKingofClay · 18/05/2023 12:00

I wonder whether the problem is that the more people who do it wrong, the more difficult it is to imagine how the system would work and keep traffic flowing if everyone was using it correctly.

cupofdecaf · 18/05/2023 12:32

We had a hump once trying to merge. The other driver speed up and bumped us as we were merging because he didn't want to let us in.
Still our fault in the insurance apparently so it's put me off. I think if the insurance was 50/50 people would let others in and it'd work properly.

cupofdecaf · 18/05/2023 12:33

Ha ha ha not hump, bump.

Chewbecca · 18/05/2023 12:37

Merging drives me mad! No one drives to the end of the lane then merges - which is how it should be done - they all jerkily jump in and stop part way down. It is twatty driving.

from AA website (with me bolding the relevant part!)

The Highway Code could perhaps be a little clearer on the issue but it does at least give some guidance. Rule 134 of the Highway Code says: "In congested road conditions do not change lanes unnecessarily. Merging in turn is recommended but only if safe and appropriate when vehicles are travelling at a very low speed, e.g. when approaching road works or a road traffic incident. It is not recommended at high speed."
So what you should do depends on the circumstances, in particular how fast the traffic's moving. What would certainly help is the use of more ‘Merge in Turn’ signs.
Slow, stop-start trafficWhere traffic is queuing and moving slowly you should use all available road space in both lanes with drivers at the front of the queues taking it in turns to 'merge in turn' or 'zip merge' as the Americans call it. This can help reduce the overall length of the queue significantly and minimises the risk of disruption at junctions further back up the road.

The Highway Code - General rules, techniques and advice for all drivers and riders (103 to 158) - Guidance - GOV.UK

Signals, stopping procedures, lighting, control of the vehicle, speed limits, stopping distances, lines and lane markings and multi-lane carriageways, smoking, mobile phones and sat nav.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/general-rules-techniques-and-advice-for-all-drivers-and-riders-103-to-158

xogossipgirlxo · 18/05/2023 12:39

LadyOfTheCanyon · 18/05/2023 11:49

To me, merging is something you are doing while in motion. So as long as the queue is moving and people are getting towards the merge point and merging harmoniously, all good. People racing up the outside lane and then STOPPING is not merging. It's pushing in.

It's not pushing in. It's called using merging lane properly.

imnottoofussed · 18/05/2023 12:40

I don't drive. However I think if you see everyone is doing it wrongly then you going to the front is still pushing in even if you're doing it rightly.

If you weren't in your car and you were at a supermarket for example and there were two tills and one queue you wouldn't walk straight up to one of the tills. You'd get in the back of the queue.

DappledThings · 18/05/2023 12:41

I've been in the other lane too, where I've joined the left lane from the left close enough to the merge point there's no point me moving out and then in again and been annoyed by people on my right signalling and trying to get in well ahead of the merge point. They should carry on in their lane to the end. The ones trying to come across early are the ones pushing in, not those driving correctly and staying in the right lane.

TableTime99 · 18/05/2023 12:46

TeenDivided · 18/05/2023 08:29

If people have merged nicely 200m before the end and then a car comes storming down the 'free' lane, then it is irritating.

But I agree we aren't very good at doing this in general, Jersey is better.

Nah those people are just daft for queueing so far back when there are two lanes. Does my head in when I use the free lane and people don't let me in and just stare blankly ahead like they can't see me, simply because they've all sat like idiots in one lane (causing traffic to back up at a roundabout).

xogossipgirlxo · 18/05/2023 12:46

DappledThings · 18/05/2023 12:41

I've been in the other lane too, where I've joined the left lane from the left close enough to the merge point there's no point me moving out and then in again and been annoyed by people on my right signalling and trying to get in well ahead of the merge point. They should carry on in their lane to the end. The ones trying to come across early are the ones pushing in, not those driving correctly and staying in the right lane.

This. And when they stop, because they try to be sooo polite and not push in, it drives me mad, because in 99% of cases they are blocking other people on the red light somewhere behind them. Only because of lack of logical thinking. These lanes are built for a reason.

DappledThings · 18/05/2023 12:59

xogossipgirlxo · 18/05/2023 12:46

This. And when they stop, because they try to be sooo polite and not push in, it drives me mad, because in 99% of cases they are blocking other people on the red light somewhere behind them. Only because of lack of logical thinking. These lanes are built for a reason.

Show quote history

Yes, absolutely. And they look angrily at you if you don't let them in when if they just carried on they could merge, which requires accurate taking of turns and nobody letting anyone in at all.