“Early” being relative to the specific vehicles involved. Lorries/tractor-trailers needs a LOT more time to find an opening before a merge than a “four-wheeler” does.
Besides it’s long been proven that “zipper merging” - which is basically waiting up to almost the last second to merge - is the more efficient method.
plyth@feddit.org 4 hours ago
Not at all. You destroy a smooth process where both lanes drive at the same speed. It turns into a stop and go in one lane while the other keeps getting filled with new cars from the back that join at the last moment.