To think if you don't let people join stationary traffic you're a dick.

[WhyBeADick]

I hate drivers who do this, I don't get why you'd be a dick for the sake of saving yourself 1 second.

Sat in stationary or slow moving traffic, if there is someone waiting on a side road to join I would always let them in, I can't go anywhere and I need to leave a gap for people in the opposite direction wanting to go up that road anyway so why not? After they'd gone, id move up and I imagine the person behind me would then let the next person in if anymore were waiting and so on...

Yet I see so many drivers speeding up on purpose if they see someone trying to join or not letting cars in when they can't go anywhere anyway. What's the point of being a cunt? It saves about 1 second of your journey!

Going back to your original point, there's arguments for and against. It might be only one car to the driver who's letting it out. But I've been in a very long queue (every day for two weeks, roadworks) on a main road with a lot of roads joining. Because of where I lived I had to join the queue at the back. Then drivers ahead let out people who've only just arrived at the junction with the side road, and because there are so many of them, those of us at the back never moved. Whenever there might have been an opportunity to move forward because some traffic had got through, so many more cars were being let out ahead that they took up the spaces. A 15 minute journey took well over an hour, most of it going absolutely nowhere.

A merge lane is exactly what it says. I don't understand why people sit in huge lines of traffics going back for miles when there are 2 lanes !

you genuinely can’t see how 2 lines of 10 cars is shorter than one line of 20?

as for “Highway Code can get lost” because you don’t understand it, brilliant 😂

There’s a junction like this on my commute. Drivers would not get out unless someone lets them in. But unfortunately often when letting one car in the rest just keep coming across you. Then you look like the bad guy when you think ‘enough!’ And drive forward a bit. 😬

Its interesting that you call others knobs when you are the one stating outright that you think the Highway Code doesn’t apply to you.

So you won't follow the Highway Code because you don't agree with it? Yet it's how we are supposed to use the roads. Think you'll find you're the knobhead.
Just because some people want to get in lane early and queue, doesn't mean we all do. And we don't have to as that's not how merging lanes works.
No wonder there's so many accidents.

So do you not understand how it should work or do you not care? I’m intrigued

Have you not seen the signs down these roads saying use both lanes.

you are part of the problem 🤦🏻‍♀️

I agree in principle on the joining from a side road thing, but as not everyone does it, if I'm stuck in a long traffic jam, I'm not going to let one person out of every single side road I come to (I work in a London suburb and there are loads!). If I did, I'd end up about 15 cars further back.

I appreciate that if the 15 cars in front of me had each let a car in I'd still be in the same position, but it's particularly galling if you're the only one doing it.

Of course, if you're coming out of that side road, you don't know that I've already let 5 cars out, so I may look like a total bitch!

As for merging at the end of a lane though, for roadworks, etc. I know people get their knickers in a twist on this one, but you're all supposed to use both lanes then merge at the end. It's not one person taking the piss by using the second lane, it's all the drivers in lane 1 that aren't doing it properly. The lane 1 drivers are the ones causing the traffic jams.

@Purplepeople12 and I will be there saving a load of time because someone else (likely the car just behind you) will let me

From the AA:

"Where 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."

I would on a side road but not if they are just pushing in when the road merges into one. They have come speeding down the outer lane and want to push in! No way!

well, @Rayn22 that does make you a bit of a knob I'm afraid since merging at the end is the correct way for traffic to merge.

And yes, OP, i always let one car in front of me - even leaving our football stadium car park which often means letting 10 in (one from each side-branch of the car park), as does everyone else.

20 cars in two lanes or 20 cars in one lane, still both equal 20 cars. If you have a funnel it doesn't matter whether the substance in the funnel is segmented in 2... There is still only one exit ;) I love that you think the laws of mathematics and physics don't apply to cars....

I have no problem zipper merging in slow moving traffic when two or more lanes merge. At high speeds as near me (60mph dual carriageway) you should merge in good time and not, as I see frequently, zip down to the front and then aggressively push in in your penis extension.

Regarding the discussion about people flying down the outer lane and then merging at the last moment, what really grinds my gears where I live (outside UK) is men in their big SUVs taking the completely clear 'turning only' lane up to the point where they should turn off. Instead they then try to barge into the lane going straight which is backed up due to a bridge or traffic lights. They will honk and flash you if they can't immediately cut in too. So rage inducing.

"Rayn22 · Today 08:31
I would on a side road but not if they are just pushing in when the road merges into one. They have come speeding down the outer lane and want to push in! No way! Why is their journey more important than mine they don't have to sit in traffic!"

Often told to use both lanes and then merge in turn - perhaps people who don't allow merging in turn are the idiots. It's not about who's journey is more important but reading the road and following correct procedures. Some sit like lemons in yellow boxes or in queues blocking roads further down when there is a perfectly clear road to be in.

Also from the AA:
If on the other hand you're on a motorway or fast dual carriageway in freeflowing traffic and road signs indicate that your lane is closed up ahead then it's best, and safest to move over early when you've got time to pick a safe gap in the adjacent lane rather than wait until the last second when the line of cones gives you no choice but to move across, possibly forcing other vehicles around you to brake to make space.

As I said "From the AA:
"Where 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."

Surprising that people are unaware of this!

I don’t mean to be rude, but wtf??

😂

you actually think all cars in one lane, or splitting over 2 is the same length?

same number of cars, half the length, uses the empty road space, less impact on junctions etc back up the road. I thought this was basic stuff…

And if you think about your funnel for a minute, it’s actually using all the available width. Like using all the lanes in a road, and funnelling at the end. You wouldn’t have a funnel, you’d have a massive long thin tube…

20 cars in two lanes or 20 cars in one lane, still both equal 20 cars. If you have a funnel it doesn't matter whether the substance in the funnel is segmented in 2... There is still only one exit ;) I love that you think the laws of mathematics and physics don't apply to cars....

and a 2nd time you display your complete ignorance of how traffic works.

20 cars in a line down one lane, blocking side roads, roundabouts, YBJs and traffic lights, or 2 parallel lines of 10 cars, blocking half the length of side roads, etc. Hmmm i wonder which is better?
There is a reason why physicists who study movement in liquids have been involved in the past in this kind of road planning (the book Critical Mass explains this beautifully)

As for not letting people out of side roads, indeed my mum lives in one of these side roads. If everyone on that road wanted to drive to work at the same time they'd never get off the drive since it fits about 10 cars. If nobody on the main road lets anyone out, then nobody moves out of that road at all between about 8-9:30 am and 4-6:30pm. In what world is that normal behaviour on the part of the people on the main road? Moving traffic? wait for a break, stationary traffic: let people out.

That's exactly how you're SUPPOSED to merge, though. Otherwise you cause a longer queue by not using all the road available to you. You are wrong. They are not pushing in.

"WhyBeADick · Today 10:06
Can I repeat again that this thread was not supposed to be anything about merging in turn or two lane roads... Sigh."

Threads always also discuss similar issues. It's the way things are. Let it go and breathe out.

And?? In a dual carriageway situation with few on/off junctions it doesn't matter much if your line is 100m or 200m in length. Its going to take you the same amount of time to clear it because there is only one exit. It only matters if the line of traffic blocks an onflow from another road, which is never the case in the particular scenario I face nearly every day and which I'm describing. Obviously you drive to the conditions but there is nothing inherently better or quicker about using both lanes if there is no onflow obstruction.

I'll always let someone in if they're joining from a side road or a slip road and we're moving very slowly or at a standstill - drives me insane when others don't.

The merging in turn thing always gets heated on here, but it depends on a few things and isn't always done properly. There are studies which compare 'merging in turn as the traffic approaches the lane closed point with everyone going at the same speed' with the 'merge at the absolute lane close point', and they show that merging in turn at similar speed keeps the traffic flowing more evenly - esp when there are drivers who overtake the line of cars going 30 in the left lane and then have to brake and try and get into a smaller gap (smaller because the stopping gap is smaller at 30) which causes traffic to stop or slow down even more in the left lane which causes problems further back the line.

This is zip merging and is the correct way to use both lanes in traffic. Don't be a dick.