Comment on That's a no

Soulphite@reddthat.com ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

• pjwestin@lemmy.world ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I think you mean congestion. Gridlock is when cars attempt to cross an intersection during a green light even though there is too much traffic to pass completely, leaving them stranded mid-intersection when the light turns red, thereby blocking the perpendicular traffic from crossing the intersection when their light turns green (literally locking the grid).

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  • plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    That’s blocking the box, gridlock is just bumper to bumper traffic in any condition.

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    • pjwestin@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      No, that’s definitely gridlock, blocking the box is just another name for it.

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      • plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        The term gridlock is also used to describe high traffic congestion with minimal flow (which is simply a traffic jam), where a blocked grid system is not involved. By extension, the term has been applied to situations in other fields where flow is stalled by excess demand, or in which competing interests prevent progress.

        If there is a specific term, why continue to use the dated term that also means something else?

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• LurkingLuddite@piefed.social ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Not really. The traffic has to squeeze through the same number of lanes at some point. That’s the whole damn point everyone is missing who’s defending these assholes.

  You’re not helping by increasing traffic density beyond comfortable levels. Period. Ever.

  That’s why rolling stops happen on freeways even without traffic accidents or lane closures. Density determines the speed people feel safe going. That is never bumper to bumper at highway speeds.

  Not even the psychos in San Jose and LA go highway speeds when it’s as dense as these last-second merging assholes make it.

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  • EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    People that glaze zipper merging are ignoring that the real issue is the bottleneck caused by the lane reduction.

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  • Soulphite@reddthat.com ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Fair enough point about traffic difference, but to call them “last minute assholes” is a bit pretentious. I travel a lot as I do for work, there are many work zones that have signs stating “use whole lane, zipper merge” when there’s a lane closure. Why merge early leaving an entire lane empty for 2 miles? Then you’ve got some asshat sitting or coasting halfway blocking said lane, guarding people from using the whole lane. I guess this is another one of those unsolved debates no one can seem to come to an agreement on.

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    • LurkingLuddite@piefed.social ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      It is pretentious, because this is not a discussion about zipper merging in a vacuum. There’s a comic about someone leering at someone trying to push in.

      Do you think there’s time to make faces at someone in properly flowing traffic where people aren’t trying to get right next to each other?

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  • pjwestin@lemmy.world ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Not really. The traffic has to squeeze through the same number of lanes at some point.

    Yeah, and the most efficient way to do that is for everyone to zipper merge at the same point. You can’t just have everyone decide over the course of two miles when they think it’s appropriate to start a zipper merge; that’s not a zipper merge, that’s just changing lanes, and it creates unpredictable traffic patterns that lead to congestion. The end of the lane is obviously the best fixed point for everyone to merge because A) you utilize both lanes as long as possible for optimal efficiency and B) even the most oblivious dumb-ass knows they need to change lanes when they run out of lane.

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    • LurkingLuddite@piefed.social ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Yes, that’s most efficient, but you know what hurts efficiency?

      Assholes running up an empty lane just to expect to be let into a lane that’s ALREADY full.

      That’s not zipper merging. That’s being an asshole cutting in line. It ONLY slows down the queue that, sure, should have formed at the end of the closed lane in an ideal world.

      Though that fact doesn’t make them a zipper merger. They’re still an asshole further slowing traffic.

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      • pjwestin@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        If you’re talking about someone exiting their lane to enter a lane that’s about to close in order to get ahead, sure,.that’s kinda a dick move, but if you’re saying that someone should leave their lane early because the lane that’s ending isn’t very busy, no, that’s wrong. Even if the closing lane is going much faster, when that lane ends, the driver will have to slow down to match the speed of the other lane and wait to be let in. The driver behind him will catch up, and a zipper merge will develop. They’re not doing anything wrong, you just mad that they’re passing you.

        Also, a lane can never be, “full,” just busy. You think they’re at fault because they’re trying to get into a lane that’ doesn’t have room for them, but actually you’re at fault because you’re not making room for them.

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• DmMacniel@feddit.org ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  How wide is your grid o.O?

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