There are obviously a lot of contentious situations and passionate opinions in the world of traffic. Today we talk about one that might top them all: the appropriateness of the 'late merge' (or as it's called on angry internet forums --I really found some-- the 'selfish merge').
You may not recognize the scenario from those phrases alone. I refer to the situation in which, on a highway, road work has caused a lane to close. For the sake of simplicity, picture two lanes being reduced to one lane. A sign reads "Right lane closed in 1.5 miles". Many drivers, motivated by some bizarre reflex to respond to things instantaneously, immediately get over to the left lane. Soon everyone has done this and the left lane is bumper-to-bumper while the right lane is wide open for 1.5 miles.
Some drivers, surely in the minority, see the wide open right lane and 'zoom up' to the merge point and try to 'butt in' to the line of standstill traffic. You might be mad just thinking about it. You may want to hurt that selfish, rude, inconsiderate driver. But here's the thing-- he's right. You're wrong.
The Biggest Misunderstanding in Driving
I think the biggest in pronunciation might be 'mischievous'
Dumb Person: Ugh!! I can't stand those worthless, pathetic, arrogant, ignorant, deplorable, abhorrent, loathsome, scum of the earth, ugly, poorly educated drivers who zoom up and try to merge in right at the merge point.
Me: I do that every single time. Without exception.
DP: Are you serious? Dude, that's low. I can't stand drivers like you.
Me: Drivers who merge at a merge point? Have you ever contemplated the phrase 'merge point'?
DP: No!! Don't even try to convince me! I will not budge on this! You're wrong and I hate you! Plus, don't act like a little word trickery changes the reality of the situation on the road.
Me: Ok, no more word trickery. But how about the fact that we are all supposed to use both lanes until the merge point?
DP: I'll believe that when I see a sign telling me.
Photo evidence:
DP: I've seen what you can do with Microsoft Paint. I'm not convinced that's an actual sign.
More photo evidence:
Me: These signs are used consistently at such road work sites all over Pennsylvania.
DP: Okay that looks vaguely familiar, but I almost never see them personally. When there's no such sign, how are people supposed to know that? It's not like announcements are made to the public to tell us.
Me: Well there was that one time that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that "PennDOT has issued an advisory urging motorists who approach restricted work zones to use all open lanes to the designated merge point." And I recall Jim Struzzi, spokesman for said Dept. of Transportation, stating that "failure to [use both lanes til the merge point] is already causing major challenges for motorists on I-79."
DP: They're wrong! What I'm doing would never make traffic worse.
Me: They're the department of transportation.
DP: More like wrongsportation.
Me: Good one. But the thing makes sense. Suppose there is a gridlock of traffic. If done properly at the merge point, let's suppose this would cause 2 miles of backed up traffic prior to the merge point. But if everyone hurries over to the one lane 1.5 miles early, then you have traffic backed up 3.5 miles before the road work. All you've done is back the process up earlier on the road. Why is this bad? Because there might be entrance ramps onto the interstate in those earliest 1.5 miles! This now creates another turn-taking point and backs the traffic up even more!
DP: Well this is all well and good theoretically. But I'm not talking about weighing the merits of reality against some imaginary best-case scenario in which everyone uses both lanes. I'm specifically talking about the real world, in which it's only you and a handful of other drivers zooming up. Stop doing it.
Me: I can't and I won't. Listen. There are signs posted saying to use both lanes. The local papers reported we should use both lanes. The Dept. of Transportation issued an advisory that we should use both lanes. Minnesota's same Dept. says that "research shows that [dangerous lane switching, serious crashes and road rage] decrease when motorists use both lanes."
DP: Are you seriously quoting new evidence during closing statements?
Me: Yes! When traffic signs, the paper, the DoT, and research all tell me to do something, I do it. I'm sorry you're not also doing it. If you and the other haters would join me, together we could reduce accidents, shorten traffic jams, and be happier.
DP: Don't confuse me with the facts. I have a closed mind.
Come with me if you want to live
Or at least get places faster
Are you ready to join me, zooming ahead in the open lane all the way to the merge point?
Where do you fall on this intense issue?
Has anyone just now seen the light of the late merge?
Jon
I understand your argument, I even agree with it, but until everyone else is educated and starts using both lanes, then you are still that jerk in the right lane, and I would rather not be that jerk.
ReplyDeleteI am willing to be that jerk. I am a recent convert to the Late Merge, and this post reaffirms my decision. I love a good opportunity to school other drivers in appropriate techniques, and take great satisfaction in seemingly rude driving that is actually legal driving. Case in point: Flying by all the idiots clogging up the "Fast Lane." Please do a post on the widespread confusion that the left lane is the Fast Lane and not, in fact, the Passing Lane.
ReplyDeleteI will be that jerk as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Jon.
ReplyDeleteOn a related note, how about SLOW PEOPLE START USING THE RIGHT LANE WHERE THEY BELONG!!! Or better yet, stay off the roads. Now that I am a big boy taking the NJ Turnpike every day to and from work, I just wish that all the bad drivers out there could be instructed in the proper way to navigate a major highway.
Hint to fast drivers out there, like me, who are fed up with slow pokes. Sometimes, the right lane is your best bet. Because everyone else on the road thinks "I'm not slow, I shouldn't be in the right lane" leaving it wide open for yours truly.
And I also have this theory that if you're speeding in the right lane you're less likely to get caught by the police than in the left lane, because they expect speeders in the left lane, not the right. Have yet to come to a conclusion on that one as I have never gotten a speeding ticket.
Wow. Transportation issues really bring out the worst in people (see: me).
DeleteHaha thanks for the idea/rant, Tom. I will maybe tackle the left lane issue another time. But it's a tall task.
DeleteI still hold to my belief that you merging at the last minute is going to cause a crash. I really do think so. Also, efficient "zipper" merging is only more efficient if everybody is doing it and using both lanes appropriately. Until you educate all the other drivers out there, you're not really helping anything; you're just that annoying rude guy. *read the nicest way possible*
ReplyDeleteKendra, I was about to reply to this, but I'll probably just refer you to Tim's comment below. True, my lonely action doesn't solve the problem all the early-merge drivers created. But of course I'm going to take the action in the hope that others will learn to do the same.
DeleteNot to be a jerk (uh-oh, I'm about to be a jerk), but these responses along the lines of "I'm not acting rational until everyone else acts rational" are ridiculous! If you were in a burning building, would you all sit around, paralyzed, waiting for someone else to make the first move to the exit, out of fear it would be rude to leave first? I hope not, because even polite people burn to death.
ReplyDeleteDo you not realize that you are even RUDER by merging earlier and causing longer delays for everyone?
Jon, I enjoyed the Watergate reference.
Tim, you're not #1 Commenter for nothing.
DeleteThe other question might be: Until people wise up and start using both lanes, is there anything that can be done to make late-merging safer, more efficient, and less conspicuous?
ReplyDeleteI tend to not wait until the absolute merge point and will take advantage of extra space left by slower drivers, pulling in close to the vehicle ahead to avoid panic-braking of the slow, gap-producing driver. The intention is to avoid needing someone in the right lane to actually stop to let me merge. (And it provides drivers a free lesson in zipper merging, in the process.) I will then assist other merging drivers similarly -- driving slowly and steadily, but giving them room and avoiding braking myself. Braking propagation is the primary cause of many traffic jams. Counter-intuitively, you can actively help to break up jams by driving slower and leaving gaps to reduce braking and/or promote zipper merging. Competitive behavior, as in most areas of life, leads to inefficiencies.
Oh.. There's a curious psychological exploration hidden here. Why does the late-merging driver usually feel at least some twinge of guilt when they are, in fact, the ones doing the right thing. This is usually evidenced by rationalizing behavior (such as this blog post) or, if a passenger is present, some sort of explanation of their action. (even if one has previously been given to the same passenger.) It's probably a good example of false guilt, caused by other people's inappropriate reaction to correct, rational behavior. Perhaps it's also the feeling of gaining what is clearly an unfair advantage and/or empathizing with the irrational drivers stuck in the right lane.
Yes, it has been a long time since I posted here. :)
Good question, and great points. Welcome back to Tangent Space(s), Chris!
DeleteWhile the non-braking zipper merge is definitely the most efficient method, I wonder how to execute it en masse without a prescribed location for it? If everyone just looked for the right gap to slide in (also what I do if I find the gap close to the merge point), some wouldn't find it because it's not there, because (we can't escape it) drivers are selfish and/or ignorant.
It seems to me like just shoveling everyone up to the merge point in both lanes, like the signs attempt to do, is a decent way to try to force people to learn the zipper merge safely.
The guilt stuff-- awesome observation and speculation. I have nothing to add.
I suppose there's also the distinction between an active construction zone lane closure with periodic blockage and an ordinary lane end merge. In the latter case, say on the 579N bridge during rush hour, people do in fact zipper merge. It's imperfect, but both lanes are used to the merge point and most people don't stop entirely unless congestion after the ramp grinds everything to a halt. (And this is a separate problem caused entirely by panic braking propagation, as people jockey for lanes.) With the construction case, I think there's more of a notion in people's minds that they are waiting in line and using the left lane is "cutting."
DeleteSo here would be my suggestions for PennDot:
1.) Long merge zones, not a flashing sign and 20 ft of cones.
2.) Creative, positive reinforcement signs like "Thank you for using both lanes" and "Zipper merging gets everyone home sooner" and "Be safe: Use both lanes to the merge" and "It's not rude to use the left lane." Perhaps a large pictorial of zipper merging would also be nice.
Oh yes, this is all another argument for self-driving cars, since computers aren't selfish.
The I579N bridge merge point.. with nice long and gradual lane disappearance:
http://maps.google.com/?ll=40.454391,-79.99705&spn=0.002494,0.002462&t=h&z=19
wow, both sides of this debate are really being represented here! My issue isn't whether or not it's right or wrong, you've clearly proven with evidence that the late merge is correct and it makes sense: why start the merge point, leading to a longer distance of one-laneness, sooner?! Yet for some reason, since nobody knows I'm right, that guilt still lingers. I think it comes down to how you want others to read your driving habits (which I know is absurd because I very likely don't and never will know these people I'm "cutting off"). There's still a small part of me that would rather be wrong to avoid the honking and being flipped off, but my desire to be correct is gradually taking over my mindset. Maybe the guilt is also sadness that these dumb people don't know any better and I'm empathizing that they have to go through anger unrightfully? taking it a little too far now..
ReplyDeleteJon, you have a new convert. It will be a rough transition for two reasons:
ReplyDelete1) It goes against all of my "training". My parents did a great job teaching me to drive(you can be the judge of that...we did travel from Orlando to DC together), but I was taught to ALWAYS get over early as a sign of respect for other drivers. If I pull that move with my mom in the car, I might get murdered on the spot--which creates other traffic problems, but I'll stop there.
2) I think I've always associated merging at the merge point with being late and procrastination. That's the total opposite of my nature: I value promptness and try to get places on time, preferably early. As I evaluate, this correlation (closer you get to the merge point, the more of a procrastinating jerk you are) is unfair and out of line.
If it is truly more efficient, I'm on board--that's a higher value than being prompt. Time, and actually practicing this proper technique, should heal my idiosyncrasies.
-Mike
This is a beautiful moment, Mike. Thanks for your comment, and your willingness to change. I'm sure, as with all things, you will ('the) conquer(or') this!
DeleteI'm all for using the left lane all the way until the merge point, its what its intended purpose was and if everyone followed this rule it would probably increase the flow of traffic (Imagine only 1 spot where people merge instead of people randomly merging at 10 different spots within a mile stretch).
ReplyDeleteTim you're definitely spot on with your description of people should just do it already and stop waiting for others to make it acceptable.
Now if we could just eliminate this whole "Pittsburgh Left" thing I'd be a happy driver. (FYI I never give people the Pittsburgh Left, and I more than welcome them to try and take it...)
I've been using the closed lane until the merge point for a while. I stopped feeling guilty about it a couple years ago when I thought about the same arguments Jon laid out.
ReplyDeleteWhy would I feel guilty about doing the right thing? In a different situation, if you're under 21 and at a party where everyone is drinking, would you feel guilty if you didn't drink? Or would you feel proud that you are standing up against the masses and doing what you know to be the right thing? Maybe someone else will notice what you're doing and follow you.
I'm proud to use both lanes until the merge point and set an example. Follow me, and we will have an equal distribution of traffic in both lanes with similar wait times for all drivers.
John, I agree totally.
ReplyDeleteAlso, another big issue I have with merging is this: Merging does NOT mean stop. It's a verb - meaning it's an action, meaning you should not stop at a merge point and sit there waiting for your chance. Keep moving people! Isn't it an unspoken rule that if you're driving in the right lane and you see a car up ahead, about to merge, you move over to the left lane. Or, just let the person merge! If you continue to move while merging, someone has to let you in.
I'm a hypocritical late merger. I'll use the right lane as close to the merge point as possible and sneak past a cautious slow-starting gap-leaver. However, if you say in the right lane and get closer to the final merge point than I did, there's NO chance I'm letting you in; you're on your own.
ReplyDeleteNone of your detractors have brought up the difference between legality and ethics, though that might have some merit. I'm with you all the way, but I thought someone would at least take a shot.
If you catch a gap shortly before the final merge, I say that as ethical late-merger's, our responsibility is to emulate zipper merging behavior with those who didn't find a gap. Don't stop completely or allow a whole chain to merge, but allow a sufficient gap to form for one or two. (perhaps blink lights to signal, etc.) This behavior is very instructive to other drivers who observe it.
DeleteI am also a recent convert to the late merge. I don't always do it, but I definitely do if there are traffic signs saying to do so because otherwise I am disobeying the traffic laws, right?! Anyway, I have had two kind of funny things happen since I converted.
ReplyDelete1) I was driving Mike's parents to his 5K race. We merged onto 376 west right before the squirrel hill tunnel and I immediately noticed the left lane was backed up and the right lane was wide open. So I continued driving in the right lane. Mike's dad somewhat calmly offered "you need to get over" in which I pointed to the traffic sign and mumbled "sign says use both lanes until merge point" and continued driving in the right lane. Oh the tension! I wanted to die. Turns out the right lane was open anyway as construction had ended for the morning and all of those people were sitting in the left lane for absolutely no reason, but that's beside the point.
2) I was driving in the right lane (which would be ending in 1/2 mile) and a guy up ahead was hugging the line, refusing to let anyone in the right lane selfishly zoom ahead. I drove up to him and hovered until I was sure there was enough room to pass on the thinning shoulder, then calmly continued driving in the right lane until the merge point. Suck it!
Hilarious and hilarious.
Delete1) Awesome (though maybe not as much for you) example of the tension this can cause!
2) I will generally support any story that ends in an exclamation of "Suck it!", but especially this one. People riding the center line to prevent late merges are actually breaking the law (at least in PA). I read an anecdote on a forum and the guy said it's a pretty steep fine. I hope it continues to be enforced.
I am never a late merger, unless there is a sign like the pic you posted above. I guess it makes sense that that rule is always the case, but I was taught to get over immediately. I have wanted to be a late merger, but I always think it's selfish. I'm such a rule follower, that now I know the rule I will have to be a late merger.
ReplyDeleteI do want to bring up one point which is semi relevant- that one bridge(I'm from Pittsburgh and I don't know what it's called?) when you're coming south on 279 to get onto 376 and the 2 lanes are added to another 2 lanes. You merge right when it opens up... but those late mergers(and in this case I might definitely call them selfish mergers) drive past everyone in the left lane then try to get over to the right. I think it makes the traffic worse because then they're adding more traffic to the beginning of the lane. I don't know if that makes any sense... but I guess I needed to vent about that bridge.
Any thoughts people? Should we still be late mergers in that bridge situation?
mmmm I'm pretty sure I know where you're talking about! Duquesne Bridge I believe, where the lanes are for Strip District, Downtown, 376E/Oakland, or Fort Pitt Bridge. THAT is an instance different from Jon's merging theory, I think. The lanes are labeled from far behind (as long as you break your neck to see the signs on the ceiling of the bridge) so I do hate those people that take the Strip District lane till the very end, THEN try to move into MY 376E lane. I worked on the north side for a summer and got so angry each day, as I patiently waited in my lane, that I eventually became the selfish, rude, late-merger on days that I was in a hurry. Not my proudest moment(s). But this is a great question! Is the distinction that the lanes are for separate locations, so there shouldn't be late merging? Or would proponents of late-merging still support this?
DeleteYikes, I didn't realize this made me so mad, but another instance: 376E approaching the Squirrel Hill tunnels, and there's a Squirrel Hill/Homestead right lane for like, a mile and a half before the tunnel. When it's busy, I HATE the people that ride that lane until the tunnel, because then it's just a busy as the other two lanes and I can't take my exit. Where does this situation fall into the equation?
Let me tell you a story (AKA force you to listen to me rant)...I got stuck in a merge situation the other night and was in the wrong lane - I was dumb and not using the left lane but instead stuck myself in the right lane for miles and miles of needless traffic. My fault. What IS NOT my fault is the renegade behind me decided to take the law into his own hands and jumped into the left lane as a 'blocker' - even better he used his brights as a weapon and shined them in my side mirror for 2 miles. Instead of merging appropriately, I sat in traffic and cursed him. I'm not sure who was more in the wrong.
ReplyDelete