Have you ever head up an onramp to any highway only to see a car STOPPED where it clearly says MERGE?

Why do people do that? Do they not understand they are supposed to get up to speed so they can safely slip into the stream of cars??? STOPPING is DANGEROUS

 

cuz they are stupid... but thats also the reason why people what HL and not handling... i guess the general poopulation isnt quite reday for handling that would actually require driver skill... instead of pedal mashing

-josh

 

I assume these people can only have cloths with big buttons, because they do not understand how a ziper works. One day they will make a MINI/Mini Lane.

 

Speedlimit: Safe

-josh

 

Some people are nervous drivers. They think that stopping = being cautious, while in fact they are creating a more dangerous situation because people behind them are not prepared to suddenly stop where they usually accelerate.

 

I am continually astounded by the failure to grasp the "zipper" concept. It's not that difficult, people! Although maybe I am the stupid one for not racing up the merging lane/shoulder to the front of the merge, thus saving precious seconds and not giving up one inch of asphalt.

There ought to be some real-life driving behaviors that result in immediate license suspension and re-education. The "stoppers" and "racers" can then take the bus together to their driver's ed class.

 

Because they are sub-mergers :smile:

Seriously, so many people are just clueless about so many ways to handle situations while driving - I think most of us could go one all day with amazing stories of encounters with ignorance and stupidity while driving.

I feel for you with the merge thing - I used to live in an area where, every day, I'd drive up a road on a hill that became an entrance lane merging onto the highway. If you did it correctly, scope out oncoming traffic while approaching the short entrance lane, pace yourself appropriately and go it was safe and relatively easy. But soooo frequently I'd get to the top of the hill and be behind someone who just braked and would either slow too much or stop right on the entrance to the highway! Then it was dangerous and difficult since they were too angled to properly see or gauge the oncoming traffic and they'd get on the freeway way too slowly, endangering themselves and the people suddenly finding themselves in the lane with this slow vehicle (and people would never signal their merge either).

Anyway, you can see I understand where you are coming from

 

What gets me is that people today are required to take driver training courses before they can get a license. Maybe not everywhere but here in Wisconsin they do and they still can't seem to grasp the concept of a nifty merge. I am to old to have fallen under that requirement, so I ask, how do they teach people to merge?

 

I consider myself a good driver and I have had to stop on ramps because the oncoming traffic was so heavy and bumper to bumper that there were no spots between cars big enough to fit even a MINI.

I suppose I could have gone on up the ramp and forced someone to slam on their brakes to let me in, but then again, maybe they would not have stopped which would have caused me to take to the shoulder...



There is a ramp close to where I work where the road I'm on merges to the inside lane (the left lane on the second road). I have seen cars there stop lots of times because no one would allow the cars out.



Maybe if the people driving on the other road would be a little more courteous and let others merge into their lanes instead of running bumper to bumper, everyone would be a little safer and happier.

 

This happens in Boston, too. To get anywhere here, you have to perfect the art of aiming yourself directly toward what should be a large enough gap between cars (but which isn't), and looking like you have no intention of slowing down or turning the wheel, even though you're actually prepared to veer away at the last second if you run up against a strong-willed driver.

Same deal crossing in crosswalks. Unless you act like you're actually trying to jump in front of a car and get yourself killed, you'll stand on the curb all day.

 

Here too. There is one notorious merge lane on the Bay Bridge from Treasure Island to San Francisco that is difficult to engage without first stopping--and for a long time. But elsewhere traffic may be jammed (whether fast or slow) so it's hard to merge. And some folks in faster lanes cut in when they see an opening in the merging lane which doesn't help the driver who is trying to get onto the highway. In such situations I either slow down or stop. I notice it has been happening with greater frequency over the years. My first reaction is to blame it on increased congestion--why doesn't everyone (including me) just go home where they belong, but I know my reflexes are slowing down in old age.

On the other hand when I was a kid every pedestrian waited for the signal to change before crossing--even when there were no cars and even in early morning or late at night. We were so law abiding then. Now most pedestrians ignore the signals. In "bad" neighborhoods folks would cross the street anyplace as though it were an extension of their own sidewalk, oblivious to cars. Our city has installed signals that count down the seconds to warn pedestrians (and alert drivers that tempt the red) but people, even with baby strollers or kids in tow, will begin crossing at 1.

 

I'm talking about the crosswalks with no signals whatsoever, where the pedestrians theoretically have the right of way, period, no question. In reality, it's a game of chicken. Except that I don't know if chickens have middle fingers.

 

Been there and feel your frustration. It's too bad stupid doesn't hurt, it should!

 

In Connecticut they actually have entrance ramps onto some of the major highways that have STOP signs right at the end, right before the merge. Go figure!

 

I'm not talking about rush hour, bumper to bumper traffic. Rather, I'm talking traffic moving at 55+ with lots of gaps (and traffic in the inside lane like all the lanes). The poeple litteraly STOP and then I have no idea what they are waiting for since its MUCH harder to get up to speed then if they did it correctly.

Somoene mentioned what do they teach in traffic school? Excellent Question. Anybody here just out of Drivers' Ed?

 

Yeah, those are absurd. The first thing I thought of when I read this thread was those stop signs on the on ramps to the Wilbur Cross & Merritt Parkways.

I saw something interesting last time I was in Phoenix. There were traffic lights at the top of the on-ramps onto I-10 that switched fairly rapidly between red and green, apparently to allow time for each person to merge before someone else was right up behind them. I wasn't driving, so I couldn't really tell how well they worked.

 

We have 'em in San Diego too. I'm rarely ever on the freeways during rush hour, but when I am, the merging signals do at least allow you to go whatever speed you like on the on-ramp. However, you may then have to slam on your brakes as you merge into bumper to bumper stop-and-go. It works best when the freeways are only kinda congested, and you can enjoy having the on-ramp all to yourself, followed by a perfect merge.

 

Some are people that just don't get it & some are people that are plain scared of driving on freeways. They cannot look over their shoulder without following their head with the steering wheel.They also slow down to change lanes. No wonder they're nervous drivers, with everyone honking, skidding, gesturing, & swerving around them. More times than not they are peering between the dash & steering wheel.

 

An even better question is why people come down entry ramps onto the interstate nose-to-tail rather than spreading out so one car can merge, then the next car can merge, etc? It irks me no end to approach a busy ramp, where the traffic on both has basically come to a standstill and the people on the ramp are progressing faster than I am because they will not merge effectively and courteously.

 

--I was going to ask, do all of you live in Honolulu? Because this is exactly what they do here. They tailgate eachother on On-ramps. They stop instead of merging. But they do one thing even worse. They slow down like 10 to 20mph on the freeway when the road turns even a little bit. If you've ever seen a traffic study on the effects of heavy traffic when one person slows down 5mph you'd see that 5 miles behind them the traffic will have slowed to nearly a crawl. 10 miles behind them it is all stopped on a freeway because a bunch of jokers in the front all decide to slow down.

We also have an irritating herd mentality. If one person, ONE PERSON doesn't move when a light turns green, all three to four lanes will just sit there thinking something is wrong. Even if they can plainly see nothing is wrong they will simply sit there. To compound the problem people are too stupid or too polite (I can't figure out which) to honk. I mean I know we're heavily influenced by the Japanese culture here but if the guy in front of you is an idiot, HONK at them! If you do dare honk at someone their first instinct isn't to see if they're doing something wrong. But instead they look at you as if you're a rude jerk. I can't stand Hawaii drivers most days and I grew up here!!! Don't even get me going about rubbernecking here.

k-nuff ranting. Sorry everyone.

--pyratio

 

Wow, just the opposite of up north. When I lived in Boston, they were all crazy drivers since as soon as the light turned green, it was a race to the next light, which was, of course, red.

That is, until I drove in Montreal where when the CROSS lane turned Yellow, EVERYONE drove through the red light!

 

if you've been to Pasadena,CA and try to get on the 110, you might want
to consider stopping sometimes... the ramps are so damn short!

 

The signals that stop you on the ramp are metering signals. Here in Madison the density of traffic on the beltline is measured by camera and/or induction loops in the pavement. The signals only operate during rush hour and are designed to create holding areas that fill up during peak times keeping that amount of vehicles off the main highway for a time.

Does it work. I don't know. Ours are designed so there is enough ramp left for you to get up to speed when the light turns green, if you are driving a MINI that is. My work truck weighs 30,000 pounds and the 0-60 time is probably about a minute or so, so I find the metering signals make it real hard to negotiate a merge.[img]images/smilies/eek.gif[/img]

 

I dont know why they do it but but they give me ROAD RAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...and I want to ram them. (just got home from my commute)

 

I don't know how much traffic is in your area but sometimes it is necessary..especially with the traffic in certain areas. I do understand and agree with your point when the conditions are right though.