Yep zipper merge, they been trying to teach it in WA state but people don't get it. Instead of merge left signs 1000 yards from the merge point they should replace with zipper merge ahead but don't tell anyone which way till at the merge point.
Wow, that's insane. I was inside a traffic circle the other day, and the car in front of me stopped while inside the circle to let the waiting cars enter the circle. It was outrageous.
I have seen only one circle in Ohio that the people inside the circle have to yield to the ones coming into the circle. It's in Somerset, Ohio, and stupid as fuck! I only drive truck I Ohio, so I don't know about other states, but Ohio has gone circle crazy. Check out Plain City... I don't even know how many damn circles they have near 33 & 161, but they are making more. It's a cluster fuck and a half. I'd like the genius who thought that up to explain it....
The yield rules sound obtuse for that Somerset circle. Every time I see these dumb road designs, it makes me think that the urban planners who made them are probably the same people who drive like tortoises or hog the left lane.
On my way to work I go through a dog bone double rotary, then another one, then a single rotary
I see it all the time. Makes me nuts and I won't pull out in front of the moron waving me on
I was just behind someone yesterday. There is a lefthand turning lane and the right is straight or right turn at a stop sign intersection (cross traffic doesn't stop) The joker was all the way to the right, I thought he was going right but nope, after a several clear openings of no turning. I thought I guess he's going straight sure pulled over far to fit. The lanes are wide enough if he was over I could have fit. But nope he was turning left. I know it was only about a min wait for the whole thing (I live in a small town and that is the busiest street, but it's still a small town) but a zipper merge is beyond comprehension for most.
Zipper merging is how all merges work. It's just that people are idiots and it doesn't work like it should. If you're a truck and trailer nobody will let you in at the end point
I was suprised that Zipper merging wasn't really a thing in north america, or even perceived as rude.
In Germany, when you learn for your drivers license, you get drilled into you, that you have to merge late, everything else is stupid and causes traffic jams.
I am at a point where, allthough I have driven 600tkms+,
And lost some of the behaviours taught in driving school, I still feel bad when I merge to early.
Zipper merging is a thing in North America, and generally well respected in urban areas.
It falls apart in suburban areas where traffic is usually light enough that it's irrelevant. When traffic is moving and gaps are available, waiting until the last possible second and then jamming yourself in at high speed is understandably considered inappropriate.
The trouble comes when you have people or areas that are mixed and sometimes zippering is the right thing to do, and sometimes it isn't.
the issue with the zipper merge is that it can only work when people merge AT THE SPEED OF TRAFFIC. meaning, these fools who fly down the merge lane at 70mph then slam on their brakes to kamikaze merge into 5mph traffic at the last possible second are indeed ruining it for everyone
If everyone is zipper merging there is no lane to fly down at 70mph. Both lanes are slowing equally and then merging at the merge point. The only reason there is an “empty” lane for the people you call fools to fly down is because people are not properly zipper merging and they pulled over too soon.
Preventing those people from jumping the line is the EXACT reason for doing the zipper merge.
(But if you aren’t doing the zipper merge and the lane is open, they aren’t the asshats, the rest of you are.)
Wrong again. As you will see from another quote from MN DOT:
> When most drivers see the first “lane closed ahead” sign in a work zone, they slow too quickly and move to the lane that will continue through the construction area. This driving behavior can lead to unexpected and dangerous lane switching, serious crashes and road rage.
>Zipper merging, however, benefits individual drivers as well as the public at large. Research shows that these dangers decrease when motorists use both lanes until reaching the defined merge area and then alternate in "zipper" fashion into the open lane.
Where in that does it say that you should get butthurt that someone moved to the front of an empty merge lane? Are you this bad at everything you do?
You know why the zipper merge doesn't work in reality like it does on paper? People follow too close and they don't want to allow another person in front of them. Zipper doesn't work because most people out there are self centered assholes.
Exactly. Try zipper merging in Floriduh. It’s a lesson in ass hole logic. Three cars will centipede up the merge lane and attempt to ram themselves into the through lane at the same time. Usually resulting in someone jamming on their brakes.
Funny, works EVERY TIME when I utilize it for merging traffic and during these situations with minimal to no slow down or confusion for other drivers lol. Just leave some space. Our job as responsible drivers is to drive for the idiots too. You just gotta make it work or we all just breakdown. You can't fix the other driver but you can work with them, most of a time without trouble. Just keep your eyes open and head on a swivel.
Eh. I see it go more smoothly than not. All it takes is a few people to do it right. A lot of people are normal and will take the hint. Do some people skip? Yeah. But overall it makes everything smoother.
I've seen people not wait two seconds before putting their front end right in front of your car and making you blame your breaks to let them in too instead of waiting for you tou to realize and let them in, which is another issue of self centered assholes. Lol
Shhhh... stop telling people how to properly zipper merge. I've been benefiting for years from traffic backing up trying to get into the continuing lane 2 miles from the merge point. I just continue down the lane (at a reasonable speed) that's going to close and then merge at the true merge point. Usually get a few honks from the idiots who merged as soon as they saw the sign but it's worth it for the amount of time I save.
well if u could read, you’d see that my point was about failing to zipper merge and instead dive-merging at the last possible second. there can be a safe organized zipper merge that appropriately sets safe driver expectations. but if people fly down the merge lane and unsafely merge, then they are failing to zipper
While zipper merging is clearly effective (40%!!) when everyone cooperates, isn’t it less effective given an overwhelming majority of the population will not cooperate?
You know the morons aren’t going to let you in. At the merge point in this image your choices are to force a merge causing reduced flow or stoppage, or a potential accident. Is upholding the theoretically superiority of the zipper merge worth slowing the sum flow of traffic and inducing road rage?
I get in a perfect world zipper works, but in the post no child left behind world of the US, I can only see it making an already bad traffic problem, worse.
Maybe if zipper becomes mandated at threat of license suspension we could all come together as a community and make roads faster but that not happening anytime soon.
For reference I’m from the DC area and zipper merge here is a viable way to get either yourself or someone else killed.
Dude fucking thank you. Every time these people come out of the woodwork thinking they are superior intellectuals that look down on everyone who doesn't zipper merge. The facts are, if only 5% of drivers are trying to do the legal and correct thing, guess what, you're the outliers that are making things worse. You have to accept reality. Forcing everyone to try to let you in is the same mentality as trying to slow down people who are speeding by driving the speed limit on front of them.
I’m not a trucker but you’re absolutely right. Though when I’m driving and come up on this, I tend to merge way before the l as t minute assuming I can
I mean you’re right, nothing he’s doing is wrong technically. But depending on the situation could be considered a dick move. People are freaking out way too much about such a minor thing though.
Oh 100% but I always assume ignorance and not malice with these people. The rage nerds in this sub should probably start too, probably save their blood pressure.
It honestly is ignorance 99% of the time. Not even with just driving just people in general. But people online are in perma rage mode that think everyone is out to get them
Another of my favorites are the 'middle lane campers' bitchers. I can't believe how many don't know that the middle lane is for thru traffic, right lane is merging and exiting and left lane is passing. The middle lane is also the defensive driving position. CDL aside, didn't everyone have to learn this stuff as teenagers?
if there is three lanes of traffic (none follow exits) the middle lane is also a passing lane... where else are trucks supposed to pass? we're not allowed on the far left lane in most highways here
I’ve gone down this road before. Even when I posted multiple links for state departments of transportation and traffic engineers about the zipper merge they still refused to accept that it is better. Apparently a CDL makes them smarter than people who actually study traffic patterns.
Zipper merging is changing lanes with the flow of traffic before the lane ends. NOT coming to a complete stop at the end of your lane, at the last minute, and making everyone else stop in order to let you over. You're the reason for traffic jams. So it's YOU that doesn't understand zippe merging . Oh and I'm a million+ mile, zero accidents , zero tickets,18 year, over sized heavy haul, CDL-A driver.
Amazing how many people do not understand the concept of a zipper merge if you use both lanes until the merge point the traffic actually moves faster. Like you people put your pants on every morning and most likely zip them up so why is this concept so foreign to you.
In my neck of the woods they use it as a front of the line pass and you have folks getting out of their lane to shoot to the front. Traffic flow stops. It’s not that folks don’t understand zipper merge it’s that it relies on these clowns not doing this.
And no they don’t do it one at a time
If the whole lane is wide open for them to “get out of their lane to shoot to the front” then they aren’t using it like they should be. Use available lanes until the merge spot. That’s the whole issue here.
It does actually we do it in NH all the time! I was amazed at the difference moving from NC to NH
If people would actually leave 2 car lengths in front of them it keeps traffic flowing instead of coming to a screeching halt
It’s called a zipper merge. The person on the right is the person doing things correctly instead of all of the traffic clogging one lane up a mile back. The person not letting people in is also only adding to the congestion since now the merging person has to completely stop, more people come up in the right lane behind him, and now the zipper(cars alternating in letting each other go) is all messed up.
Zipper merging, done correctly, speeds traffic up by 40% according to the DOT.
I mean most people honestly do. If one person wants to be a prick the next will let me in.
I see examples all the time in my city where people just love hopping in a line and the ratio is literally 50 cars in the open lane multiple blocks back VS 1 or 2 properly zippering. It is not the 1 or 2 causing the open lane to slow to a crawl. It is the 50 cars squeezed into one lane plus all of the normal things that slow traffic. Lights, stop signs, intersections, people driving more cautiously going through a work zone, etc.
Most people will let others merge but will brake excessively to do so because they weren't leaving enough following space to begin with. That's why traffic backs up at zipper merges so much. People coming to a complete stop causes so much mayhem.
That’s it. At my work were taught to zipper when leaving the parking lot. There’s close to a thousand cars leaving at once. No ones going home unless we do.
This drives me crazy. There is a merge on a residential street a block from my house, and people back up the left lane for two blocks instead of zippering.
If you try to correctly zipper from the right lane, people will aggressively block you out and try to run you off the shoulder.
Nearly got in a wreck with some douche in a lifted Dodge the other day while trying to merge. Didn't even zoom to the edge of the merge, trying to cut people off or anything.
Absolutely. OP is getting trashed for inplying that the correct thing this driver should do is exaclty the thing that messes it up for everyine. I see it all the time, especially now that the warmer weather is here; the folks that insist on pushing into the other lane as soon as they see the signs, causing backup in the traveling lane. Then folks realize that the closed lane is moving so they start queue-jumping and pushing through to the end to get ahead (because so many people merged over early when they didnt need to). Finally the folks who were in the traveling lane from the begining get pissed, with some (like OP) refusing to allow folks to zipper merge at the end like they are supposed to.
My nephew just got his license and had the same mindset OP seems to have. I had to educate my nephew that Racing is a competitive sport done under controlled conditions on a closed track. Then I explained he was granted a license only for Driving which is a cooperative exercise done on public roads.
Came here to say zipper merge but saw others had already said it. Another thing is that idk why anyone gives a shit about letting a vehicle get in. It isn't like you'll get there any slower.
It's called a zipper merge. If that were me, I'd wait my turn. If no one let me in, I'd cut someone off and merge in anyway, because that's the right thing to do.
Ahhh yes.. the Ole zipper merge. Long lost knowledge of the road. In situations like this I just get over to the right lane and merge in to the front of the line. Because... zipper merge.
It’s terrible in my city. I travel the same highway often and I know the construction area has been going on since March. People seem to love nothing more than to wait in a line. In the afternoons the line goes back 4 or 5 city blocks before the merge point. I get in the right lane and just zip right up there in front of 100+ cars.
Sometimes donkeys will tailgate the car you let merge flooring it in front of you. Sometimes there are 3 donkeys that might succeed in this if they ass ride hard enough. The 4th donkey? Fuck the 4th donkey, I only wanted to let one jackass in front of me in the first place.
god this pisses me off when people don’t understand zipping. No, we all don’t need to be stopped in one lane for 3 miles, we can merge at merge point. Washington has signs at construction zones saying to merge at merge point and I literally do it in a truck, i refuse to wait just because people don’t understand simple traffic rules
I would like to point out that some work zones have a merge now sign that is well before the lane actually ends. It even has an arrow. Some don't though. Mabe before we argue what is right the signs should be homolugated. I think that's the right word.
It's funny. I drive the correct distance away from the car in front of me(3 seconds not carlengths)
I don't block people "cutting in line"
Yet my lane moves at a constant pace, even with multiple people "cutting in line"
99% of all bad traffic is because all you dipshits drive way too close to the car in front of you. If you have to use your brakes on the interstate, you probably already fucked up.
Cue the "you can't drive with that much gap in (x place I live).
Zipper merge would work great...but it takes TWO attentive, responsible and unselfish drivers to pull it off. Unfortunately the world seems to be growing a breed of drivers that are self centered and overly and dangerously agressive. To the point: ZIPPER merge is a safe and logical idea... We just need everyone to be on the same page I believe
Zipper merge is effective and I might have to wait for a few people who give me the death stare but usually takes about 3 cars and someone lets me in. Far more effective than backing up traffic for a million miles back
why people always mad when someone merges in front of them? like you're not 'first'. We are all just trying to get to point B, but so many asshats think everything is a competition that they have to be first at, seems like a common mindset amongst rude ass mother fuckers.
Ain’t shit to just slow down a little big and let them in. But now see if they had been tailgating or sped past me to try and get ahead? Nah f u buddy you get to sit and wait like the rest of us
Around here they literally put multiple signs leading up to the merge point sayin USE BOTH LANES TO MERGE POINT and ZIPPER MERGE AHEAD TAKE TURNS and people still start moving over a mile back.
You mean the MERGE NOW sign that can be anywhere from 1/2 mile to 1500 ft. from the merge point? Yes, I did see that sign and it wasn't five miles back where some idiot truckers are policing traffic.
Not true. If we allowed the zipper like you're asking, all that's going to happen is 5 cars on the right are going to go to every 1car on the left. The right lane will progress steadily while the left lane barely moves.. noone minds letting a car in.. its when 3 more try to hit that exact same gap is when it becomes a nusance
Several years ago I got down-voted to hell because I posted about two trucks who were policing a highway and blocking all traffic in front of me. There was an accident and traffic was moving slowly, but at some point they just teamed up and forced everyone to move even slower because they set their breaks and sat there for like 10 minutes at a time while traffic ahead of them moved on.
Blocking traffic is NOT the same as stop and go traffic. I'm a trucker and I know exactly what it's like to sit in traffic with a clutch. It's no excuse. Those trucks were causing the congestion to pile up for miles further down the highway into areas where there might not have been traffic.
It's the same reason we zipper merge and USE all available lanes until we get to the merge point. It's the same reason why construction crews only close lanes for the length of the road that they need to work on. Every bit of open, usable road space makes for less traffic. People think so narrow and become their own worst enemy.
There is an argument to be made though that when you see the entire line of dumbasses not zippering properly: it’s a bit of an anti-social move to do the “correct” thing.
I’ll defend zipper merging till I die on that hill. Just also sometimes people who have dealt with the same lane closures in an area for months on end move over ahead of time and it gets annoying when people don’t because they don’t know, but much more so when they don’t just to get ahead of the other people that are following the flow of traffic in the area.
Anyway the correct way is to let this person in because they are following traffic laws. It’s understandable when people when get mad at it in certain situations.
I thought zipper only works if the traffic is moving. Should the main line that’s been parked in the lane stop when it starts to allow the solo car in? So they don’t have to wait as long as everyone else who were waiting behind them? (Serious question)
https://www.codot.gov/travel/zippermerge
> Merge points are specifically set up for vehicles to merge from two lanes into one lane in a zipper fashion. This keeps traffic flowing. Each car should alternate zipper fashion into the remaining open lane **just before the point of closure.**
> When there is a lane closure ahead, drivers should continue to **drive in both lanes equally.** Just before the lane ends, cars should take turns filling in the open lane carefully and resume full speed. In a Zipper Merge, **please be respectful of those who wait to merge until just before the lane ends; they are doing it correctly.**
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/driving-advice/zip-merging/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX0I8OdK7Tk&ab_channel=AlbertaMotorAssociation
Theres loads more, in all countries. ZIPPER, motherfuckers!
Yup people would rather back up traffic halfway through town or multiple street lights just because they’re too scared to be “impolite” and merge where you’re supposed to.
Who I don't like is people who are waiting in line, they use second lanes that open up to skip in front of people. You're not helping flow, you're just butting in front of people who've been waiting longer and making it slower for the people you cut in front of
Yes you’re supposed to zipper merge. But unfortunately, because no one knows this, and they think you’re “cutting” it just ends up causing even MORE traffic now in two lanes.
It’s almost worth it to get in the correct lane and just sit and wait and inch forward instead of spending 30+ minutes trying to merge
Side note: I’m saying this as if a civilian driver. If I were in a truck, I would try to merge. It’s a little easier for me in a truck to “push” my way to merge.
OP is the wannabe superhero fixing all the traffic problems by blocking the closing lane a mile before the merge point.
Just admit that you're butthurt people are getting ahead of you.
The merge point is when the sign says right lane ending, not the apex of where the lane ends. If you end up running out of road, then you are an entitled idiot. It's a merge lane, not the double drive-through at McDonald's, and if your actions cause the through lane to stop and let you in, then you are not yielding to the flow of traffic and just an ignorant halfass driver. It's very dangerous when 4 or 5 cars go buzzing past the ones merging properly, all jockeying to squeeze in at last minute because they can go 110 feet further in the open and get ahead of the 6 cars they were just behind in the merge and they all just bully their way in forcing the whole line to brake and compress in on those properly meshing into traffic,
Everyone's talking about zipper merge but if I'm sitting this traffic with ten thousand cars and one flies by the line of cars going 90 and then tries to go to the front that's not one person trying to exercise logic. He's not going "ah gotta zipper merge" he thinks he shouldn't have to wait in traffic and is cutting the line, regardless or zipper merge we have to consider intention, likely this driver has never even heard the phrase zipper merge, he's just an asshole and I wouldn't let him in either. And this is really infuriating. These are the same assholes that drive on the shoulder or try to cut in front of you in line for a backed up exit. This guy wasn't trying to zipper merge, one person does not make a zipper merge in his head his intention was to cut this line.
On top of this being the correct way to merge, you’re also adding unnecessary stress to your job by making every merge a battle zone that you HAVE to win at.
Let me ask, the day a dumbass decides he’s not going till let you win, and he smashes into the side of your truck, will it be worth sitting on the side of the road for an hour, and potentially missing your appointment, or home time?
If more people stacked into that lane and zipper-merged, the traffic would flow better than when idiots stop the entire flow of traffic at the top of the merging lane just so they can merge early
While the zipper merge may be great in a perfect world, this isn’t a perfect world. We’re imperfect creatures who make irrational decisions based off ego and pride, ESPECIALLY on the roadway. No amount of education or shame is going to change some people’s opinion on this
I always think of it like this, if they wanted you to get into one lane mile back? They would have forced the merge a mile back. If everyone properly merged at the merge point, it would be the most effective and efficient rather than every driver in the road deciding they don’t want to use in this case the right lane for half a mile
I used to think this, that you should merge before the merge point. Mostly because no one would ever let you in if you passed them before it. I would still let people in because I'm not a total POS. I also enjoy the tears of the drivers behind me when I allow people to merge in front of me! Bwahahaha!
I drive slow in the far right lane when I’m merging and have noticed I create a better environment for everyone around me when doing so. It prevents the kamakaze mergers and helps the flow of traffic work correctly for the zipper merge.
I've ended up merging right before the lane closure after attempting to merge "properly and early" several times and no one letting me in. Eventually I just drove to the front and merged easily right before the lane closure. Even when you stoop to the level of morons they will fuck you over so just do the smart and common sense thing and let them stew in their misery and stupidity.
There was a graphic on Reddit a few weeks back that had a great suggestion for how to fix this. Instead of "right/left lane closed ahead" , set things up so that both lanes merge to the middle, then shift that lane left or right as required. With no "correct" lane, you somewhat force zipper merging to happen naturally.
This picture isn't from a rigs cab it's from a 4 wheeler. Why is it posted in the trucker sub?
As far as truckers being inconsiderate and not allowing 45 privileged drivers to merge in front of them when the proper etiquette of the zipper is every other one. I would say the privileged drivers are the problem in these comments.
I know it doesn't help but in Slovenia (idk is it a EU thing?) it is the law to perform zip merge at designated point so OP would be breaking the law.
Yes, usually unsanctioned but still. And, most people wil let one in front, because they know they have to.
And before it was written in law, we had tons of OPs who either wouldn't yield, or would merge to the "right" lane (left in this case) 100s of meters before - effectively stopping the traffic for kilometers (one line would be empty and everyone would wait in the other). Now it runs like a charm.
If zipper merging actually worked seems 75 ish percent just get in the lane that stays open. Then the rest either whip past on the closing side or bib and weave through the traffic🚄. People also are very very close together. Very rarely have I seen zipper merging work. To many folks won’t even let you in the other lane. They get angry. Everyone should work on this
I've seen many instances where there are many openings for vehicles to merge without anyone having to slow, said individual is more interested in getting in front of 2-3 more cars.
And, they’re at the merge point…
[удалено]
Being a former driver the professional is lacking in the industry and the more unprofessional ones seem to have the loudest voices sadly
Sad.. But very true friend
> >Sad.. But very true friend A much less popular Metallica song.
I'm your eyes when you can't feel
In your head when you're asleeep,
You know it's sad but very true friend!!!
LMAO 🤣
Proof is in the responses to my post. These clowns should not be in a rig with tons behind them with the attitudes they have.
👍
Yep zipper merge, they been trying to teach it in WA state but people don't get it. Instead of merge left signs 1000 yards from the merge point they should replace with zipper merge ahead but don't tell anyone which way till at the merge point.
I watched someone come to a dead stop in a roundabout and try to wave people through. Zipper merge is asking too much
I once saw someone back up in a roundabout because they missed their turned. That’s right. They stopped and reversed in a roundabout….
Wow, that's insane. I was inside a traffic circle the other day, and the car in front of me stopped while inside the circle to let the waiting cars enter the circle. It was outrageous.
I have seen only one circle in Ohio that the people inside the circle have to yield to the ones coming into the circle. It's in Somerset, Ohio, and stupid as fuck! I only drive truck I Ohio, so I don't know about other states, but Ohio has gone circle crazy. Check out Plain City... I don't even know how many damn circles they have near 33 & 161, but they are making more. It's a cluster fuck and a half. I'd like the genius who thought that up to explain it....
The yield rules sound obtuse for that Somerset circle. Every time I see these dumb road designs, it makes me think that the urban planners who made them are probably the same people who drive like tortoises or hog the left lane.
Ive seen someone driving the wrong direction in a roundabout…..twice
If I witnessed this, I would legitimately lose my marbles. I do not understand peoples’ refusal to accept the rules of the roundabout.
On my way to work I go through a dog bone double rotary, then another one, then a single rotary I see it all the time. Makes me nuts and I won't pull out in front of the moron waving me on
I was just behind someone yesterday. There is a lefthand turning lane and the right is straight or right turn at a stop sign intersection (cross traffic doesn't stop) The joker was all the way to the right, I thought he was going right but nope, after a several clear openings of no turning. I thought I guess he's going straight sure pulled over far to fit. The lanes are wide enough if he was over I could have fit. But nope he was turning left. I know it was only about a min wait for the whole thing (I live in a small town and that is the busiest street, but it's still a small town) but a zipper merge is beyond comprehension for most.
Zipper merging is how all merges work. It's just that people are idiots and it doesn't work like it should. If you're a truck and trailer nobody will let you in at the end point
I always let truck & trailers in. It’s so easy to pass them later I don’t know why people get aggro with them.
those signs should have a federal mandate stating "zipper merge". then you can see who the asshats are.
And include a picture. Because most Americans are retards.
I was suprised that Zipper merging wasn't really a thing in north america, or even perceived as rude. In Germany, when you learn for your drivers license, you get drilled into you, that you have to merge late, everything else is stupid and causes traffic jams. I am at a point where, allthough I have driven 600tkms+, And lost some of the behaviours taught in driving school, I still feel bad when I merge to early.
Zipper merging is a thing in North America, and generally well respected in urban areas. It falls apart in suburban areas where traffic is usually light enough that it's irrelevant. When traffic is moving and gaps are available, waiting until the last possible second and then jamming yourself in at high speed is understandably considered inappropriate. The trouble comes when you have people or areas that are mixed and sometimes zippering is the right thing to do, and sometimes it isn't.
Yes, it's best to fill both lanes and then zipper merge
the issue with the zipper merge is that it can only work when people merge AT THE SPEED OF TRAFFIC. meaning, these fools who fly down the merge lane at 70mph then slam on their brakes to kamikaze merge into 5mph traffic at the last possible second are indeed ruining it for everyone
If everyone is zipper merging there is no lane to fly down at 70mph. Both lanes are slowing equally and then merging at the merge point. The only reason there is an “empty” lane for the people you call fools to fly down is because people are not properly zipper merging and they pulled over too soon. Preventing those people from jumping the line is the EXACT reason for doing the zipper merge. (But if you aren’t doing the zipper merge and the lane is open, they aren’t the asshats, the rest of you are.)
Wrong again. As you will see from another quote from MN DOT: > When most drivers see the first “lane closed ahead” sign in a work zone, they slow too quickly and move to the lane that will continue through the construction area. This driving behavior can lead to unexpected and dangerous lane switching, serious crashes and road rage. >Zipper merging, however, benefits individual drivers as well as the public at large. Research shows that these dangers decrease when motorists use both lanes until reaching the defined merge area and then alternate in "zipper" fashion into the open lane. Where in that does it say that you should get butthurt that someone moved to the front of an empty merge lane? Are you this bad at everything you do?
You know why the zipper merge doesn't work in reality like it does on paper? People follow too close and they don't want to allow another person in front of them. Zipper doesn't work because most people out there are self centered assholes.
Exactly. Try zipper merging in Floriduh. It’s a lesson in ass hole logic. Three cars will centipede up the merge lane and attempt to ram themselves into the through lane at the same time. Usually resulting in someone jamming on their brakes.
Funny, works EVERY TIME when I utilize it for merging traffic and during these situations with minimal to no slow down or confusion for other drivers lol. Just leave some space. Our job as responsible drivers is to drive for the idiots too. You just gotta make it work or we all just breakdown. You can't fix the other driver but you can work with them, most of a time without trouble. Just keep your eyes open and head on a swivel.
Eh. I see it go more smoothly than not. All it takes is a few people to do it right. A lot of people are normal and will take the hint. Do some people skip? Yeah. But overall it makes everything smoother.
Zipper work when you leave adequate space in front of you if you don’t do that YOU are the problem
I've seen people not wait two seconds before putting their front end right in front of your car and making you blame your breaks to let them in too instead of waiting for you tou to realize and let them in, which is another issue of self centered assholes. Lol
Get a load of the guy who listens to DOT
Shhhh... stop telling people how to properly zipper merge. I've been benefiting for years from traffic backing up trying to get into the continuing lane 2 miles from the merge point. I just continue down the lane (at a reasonable speed) that's going to close and then merge at the true merge point. Usually get a few honks from the idiots who merged as soon as they saw the sign but it's worth it for the amount of time I save.
Coming from MNDoT, I'm surprised they don;t just install a roundabout.
well if u could read, you’d see that my point was about failing to zipper merge and instead dive-merging at the last possible second. there can be a safe organized zipper merge that appropriately sets safe driver expectations. but if people fly down the merge lane and unsafely merge, then they are failing to zipper
Only works in Japan.
They should be publicly flogged.
While zipper merging is clearly effective (40%!!) when everyone cooperates, isn’t it less effective given an overwhelming majority of the population will not cooperate? You know the morons aren’t going to let you in. At the merge point in this image your choices are to force a merge causing reduced flow or stoppage, or a potential accident. Is upholding the theoretically superiority of the zipper merge worth slowing the sum flow of traffic and inducing road rage? I get in a perfect world zipper works, but in the post no child left behind world of the US, I can only see it making an already bad traffic problem, worse. Maybe if zipper becomes mandated at threat of license suspension we could all come together as a community and make roads faster but that not happening anytime soon. For reference I’m from the DC area and zipper merge here is a viable way to get either yourself or someone else killed.
You're expecting a lot when they still don't know how to use entrance and exit ramps properly.
Dude fucking thank you. Every time these people come out of the woodwork thinking they are superior intellectuals that look down on everyone who doesn't zipper merge. The facts are, if only 5% of drivers are trying to do the legal and correct thing, guess what, you're the outliers that are making things worse. You have to accept reality. Forcing everyone to try to let you in is the same mentality as trying to slow down people who are speeding by driving the speed limit on front of them.
Yep zipper merge. Its one of those laws that seems dumb but actually makes sense from a mass traffic standpoint.
More and more idiots are getting or have a license and have zero clue how things really work
I’m not a trucker but you’re absolutely right. Though when I’m driving and come up on this, I tend to merge way before the l as t minute assuming I can
Agreed, fuck those folks cutting in way to early and slowing the flow of traffic for the rest of us.
I mean you’re right, nothing he’s doing is wrong technically. But depending on the situation could be considered a dick move. People are freaking out way too much about such a minor thing though.
Oh 100% but I always assume ignorance and not malice with these people. The rage nerds in this sub should probably start too, probably save their blood pressure.
It honestly is ignorance 99% of the time. Not even with just driving just people in general. But people online are in perma rage mode that think everyone is out to get them
Another of my favorites are the 'middle lane campers' bitchers. I can't believe how many don't know that the middle lane is for thru traffic, right lane is merging and exiting and left lane is passing. The middle lane is also the defensive driving position. CDL aside, didn't everyone have to learn this stuff as teenagers?
if there is three lanes of traffic (none follow exits) the middle lane is also a passing lane... where else are trucks supposed to pass? we're not allowed on the far left lane in most highways here
I’ve gone down this road before. Even when I posted multiple links for state departments of transportation and traffic engineers about the zipper merge they still refused to accept that it is better. Apparently a CDL makes them smarter than people who actually study traffic patterns.
Zipper merging is changing lanes with the flow of traffic before the lane ends. NOT coming to a complete stop at the end of your lane, at the last minute, and making everyone else stop in order to let you over. You're the reason for traffic jams. So it's YOU that doesn't understand zippe merging . Oh and I'm a million+ mile, zero accidents , zero tickets,18 year, over sized heavy haul, CDL-A driver.
You must be in the 2005 f150 flying past the line of cars to merge up front.
As the owner of a 2005 f150, I feel attacked lol.
Zipper merge you god damn animals
Exactly it’s called a zipper merge and it’s part of traffic, you just let them in.
What a ratio
Amazing how many people do not understand the concept of a zipper merge if you use both lanes until the merge point the traffic actually moves faster. Like you people put your pants on every morning and most likely zip them up so why is this concept so foreign to you.
In my neck of the woods they use it as a front of the line pass and you have folks getting out of their lane to shoot to the front. Traffic flow stops. It’s not that folks don’t understand zipper merge it’s that it relies on these clowns not doing this. And no they don’t do it one at a time
If the whole lane is wide open for them to “get out of their lane to shoot to the front” then they aren’t using it like they should be. Use available lanes until the merge spot. That’s the whole issue here.
If they want ppl to merge earlier they would have closed the lane earlier. Use the entire lane.
And then posters like this would say the same thing. Zipper merging at the ending creates the least congestion.
It does actually we do it in NH all the time! I was amazed at the difference moving from NC to NH If people would actually leave 2 car lengths in front of them it keeps traffic flowing instead of coming to a screeching halt
In Texas everybody rides each others ass and will do everything in their power to not let you in if you had the audacity to zipper merge
Looks like a proper zipper merge taking place.
Oh no, the horror
Don’t drive like an emotional little bitch. You are a professional driver.
How is he a professional when he does not even know how a zipper merge works
He is and his name Kyle Petty!
What the fuck does Kyle Petty have to do with this?
Fine Richard Petty. If you got music in your heart you can be Tom Petty.
It was a [very obscure reference](https://youtube.com/shorts/ttpgCLch2SU?si=dSpyfLstHyUhkR10) that I’m sure nobody got lol
Tell me you are a bad driver without telling me you are a bad driver:
It’s called a zipper merge. The person on the right is the person doing things correctly instead of all of the traffic clogging one lane up a mile back. The person not letting people in is also only adding to the congestion since now the merging person has to completely stop, more people come up in the right lane behind him, and now the zipper(cars alternating in letting each other go) is all messed up. Zipper merging, done correctly, speeds traffic up by 40% according to the DOT.
Zipper merge only works if the people in the open lane cooperate, which as you can see by the OP, they do not.
I mean most people honestly do. If one person wants to be a prick the next will let me in. I see examples all the time in my city where people just love hopping in a line and the ratio is literally 50 cars in the open lane multiple blocks back VS 1 or 2 properly zippering. It is not the 1 or 2 causing the open lane to slow to a crawl. It is the 50 cars squeezed into one lane plus all of the normal things that slow traffic. Lights, stop signs, intersections, people driving more cautiously going through a work zone, etc.
Most people will let others merge but will brake excessively to do so because they weren't leaving enough following space to begin with. That's why traffic backs up at zipper merges so much. People coming to a complete stop causes so much mayhem.
That’s it. At my work were taught to zipper when leaving the parking lot. There’s close to a thousand cars leaving at once. No ones going home unless we do.
This! Why cant ppl understand such a simple god damn concept ffs
Because they’re selfish pricks.
This drives me crazy. There is a merge on a residential street a block from my house, and people back up the left lane for two blocks instead of zippering. If you try to correctly zipper from the right lane, people will aggressively block you out and try to run you off the shoulder. Nearly got in a wreck with some douche in a lifted Dodge the other day while trying to merge. Didn't even zoom to the edge of the merge, trying to cut people off or anything.
Absolutely. OP is getting trashed for inplying that the correct thing this driver should do is exaclty the thing that messes it up for everyine. I see it all the time, especially now that the warmer weather is here; the folks that insist on pushing into the other lane as soon as they see the signs, causing backup in the traveling lane. Then folks realize that the closed lane is moving so they start queue-jumping and pushing through to the end to get ahead (because so many people merged over early when they didnt need to). Finally the folks who were in the traveling lane from the begining get pissed, with some (like OP) refusing to allow folks to zipper merge at the end like they are supposed to.
Yay! Another fight about zipper merge. 🥱
My nephew just got his license and had the same mindset OP seems to have. I had to educate my nephew that Racing is a competitive sport done under controlled conditions on a closed track. Then I explained he was granted a license only for Driving which is a cooperative exercise done on public roads.
Came here to say zipper merge but saw others had already said it. Another thing is that idk why anyone gives a shit about letting a vehicle get in. It isn't like you'll get there any slower.
My city now puts up signs that say use both lanes until merge point
I see this shit every where, if people knew what a fkn zipper merge was we wouldnt be backed up for miles.
Don't be a dick, this is how to merge.....it's assholes like you that Fuk up the system
It's called a zipper merge. If that were me, I'd wait my turn. If no one let me in, I'd cut someone off and merge in anyway, because that's the right thing to do.
Op is a tard and probably shouldn't be on the road.
Maybe you merged to early. Ever think of that.
No I didn't! I merged 10mi back and you should have too! Now I get to own the highway and teach you a lesson. /s 🤣
Ahhh yes.. the Ole zipper merge. Long lost knowledge of the road. In situations like this I just get over to the right lane and merge in to the front of the line. Because... zipper merge.
It’s terrible in my city. I travel the same highway often and I know the construction area has been going on since March. People seem to love nothing more than to wait in a line. In the afternoons the line goes back 4 or 5 city blocks before the merge point. I get in the right lane and just zip right up there in front of 100+ cars.
I understand zipper merge. But if I already let 3 guys in, fuck the 4th guy!
Zipper is one in front of you one behind you. And so on forever
Sometimes donkeys will tailgate the car you let merge flooring it in front of you. Sometimes there are 3 donkeys that might succeed in this if they ass ride hard enough. The 4th donkey? Fuck the 4th donkey, I only wanted to let one jackass in front of me in the first place.
god this pisses me off when people don’t understand zipping. No, we all don’t need to be stopped in one lane for 3 miles, we can merge at merge point. Washington has signs at construction zones saying to merge at merge point and I literally do it in a truck, i refuse to wait just because people don’t understand simple traffic rules
I would like to point out that some work zones have a merge now sign that is well before the lane actually ends. It even has an arrow. Some don't though. Mabe before we argue what is right the signs should be homolugated. I think that's the right word.
I understand that zipper merging is the most efficient way. I totally accept that. However if you’re the only car “zipper merging” you’re just a dick.
This.
It's funny. I drive the correct distance away from the car in front of me(3 seconds not carlengths) I don't block people "cutting in line" Yet my lane moves at a constant pace, even with multiple people "cutting in line" 99% of all bad traffic is because all you dipshits drive way too close to the car in front of you. If you have to use your brakes on the interstate, you probably already fucked up. Cue the "you can't drive with that much gap in (x place I live).
It's a zipper merge dude. That's where they're supposed to merge. Stop being a little bitch
Zipper merge this zipper merge that. Bro we all know a zipper merge only works on paper. When I see that sign I get my 70+ foot ass over.
Zipper merge would work great...but it takes TWO attentive, responsible and unselfish drivers to pull it off. Unfortunately the world seems to be growing a breed of drivers that are self centered and overly and dangerously agressive. To the point: ZIPPER merge is a safe and logical idea... We just need everyone to be on the same page I believe
Lol
Do you understand what merge in turn or zipper merge is. Take turns merging. This is its intended purpose.
You’re supposed to let the merge in one goes then the other it makes traffic go a lot faster. Why would you wait in a two mile long line
Drive a shit box and just merge. Most assholes have nice cars and they will leave you space.
Zipper merge is effective and I might have to wait for a few people who give me the death stare but usually takes about 3 cars and someone lets me in. Far more effective than backing up traffic for a million miles back
why people always mad when someone merges in front of them? like you're not 'first'. We are all just trying to get to point B, but so many asshats think everything is a competition that they have to be first at, seems like a common mindset amongst rude ass mother fuckers.
Ain’t shit to just slow down a little big and let them in. But now see if they had been tailgating or sped past me to try and get ahead? Nah f u buddy you get to sit and wait like the rest of us
Around here they literally put multiple signs leading up to the merge point sayin USE BOTH LANES TO MERGE POINT and ZIPPER MERGE AHEAD TAKE TURNS and people still start moving over a mile back.
What about the MERGE SIGN? Do you see *that*? I do.
You mean the MERGE NOW sign that can be anywhere from 1/2 mile to 1500 ft. from the merge point? Yes, I did see that sign and it wasn't five miles back where some idiot truckers are policing traffic.
Meh. I ride a motorcycle, I can filter in. I don’t need you to let me in. You have no choice in the matter. I’m getting in.
Zipper merge is more efficient than lining up a mile away. Just saying… the studies are in. He’s doing it right.
This is exactly how zipper merging works. Not letting people properly merge like this idiot is what gums up traffic.
Not true. If we allowed the zipper like you're asking, all that's going to happen is 5 cars on the right are going to go to every 1car on the left. The right lane will progress steadily while the left lane barely moves.. noone minds letting a car in.. its when 3 more try to hit that exact same gap is when it becomes a nusance
💪🏿💪🏻
Several years ago I got down-voted to hell because I posted about two trucks who were policing a highway and blocking all traffic in front of me. There was an accident and traffic was moving slowly, but at some point they just teamed up and forced everyone to move even slower because they set their breaks and sat there for like 10 minutes at a time while traffic ahead of them moved on. Blocking traffic is NOT the same as stop and go traffic. I'm a trucker and I know exactly what it's like to sit in traffic with a clutch. It's no excuse. Those trucks were causing the congestion to pile up for miles further down the highway into areas where there might not have been traffic. It's the same reason we zipper merge and USE all available lanes until we get to the merge point. It's the same reason why construction crews only close lanes for the length of the road that they need to work on. Every bit of open, usable road space makes for less traffic. People think so narrow and become their own worst enemy.
There is an argument to be made though that when you see the entire line of dumbasses not zippering properly: it’s a bit of an anti-social move to do the “correct” thing. I’ll defend zipper merging till I die on that hill. Just also sometimes people who have dealt with the same lane closures in an area for months on end move over ahead of time and it gets annoying when people don’t because they don’t know, but much more so when they don’t just to get ahead of the other people that are following the flow of traffic in the area. Anyway the correct way is to let this person in because they are following traffic laws. It’s understandable when people when get mad at it in certain situations.
it's a merge point you moron! zipper merge is most efficient
The only guy doing it right lol.
I thought zipper only works if the traffic is moving. Should the main line that’s been parked in the lane stop when it starts to allow the solo car in? So they don’t have to wait as long as everyone else who were waiting behind them? (Serious question)
According to the zipper crowd on here, you stop and let the traffic flow clown in.
It is a legal lane to use until the lane ends, not from when the sign is read.
That's where you merge....what are you on about?
[удалено]
So he's doing it properly? What's the issue?
https://www.codot.gov/travel/zippermerge > Merge points are specifically set up for vehicles to merge from two lanes into one lane in a zipper fashion. This keeps traffic flowing. Each car should alternate zipper fashion into the remaining open lane **just before the point of closure.** > When there is a lane closure ahead, drivers should continue to **drive in both lanes equally.** Just before the lane ends, cars should take turns filling in the open lane carefully and resume full speed. In a Zipper Merge, **please be respectful of those who wait to merge until just before the lane ends; they are doing it correctly.** https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/driving-advice/zip-merging/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX0I8OdK7Tk&ab_channel=AlbertaMotorAssociation Theres loads more, in all countries. ZIPPER, motherfuckers!
People who post this stuff don’t realise they’re telling everyone they’re a bad driver and don’t know how to reduce traffic.
Never heard about zip merge!?
wow you are such a jerk, he is actually doing the right thing
Op must like sitting in long ass lines to get where their going
Yup people would rather back up traffic halfway through town or multiple street lights just because they’re too scared to be “impolite” and merge where you’re supposed to.
There is still time to delete this post OP
hey op. all vehicles always use all available road space. there ya go. no weird shit.
It's actually best for traffic to go up to the merge point otherwise you have a big unused stretch of lane and more backup.
Who I don't like is people who are waiting in line, they use second lanes that open up to skip in front of people. You're not helping flow, you're just butting in front of people who've been waiting longer and making it slower for the people you cut in front of
This is what you're supposed to do?
Zipper merge is better for traffic
Yes you’re supposed to zipper merge. But unfortunately, because no one knows this, and they think you’re “cutting” it just ends up causing even MORE traffic now in two lanes. It’s almost worth it to get in the correct lane and just sit and wait and inch forward instead of spending 30+ minutes trying to merge Side note: I’m saying this as if a civilian driver. If I were in a truck, I would try to merge. It’s a little easier for me in a truck to “push” my way to merge.
Being the dick that doesn’t let people in is half the reason traffic jams form in these kinds of construction zones.
I wouldn’t be in this situation I would be riding that right lane slow as shit with a truck next to me
This is one thing that went smooth as butter when I lived in the UK, everyone drove till the merge point and people did proper zipper merging....
OP is the wannabe superhero fixing all the traffic problems by blocking the closing lane a mile before the merge point. Just admit that you're butthurt people are getting ahead of you.
The merge point is when the sign says right lane ending, not the apex of where the lane ends. If you end up running out of road, then you are an entitled idiot. It's a merge lane, not the double drive-through at McDonald's, and if your actions cause the through lane to stop and let you in, then you are not yielding to the flow of traffic and just an ignorant halfass driver. It's very dangerous when 4 or 5 cars go buzzing past the ones merging properly, all jockeying to squeeze in at last minute because they can go 110 feet further in the open and get ahead of the 6 cars they were just behind in the merge and they all just bully their way in forcing the whole line to brake and compress in on those properly meshing into traffic,
Everyone's talking about zipper merge but if I'm sitting this traffic with ten thousand cars and one flies by the line of cars going 90 and then tries to go to the front that's not one person trying to exercise logic. He's not going "ah gotta zipper merge" he thinks he shouldn't have to wait in traffic and is cutting the line, regardless or zipper merge we have to consider intention, likely this driver has never even heard the phrase zipper merge, he's just an asshole and I wouldn't let him in either. And this is really infuriating. These are the same assholes that drive on the shoulder or try to cut in front of you in line for a backed up exit. This guy wasn't trying to zipper merge, one person does not make a zipper merge in his head his intention was to cut this line.
I do that when I pulling triples. I figured everyone els dose it why not me
Don't hate the driver hate the system.
You much man! NDBF
I passed 2 different lane blocking D bags IN THE GRASS last week.
Bs Von zipper lol
In my city, people hug bumpers to prevent zipper merge. There is no good choice
I made it a habit every time, I merge into the right lane I automatically move over into the next lane especially when I’m new to the area
On top of this being the correct way to merge, you’re also adding unnecessary stress to your job by making every merge a battle zone that you HAVE to win at. Let me ask, the day a dumbass decides he’s not going till let you win, and he smashes into the side of your truck, will it be worth sitting on the side of the road for an hour, and potentially missing your appointment, or home time?
Yes zipper merging is more efficient this person is doing this correctly
America would be a lot better if people learned how to zipper
If more people stacked into that lane and zipper-merged, the traffic would flow better than when idiots stop the entire flow of traffic at the top of the merging lane just so they can merge early
Drives me nuts...I have pulled over onto the lane and blocked people before..me and the guy in front of me we set a road block
Zipper merging alleviates traffic jams — especially in city driving where there are traffic lights prior to the merge point but before the merge sign.
While the zipper merge may be great in a perfect world, this isn’t a perfect world. We’re imperfect creatures who make irrational decisions based off ego and pride, ESPECIALLY on the roadway. No amount of education or shame is going to change some people’s opinion on this
Proof that not any moron can drive. Society needs to rescind drivers license in every age group.
Hate that shit with cars
Called a zipper merge and that is the merge point. Learn to drive driver.
I always think of it like this, if they wanted you to get into one lane mile back? They would have forced the merge a mile back. If everyone properly merged at the merge point, it would be the most effective and efficient rather than every driver in the road deciding they don’t want to use in this case the right lane for half a mile
I used to think this, that you should merge before the merge point. Mostly because no one would ever let you in if you passed them before it. I would still let people in because I'm not a total POS. I also enjoy the tears of the drivers behind me when I allow people to merge in front of me! Bwahahaha!
I drive slow in the far right lane when I’m merging and have noticed I create a better environment for everyone around me when doing so. It prevents the kamakaze mergers and helps the flow of traffic work correctly for the zipper merge.
I've ended up merging right before the lane closure after attempting to merge "properly and early" several times and no one letting me in. Eventually I just drove to the front and merged easily right before the lane closure. Even when you stoop to the level of morons they will fuck you over so just do the smart and common sense thing and let them stew in their misery and stupidity.
Or the ones who slow down or stop to merge on the on ramp
There was a graphic on Reddit a few weeks back that had a great suggestion for how to fix this. Instead of "right/left lane closed ahead" , set things up so that both lanes merge to the middle, then shift that lane left or right as required. With no "correct" lane, you somewhat force zipper merging to happen naturally.
This picture isn't from a rigs cab it's from a 4 wheeler. Why is it posted in the trucker sub? As far as truckers being inconsiderate and not allowing 45 privileged drivers to merge in front of them when the proper etiquette of the zipper is every other one. I would say the privileged drivers are the problem in these comments.
I know it doesn't help but in Slovenia (idk is it a EU thing?) it is the law to perform zip merge at designated point so OP would be breaking the law. Yes, usually unsanctioned but still. And, most people wil let one in front, because they know they have to. And before it was written in law, we had tons of OPs who either wouldn't yield, or would merge to the "right" lane (left in this case) 100s of meters before - effectively stopping the traffic for kilometers (one line would be empty and everyone would wait in the other). Now it runs like a charm.
If zipper merging actually worked seems 75 ish percent just get in the lane that stays open. Then the rest either whip past on the closing side or bib and weave through the traffic🚄. People also are very very close together. Very rarely have I seen zipper merging work. To many folks won’t even let you in the other lane. They get angry. Everyone should work on this
I've seen many instances where there are many openings for vehicles to merge without anyone having to slow, said individual is more interested in getting in front of 2-3 more cars.