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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Lane merging

60 replies

Slarti · 05/05/2017 11:18

Just had an argument robust discussion with a gentleman about lane merging.

I was in the right hand lane of a dual carriageway overtaking traffic on the left and see road markings ahead indicating I should move over as the lane is ending. I start to indicate and prepare to merge into an ample gap whereon the driver I have overtaken accelerates and drives bumper to bumper with the car in front of him. As my lane was ending I had to slow down and merge behind him - thankfully the driver behind him maintained the gap!

His argument was:

I was in the "wrong lane"
Merging is illegal
He has right of way so it's OK to block me

My argument:

I'm using the lane exactly as it was intended
Merging is legal
If he had taken no action I'd have merged safely with no incident but his action created danger where there was none, which nobody has a right to do.

He bolstered his argument by claiming he was a driving instructor. I find that very hard to believe but perhaps I've got this all wrong. I'd accept his point if I was trying to bully my way into congested traffic but when you actively take steps to put another driver in a dangerous situation you become a massive twat.

OP posts:

EBearhug · 05/05/2017 13:25

I never knew the zipper merge was a thing. Is it recent?

Sometimes, you see "merge in turn" signs - they've been around for some years, but don't seem to get used everywhere. No idea if there are rules about when to use the signs or not.

justkeepswimmingg · 05/05/2017 13:32

Pet hate of mine, when people claim ownership of the lane their driving in and cannot merge safely! Sounds like you were in the right, by how you've described the incident. Did he actually stop/pull over to have a moan at you about this? Doesn't sound like a great driving instructor, if he even is one!

Yukbuck · 05/05/2017 13:35

How did you manage to have an argument with them while driving? You give quite detailed points from both parties.

ShotsFired · 05/05/2017 13:36

This is an absolute bugbear of mine.

People get so fricking pissy when you try and use an open lane, all because they have randomly decided that the merge point is some arbitrary point way behind them (i.e. where they decided to move over), not where the lane actually ends.

if the road was not available, it would be closed. If it is open, it's open, so use it!

I have had so many people swerve over the centre line to block me and it drives me nuts because they are in the wrong!

SailAwaySailAwaySailAway · 05/05/2017 13:37

In NZ they have v clear signs that say Merge Like a Zip.

lalaloopyhead · 05/05/2017 13:40

I've never heard the term zip merging, but there are a couple of roads near me with 'merge in turn' signs and you are supposed to do just that.

This guy is thinking more along the lines of when there is a lane closure that is sign posted well in advance, and instead of merging into what will be the existing lane, people zip down the outside of a load of stationary vehicles and try and get in at the front - now that is annoying!

Arkengarthdale · 05/05/2017 13:40

This really pisses me off. Why on earth wouldn't you use all the available road space while you can? I was driving down the M1 the other day and it was signed ahead that the two outside lanes would be closing. People all moved into the inside line and traffic came to a standstill, even though there was no indication that the lanes were closed at that point. I tootles merrily along, the only moving vehicle in the middle lane, nothing at all in the outside lane, stationary traffic in the inside lane. By the time I got to the obstruction two or three miles ahead the police had dealt with whatever it was and the carriageway was all clear. The signs were switched off. I had the motorway to myself for a fair few miles, it was bliss. All those people queueing for miles and miles for no need. Use the space while it's there!! Then let people merge in turn.

Floweringjasmine · 05/05/2017 13:42

Although if there is a Red Cross above your lane, you must move across straight away and it annoys me when people stay in them to o retake the other traffic.

GnatsChuff · 05/05/2017 13:42

I find myself pondering how he would have reacted had you been overtaking without there being an imminent merge. Would he also have accelerated to block you? If, in his view, merging is illegal, how in hell does he think that two lanes of traffic should become one

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 05/05/2017 13:47

But lala, even if there is a lane closure why can't you use the available lanes until they are closed? It's not 'getting in at the front' it's using the road as it should be. All that happens from not using the lane is that the queue becomes longer (in distance if not time).

FiveShelties · 05/05/2017 13:48

How did you manage to have this robust discussion with him?

I am often surprised by how people will risk their own life so stop someone getting in front of them.

Arkengarthdale · 05/05/2017 13:48

Quite, what's the

Arkengarthdale · 05/05/2017 13:49

Bloomin autocorrect whatsthe

StereophonicallyChallenged · 05/05/2017 13:50

lala but surely if everyone did as OP then there would be no stationary vehicles... just slowly merging & moving traffic?

Genuinely am confused! I usually just drive with the flow and do as others around me I guess... I wouldn't want to be the one car zipping down past a long queue in the left, so I generally join it, which seems mad and pointless at the same time but i still do it sometimes

ragged · 05/05/2017 13:51

There's are bits on city ring road where it's hairy to merge (and you HAVE to merge). People don't believe me when I insist that cycling to work is much safer!! (obviously cycling on a completely different route that avoids ring road).

Honestly, in real world? The more aggressive driver goes first. This is the only safe way I have found to merge.

Arkengarthdale · 05/05/2017 13:52

But the point is there is no need for a long queue on the left before the actual lane closure. Use the space available until it's no long available

YoureSparticus · 05/05/2017 13:54

Ignore Chloe84. He likes to disparage others.

The other car was in the wrong as you should speed up when being overtaken. However, your lane was ending so he did have right of way and you need to wait for a space as opposed to expect one.

I think you meant wherein, not whereon. When would have been better.

Mulledwine1 · 05/05/2017 13:56

If you ever drive on the A303 you have the two lanes going down to one all the time. Some have signs saying use both lanes and merge in turn.

But I often think that if the signs are way back, and people get into one lane while there is plenty of space to do so, you avoid the inevitable queue to merge at the final point. Once you're in one lane, the traffic generally moves well.

I'm not really sure what works best but it is annoying when you get into the left lane way back and then a load of cars overtake and push in at the end! I just think "didn't you see the signs"?

I suspect this is a bit like the "do you reserve a table at self-serve cafe" debate - half the population gets into the left hand lane early and the rest just don't get it, and don't.

But I don't really understand traffic movement at times. How is it that you end up in a massive queue, and then you get to the front and there's nothing there and the traffic suddenly moves? No roadworks. no accident, no tractor, nobody waiting to turn right - no explanation at all for why there was a queue!

VacantExpression · 05/05/2017 14:01

One of my pet hates when there's a lane closure- people merge leaving hundreds of yards of empty lane- I do go to the front and merge- use the road thats there, if they needed to close the lane 500m previously they would have done.
People see a roadworks sign and panic and all go into one lane- I don't get it.

Sunnymeg · 05/05/2017 14:01

I thought that the priority was something to do with the colour of the sign, if it is a white sign saying merge in turn, then that is what you do, however a green sign with no wording only advises people in the left hand lane that vehicles from the right are merging, but the left hand lane still has priority.

CasperGutman · 05/05/2017 14:28

Zip merging is the best way. The A4 in Reading has several "Merge in turn" signs. My favourites are the ones where it's left deliberately unclear as to which lane ends and which continues. This avoids knows like the one in the OP who close gaps to try and police their odd interpretations of the rules.

One problem with drivers all piling into one lane ages before the lanes actually merge is that it makes queues longer than necessary. Not necessarily in duration, but in terms of the length of road the queue extend over. Especially in urban areas where junctions are close together, this increases the likelihood of the queue from a merge causing knock-on effects elsewhere on the road network.

BertieBotts · 05/05/2017 14:46

I think zipper merge is the US term. I didn't learn to drive in the UK so wasn't sure what it was called here - Merge in Turn sounds correct.

BertieBotts · 05/05/2017 14:47

This explains the phantom jam :) There's also an interesting Mythbusters about it.

Collaborate · 05/05/2017 14:48

No - you've got it entirely wrong. A sign warning of a lane closure ahead does not mean you should, long before the lane closes, move over. Traffic flows much better, and more of the road is used, if drivers merge at the point where two lanes merge in to one.

See page 125 of this: www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/uploads/3/2/9/2/3292309/the-official-highway-code-with-annexes-uk-en-12-04.pdf - Where lanes are restricted due to road works, merge in turn (see Rule 134).

Rule 134 says You should follow the signs and road markings and get into the lane as directed. 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.

I commute on the motorway each day, and at one part of my journey change motorways. The slip road between the two reduces to one lane after 800 yards. I despair at the drivers who dutifully switch lanes 800 yards away, leaving the left hand lane virtually free. This causes stationary traffic to back up on the motorway I've just left. That is neither sensible or safe.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 05/05/2017 15:04

My only issue with people merging at the last possible minute is those drivers who do so whether there is a gap there or not. If the driver in the "open" lane has to slam their brakes on to avoid running into you, then there was no gap available!

If everyone is driving safely then there shouldn't be an issue. However, as a regular user of the M5, I have seen most accidents around merge points.

Somebody is clearly doing something wrong.

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