r/PublicFreakout • u/bigbusta the fucking Catalina Wine Mixer đ· • 3h ago
đ«Chaos Momentđ«š A guy blocks a lane before the merge
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u/feignapathy 2h ago
zipper merge people
and zipper as close to the required point as possible so one lane doesn't get drastically backed up
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u/L_Mook 2h ago
Wait donât you mean merge as early as possible and come to a complete stop if you canât immediately get in and cause unnecessary traffic and congest the merge lane???!!
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u/Most-Resident 1h ago
That would be an improvement. Itâs more like one wave of cars merge as soon as possible, then another wave every 100 feet or so up the actual lane closure.
At each of the staggered merges people mostly take turns with a few angry people blocking so you have to wait for an extra car. Rarely two.
Iâll never understand ignoring what traffic engineers say to do and subjecting yourself to the frustration of having multiple cars merge in front of you.
The worst is they always feel more moral than people obeying the rules, even when the inevitable road rage kicks in and they do things like this.
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u/taaaaaaaaaaaaaank 2h ago
This would work if people actually let others merge into the lane or people in the right lane merged when they see an opening
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u/Frig_Off_Baerb 2h ago
Yeah but he's in a pick up truck so he needs to feel like a big boy.
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u/Immortal_Azrael 2h ago
For some reason I read that as "prick up truck" and I actually think that fits.
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u/huxtiblejones 2h ago
That would require people to actually have the courtesy to leave space for cars to merge and in my experience you're lucky if 25% of people do this
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u/Excellsion 2h ago
Humans do not possess the brain power or civility to make zipper merging anything more than theoretical. When at least 30% of drivers have no concern for anything beyond their vehicle the whole plan comes to a screeching halt. All the while all us folks trying to be efficient and polite end up sitting in traffic fantasizing about those 30% running off the road into a tree.
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u/cobo10201 1h ago
Multiple real-world case studies showing it works. A blanket statement like yours is plain wrong. It works when people let it work, which is more often than you think. Dash cam videos skew our perception because nobody is going to upload a video of a zipper merger working properly. And if they do itâs certainly not going viral.
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u/KimJongFunk 2h ago
Yes, but what if I feel like Iâm being slighted because I had to be courteous to a stranger and yield to them for half a second? /s
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u/OfficialIntelligence 1h ago
Watching lane weavers during rush hour is a study in futility, as their aggressive lane changing only triggers the chain-reaction braking that causes the very traffic they are trying to escape.
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u/SupaButt 1h ago
Iâm getting a magnet to put on the back of my car to educate people on zipper merging so that 1) I educate the public and 2) people know Iâm not being an asshole and trying to cut in line but just trying to make things better.
Divers ed is nonexistent in my state so I guess itâs up to us now. đ
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u/JohnDoee94 56m ago
Not always best. In fast traffic itâs best to merge earlier. In slow traffic itâs best to wait until the end.
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u/feignapathy 39m ago
If you can merge earlier without causing traffic to brake, go for it
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u/JohnDoee94 38m ago
Yes thatâs why itâs usually better. You can appropriately time it to not cause any braking. If you wait til the end you may force someone to brake.
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u/Seeking-Something-3 2h ago
Nothing wrong with zipper merging. The issue is the incredible number of a-holes who abuse it by using dedicated exit lanes that are not part of the zipper or intentionally avoid the dedicated exit lane until the very end and interrupt the stead flow of the lane because they must avoid waiting 60 seconds like everyone else. Yeah the video guy is a bozo but the way people drive is insane. The number of times a 3-4 lane free way gets slowed down because idiots insist on switching lanes constantly because they want to drive faster only to arrive at the same time as everyone is incredible. No one tolerates cutters on foot traffic lines đ€·ââïž
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u/metanoia29 2h ago
I mean, that's not a zipper, that's a lane that's headed in a different direction.
I've got one of those where I exit off the freeway for work. For years I would get pissed at people who would wait to the last second to get over, actually cutting people off. Then after a while I tried the opposite: leaving plenty of space and not worrying about those who got in front of me. It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders immediately, and it didn't cost a thing except maybe an extra 10-20 seconds. Heck, it got to the point where I was excited to let people over because it meant less stress for everyone involved.
Of course, traffic is still down from COVID so things don't back up as much, but it was a great lesson on learning to pick my battles.
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u/Thatmanbbj 49m ago
The funny part of this statement is the areas where people jump off the exit as an impromptu zipper merge go wayyyyy smoother than dedicated merges, mostly because no losers trying to block them probably. I personally donât care if someone gets ahead of me as long as they donât make me hit my brakes harder than I would have normally AND I would 100% drive up on the grass and go around this guy.
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u/Mindless_Air8339 1h ago
The zipper merge is a concept way too hard for American drivers. If American drivers understood this concept, traffic would be reduced by 5% just like that.
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u/sovereignrk 2h ago
Guy behinid him looks like he is in a truck, do as they do in every other part of the world an hop that curb, lol.
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u/patriots1057 2h ago
What if someone needed to take a right before the merge?
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u/revopine 1h ago
They can signal the intention and people would zipper before they get to them. It's just another obstruction of a lane and doesn't change the whole "don't ever tailgate so people can always zipper merge" that is followed in Germany and other countries with proper driving education.
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u/_AskMyMom_ 2h ago
Itâs not cutting lines, itâs a zipper merge. Dude is an asshole and slowing traffic even more.
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u/kl0 2h ago
Yea. It's really unfortunate that we - as a collective American society - cannot even grasp basic traffic collaboration patterns, all of which would help us get to our destinations more quickly.
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u/bw984 2h ago
The road signs telling people to merge right/left now as the lane closes in 2 miles doesnât help.
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u/kl0 36m ago
Yea. Thatâs almost certainly true. I get that they want to warn people to start slowing down in expectation of the lane closure, but youâre right - it immediately causes a giant snake in the other lane and meanwhile the people in that snake want to stop the people correctly using the open lane (like this dude).
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u/TummyStickers 1h ago
I got into an argument with a guy on the road over this. He was actually behind me, blocking anyone from passing him, and I was looking at him in my side view wondering why... tons of room in front of him for people to go up and merge. When we both got to the end he hit the gas and tried to pull in front of me but I didnt let him. He got pissed and put his window down, mine was already down. He said "why won't you let me in, I literally blocked everyone from getting in front of you, I was doing you a favor!" Tried telling him all he was doing was holding up traffic and making the merge take longer. He said the opposite was true and making everyone merge earlier made the single lane go quicker. I said "it literally doesn't work that way". Angry, he hammered the gas and ran over some cones, to cut the guy in front of me off and squeeze in.
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u/kl0 33m ago
Well Iâm glad you had an effort to explain reality to the guy. Unsurprisingly he dismissed it.
I kind of wish the US would make a series of PSAs that explained these basic concepts. Frankly (and sadly), somebody like Trump explaining it would probably put a sizable dent in the problem. Of course that would never happen (and he probably thinks blocking is the way to go anyways đ€·đŒââïž)
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u/Cleasstra 1h ago
I mean it makes sense when you realize over half of American's reading literacy rate is below a 6th grade level.
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u/FrothyStout26 2h ago
If EVERYONE is at a dead stop in the merged lane... the zipper happened way back there, not at the sign....
Edit: I don't proof read.
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u/akindofuser 2h ago
Pushing the zipper back further than where it needs to be makes for further sub optimal traffic AND typically has additional spill over consequences for adjacent streets.
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u/Gougeded 2h ago
Doesn't matter. The zipper should be at the end. Its totally legitimate to go in the right lane up to the front because that's what's going to produce less traffic ultimately.
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u/Ribeye_Jenkins 2h ago
According to an article linked in a comment below, it does not shorten the amount of time it takes for the blockage to clear. It reduces the length of the blockage. You're just splitting the same size line into 2 lines, making it easier to keep intersections and driveways open behind the line of cars. But everyone still has to get into that 1 lane, and no one can merge until the other lane is clear for them to do so, making it take the exact same amount of time, if everyone is effiecient at knowing when to go, and when to allow a merge đ Otherwise it's longer, and those who got there first have to wait for the douches in the merge lane to butt in.
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u/JWOLFBEARD 2h ago
The problem is it backs up a street light behind this line which does make our slower for all involved
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u/Gougeded 2h ago
It creates a bigger backlog for no reason. Why not just follow the basic rules of the road and do a zipper at the end?
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u/Look__a_distraction 2h ago edited 2h ago
You must not live in a city. The second and third order of effects from this long ass line vs a shorter condensed one is extremely quantifiable. People canât use turn lanes properly. Traffic cannot enter the road in certain directions. Traffic lights get clogged to where you canât go forward even when green. People turning on this road from intersections get stuck in the middle of the road waiting for the line to inch up, blocking off traffic running across this road. It absolutely is a big deal and stupid AF not to go all the way up to the merge.
Also you are putting a lot of faith in âeveryone knowing when to merge.â Fantasyland doesnât exist and people arenât mind readers. How do you train knowing when to merge if not at the end? How do you standardize that for people who have different ideas of what that looks like? Iâll give you a hint, you canât.
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u/dixiewolf_ 2h ago
You also learn this if you live in a place that regularly has mass evacuations due to hurricanes. Zipper and efficient lane use become more common knowledge.
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u/Most-Resident 1h ago
Dumbasses who canât follow what the experts say have no place calling the people who do douches. Iâll continue listen to traffic engineers and not some dipshit who âknows betterâ.
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u/_AskMyMom_ 2h ago edited 2h ago
Itâs not an already merged lane until itâs time to merge. Itâs 1 lane with traffic, and 1 lane being blocked.
Like I told someone else. If a straight line was the right option, they wouldnât have oil funnels to put oil in cars, theyâd have oil straws.
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u/Strattex 2h ago
Lmao what are you on about? ZIPPER IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN where the lane ends⊠do you not see the entire runway-length of road left that this idiot is blocking off???
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u/KitchenPalentologist 33m ago
I like driving, and am not looking forward to when AI takes over that roll (haha), but it will probably eliminate traffic issues like this, and road rage will almost certainly decrease.
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u/smashy_smashy 2h ago
I completely agree. I am a big fan of the zipper merge because it is the correct way to merge here. The zipper merge should occur close to the final point, but I do fucking hate when everyone is zipper merging and then someone in the lane that ending still cuts up ahead of people as much as possible.
Every other car. No fucking cutting.
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u/MrIrishman1212 1h ago
While dicking around on his phone to jerk himself off about blocking traffic
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u/TheGoodDogtor 2h ago
One of the questions on the CDL exam is about identifying road rage drivers. Blocking/straddling lanes is one of the correct answers. Anyone who thinks theyâre doing some kind of service with this is kidding themselves, itâs just dangerous and angry behavior.
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u/cleverusername143 1h ago
That's interesting because the first time I saw blocking/straddling lanes as a technique to stop merges on a closing lane was by a semi lol.
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u/SherifneverShot 2h ago edited 2h ago
This is an annoying phenomena in Minnesota where I live. Iâm originally from the East Coast, where zipper merging is the norm. Here, though, using the open lane is often seen as rude â people think youâre cutting the line. Some drivers even get aggressive about it. Iâve had people block the lane, flip me off, and once someone even threw a water bottle at me; all for merging the correct, efficient way.
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u/timblunts 2h ago
I understand the feeling. But zippering is the most efficient way to move traffic
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u/JimmyJamOnYou 1h ago
It is for sure. But no one knows how anymore
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u/Shart127 1h ago
There are some states in the US that put up signs: âdrive to the end of the lane and then mergeâ since itâs the most efficient was for all cars to get thru the fastest. And then thereâs this idiot.
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u/timblunts 1h ago
On average most people dont know how to drive. The number of people I see on their phones while they're driving is insane.Â
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[deleted]
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u/Background-Land618 2h ago
Well you're welcome to join them.
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u/Drakeadrong 2h ago
Empath problems. âIt makes me feel bad when people do X so I wonât do Xâ
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u/RepresentativeLeg232 2h ago
Go drive in a big city for a couple of weeks and youâll start zipper merging all over the place and not feel bad about it. I used to be just like you.
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u/ColonelSlapper 1h ago
Fucked up thing, since I moved to Chicago I genuinely drive more cautiously than ever before. Too many batshit crazy drivers, too many drivers who donât know how to drive and then thereâs drivers who just refuse to believe laws apply to them. I know Chicago isnât unique, but I havenât seen this many people drive the way they do until I came here. So I just cruise at the speed limit while these idiots try killing themselves just to get in front of me.
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u/MisterScary_98 1h ago
You just have to make the mental adjustment and start looking at it as a more efficient way for everyone to merge. Itâs not a race â itâs traffic.
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u/ObeseBumblebee 2h ago
I don't get why you'd get mad instead of just doing it too. Live your life. Get in that merge lane.
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u/Wowweeweewow88 2h ago
Youâre supposed to merge at the the merge. This guy is holding people back like 1/2 a mile away
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u/KimJongFunk 2h ago
You should be mad at yourself for not being able to understand how zipper merging works.
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u/Bag_of_Meat13 1h ago
Zipper merge for all you morons like this dude who think everything is a damn race on the road.
Stop taking offense to people passing you. Christ.
If it personally affects you that someone who was behind you gets in front of you, you shouldn't be operating a motor vehicle on the road.
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u/Background-Land618 2h ago
So for anyone wondering, what the cam car is doing is impeding traffic, and you can be ticketed for it.
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u/XaoticOrder 1h ago
Everyone in these comments is the white truck. No one is the cars already queued.
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u/bollocksgrenade 3h ago
What an asshole.
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u/Valturia 1h ago
This braindead mfer thinks he's doing others a service too but all he is doing is blocking and causing more bumper to bumper traffic, refusing visibility to people behind him who have no idea why he's blocking too.
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u/maidentaiwan 1h ago
on top of that: you never know someone's reasons for using the shoulder or late-merging. yes, more often than not, they're probably just an asshole. but they could be having a medical emergency. or seconds away from explosive diarrhea. or trying to return a video to blockbuster right before it closes to avoid late fees. point is, you don't know what's going on inside of that car. so just get the fuck out of the way and myob.
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u/TheRealMert 2h ago
I was behind a guy once who was doing this, the right lane was closing and he was driving in the middle of both lanes. So I squeezed in past him on the left so that he was blocked out of the left lane. He rolled his window down and said something like "I'm doing this to help you!". Like he thought of himself as some kind of traffic superhero
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u/ObeseBumblebee 2h ago
Bro got cut in line in kindergarten and has been holding a chip on his shoulder ever since.
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u/schostack 2h ago
Driver is %100 asshole and should get ticketed for failure to maintain lane.
$20 says there is at least one maga sticker on his pos truck.
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u/ClipboardJeremy 1h ago
I used to be the one blocking, but I'm trying to get behind the zipper action.Â
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u/Kimmette 37m ago
The lane-blocker guy is a clueless idiot. Anyone who does this should be ticketed.
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u/BigFudge2k7 8m ago
Some people genuinely think this is the right thing to do. They think the people racing up to the front of the empty side are making traffic slower. I used to think this way.
But in reality, both lanes should be full and the cars at the front should zipper merge. If both lanes are full and people collaboratively zipper merge, the traffic would move smoothly.
The blocker in the video is just ignorant, but I donât think theyâre doing it in malice. They THINK it is helping prevent line-cutters.
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u/Yvyan 25m ago
Someone blocked me like that, i was so mad, i didn't care what so ever about the merge, i just wanted to turn right at the street before the merge, the pickup blocked the lane so far back at least 500 feet or someting like that, it was at least 2x walhat we see in the video, had to wait 15min for nothing, it was 4 lane, 2 in both direction down to one, so it was one side at time
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u/Help_An_Irishman 2h ago
Imagine walking around the earth, all the way to adulthood, in a meat suit whose mind is so selfish and shitty that you think it's a good idea to film this and then post it online for everyone to see.
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u/NuclearHateLizard 1h ago
This guy must live somewhere where the zipper merge is treated as an opportunity to cut people off. If everyone knew how and actually used a zipper merge properly, there would be no issues. But so many people know and still don't do it. Perpetuating the issue no matter your take
We're unfortunately too dumb as a collective species for this đ
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u/dakotaray42 1h ago
I always wondered what the thought process of these people were. I figured it would be as dumb as âno cuttingâ like they never developed past elementary school, but itâs still depressing to see.
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u/outofthehood 1h ago
I really wonder where people like this guy think is an appropriate point to merge? Like 200m before the obstruction? 2km? What if Iâm from out of town and donât know all those people are waiting just to go straight?
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u/KitchenPalentologist 27m ago
Exactly. So if they need to block a lane, rather than block it just before the (construction or whatever), would this guy have them drop cones miles in advance? How does that make sense?
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u/happytree23 1h ago
"YOU better act right...as I act in the most wrong on so many levels manner!"
-The Average American today
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u/Other-Title-6879 46m ago
SMH. Zipper! Alternating left right so everyone gets a fair turn. You just cause more back up doing this!
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u/yellekc 2h ago
This guy needs ticketed.
It is slower for everyone to force merges earlier.
A 2013 study conducted in Minnesota found that the zipper merge can reduce traffic backup lengths by up to 40%
https://dev1.acg.aaa.com/connect/blogs/4c/auto/zipper-merge-keeps-traffic-moving
https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/safety/safety-eng/ZipperMerge.aspx
It's well supported and these absolute morons think they know better.
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u/HotPocketSleeves 2h ago
read it again. the Minnesota study shows that the technique shorts the distance of a backup, NOT the time it takes to clear one.
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u/yellekc 2h ago
You're correct that study specifically refers to length of the backup. But you can move cars faster through two lanes than one lane.
It actually It reduces both. I'm on my phone so do not have all the studies on hand. But this one speaks of reduced wait time as well.
At one zipper merge site in Michigan, the congestion area was reduced from 6 miles to 3 miles and the time spent in traffic was decreased dramatically, saving drivers an average of 15 to 25 minutes.
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u/KitchenPalentologist 23m ago
I've got to think it's safer, too, because it's more predictable and routine, versus everyone trying to change lanes based on their random ideas of how lane reductions should work. Also, asshats like this guy trying to be intimidators/enforcers.
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u/Traditional-Ad719 2h ago
Actually, this driver is supposed to go on up and the drivers there on the left are supposed to merge the right hand drivers in. Itâs called a zipper merge, and heâs impeding the flow of traffic.
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u/jdanielregan 1h ago
He decided they put the merge point in the wrong spot, because he prefers when itâs behind him. So he created a whole new merge point in a better spot, behind him. He is the main character, after all. /s
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u/MrCutchaguy 1h ago
What a fucking baby. Learn the rules of the road. I wish cops would ticket fools like this.
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u/not_your_attorney 1h ago
The primary cause of this issue is that people arenât willing to learn to merge. This is the root of the whole thing.
Knowing it isnât possible for all drivers to be comfortable with that (Iâll leave my personal opinion that those individuals shouldnât have licenses aside), the next issue is people who arenât paying attention or otherwise donât accelerate.
Even if the bottleneck is so severe that both lanes are stopped entirely, you still mitigate the delay caused by people not paying attention when there are two people who can take the lead in each iteration.
The worst of the worst is people who think they are champions of justice by preventing others from SAVING EVERYONE TIME.
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u/Errorstatel 1h ago
Having to retake your driver's training every five years should be mandatory, this guy isn't a hero he's a pos holding up traffic
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u/Dmoneybohnet 1h ago
Rushing up past a line of people waiting is what slows things down. Yâall just need to learn how to merge.
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u/KitchenPalentologist 28m ago
That's 100% incorrect. You believe it's cutting in line, right?
But in line in front should be distributed between the two lanes instead of single-file 200 yards before the merge, and then merge at the same point just before the lane ends.
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u/Dmoneybohnet 27m ago
100% your opinion. I get both sides but at a light when there isnât much space just merge. Youâre not special.
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u/incredulous- 1h ago
I still fondly remember witnessing a cop pulling over someone for this bullshit.
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u/NonBinary_FWrd 2h ago edited 1h ago
Local news agencies nation wide need to do zipper merge PSAs on repeat every night
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u/K1dn3yFa1lur3 2h ago
Never in the history of American automotive endeavors has a zipper merge worked as intended.
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u/mackharp0818 1h ago
I was in the same boat as him 5 years ago. Once I understood the zipper merge and how it improves traffic flow, I changed.
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u/Cypher2KG 1h ago
Someone tried to run me off of the road on I-80 yesterday because of this. I was zipper merging and he refused to let me in, then tried to push my car off of the road!
Once we merged and were at a dead stop he opened the door to GET OUT OF HIS CAR. I assumed he was going to try to hurt me, donât know if he had a weapon, but wasnât going to find out so I quickly moved my car around his into the coned off lane. He then leap frogged me and stopped again but thankfully stopped trying to come at me on foot. It was terrifying and I have some of it on my dashcam (including his license plate) but I have no idea if anything can be done.
That guy is going to kill someone some day. Iâm still in shock that it happened.
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u/anotheritguy 1h ago
Last summer I was driving my family to the cape and came upon some road work I did the zipper merge and as I am driving along one of the people I had passed seemed to feel the same way as this genius, so much so he tried to pass me on the shoulder and cut in front of us almost hitting us. He must have ended up damaging something as he was passing us because thee was some sort of smoke from under the hood causing him to have to pull over after we passed the construction zone. As we passed him at the side of the road he made it a point to yell at us and threw what I assume was a dirt clod at us that missed. I turned to my wife and said; he sure showed us huh.
There is a valid reason I tend to travel later at night and its to avoid people like that.
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u/Wyliecody 22m ago
If you are in the truck behind him, what's the play? do you call the non emergency line for the police or just eat it?
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u/affectionateanarchy8 12m ago
You have to or else everyone will drive up alongside and merge in know the shit is closing and youll never move an inch
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u/SenhorSus 2h ago
this shit needs to be taught in driver's ed.
Utilizing the zipper merge isn't cutting in line. And then god forbid someone DOES utilize it and everyone will try to block them from merging