Merging at the last minute is the correct way to do it.
Zipper merge, you fucks!
That's a no
Submitted 20 hours ago by Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world to [deleted]
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/b13c093e-eae5-475c-b82c-28194ff31467.jpeg
Comments
DScratch@sh.itjust.works 20 hours ago
flandish@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
thank you. the math agrees, too. zipper merges are the way to go!
Mongostein@lemmy.ca 20 hours ago
Depends. If there’s lots of traffic, yes. If it’s sparse enough that you can merge without slowing people down too much, just do it early.
IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 19 hours ago
Yeah, that’s the big asterisk on the “zipper merging is more efficient” premise. It assumes that things are already bottlenecked. If you have the space to merge early without slowing down, you do that. People trying to force their way in at the last minute (when they didn’t have to) is one of the things that triggers the bottleneck in the first place.
TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca 10 hours ago
If it’s that sparse then the situation in the meme is a non-issue
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
I would agree with this if literally anyone else knew how to zipper merge
Banana@sh.itjust.works 17 hours ago
The solution is educating people about zipper merging, not getting angry at those who actually do it.
Philote@lemmy.ml 19 hours ago
At a respectable speed though, merge lane is not a passing lane. My rule is whatever speed can be maintained stay with the car speed in the lane to be merged into, jamming the front punishes everyone cueing properly.
ragepaw@lemmy.ca 19 hours ago
The the merging lane is empty for a half km, then it’s proper to drive to the front and merge. If you just drive slow, then you’re a problem for the sake of being a problem.
Drive to the front, match speed, zipper merge. It isn’t hard.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 12 hours ago
Zooming to the front to try to merge at the last minute and creating a choke point that stops traffic for half a mile is NOT the correct way to do a zipper merge…
DScratch@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
You shouldn’t be able to, because both lanes are full and moving at half speed.
IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
Gave a ride to someone who for one hour kept bitching about drivers who use zipper merge properly. didn’t want to tell him he was wrong.
he was so convinced and fuel by hatred of better drivers.
LurkingLuddite@piefed.social 18 hours ago
Nothing about the zipper merge says, “last minute”. It is wholly and entirely about matching speeds and making room.
Guess what dictates the speed of the lane that gets to travel forward? The amount of traffic that gets to travel… in that reduced number of lanes.
The people racing to the end of the closing lane are doing nothing but increasing traffic density, which directly hurts the effort of zipper merging. If it’s going from two lanes to one, the density MUST halve somewhere if traffic is full. That’s never going to happen at full speed if there are assholes wedging in at the last second and pushing traffic density past what people comfortably go full speed at.
Hint: it is not bumper to bumper on the highway.
Randelung@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
Last minute is absolutely part of it. Use the available queueing space to keep congestion from spreading.
Visstix@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Yes before the lane is closed. They are not doing that.
MSBBritain@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
No. You are explicitly supposed to go to the very end of the closing lane, and then merge, not before it closes.
zebidiah@lemmy.ca 8 hours ago
Why is it always boomers that fail to comprehend the zipper merge?
… Is it the lead poisoning??
Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
Who
OhStopYellingAtMe@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
Boomer humor. Your post. It’s humor for dimwitted old “baby boomers” who don’t understand that it’s better to use both lanes for as long as possible and then zipper merge.
bitchkat@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Zipper merge is best merge you dingus.
ch00f@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
The issue is this:
A) Your lane is ending. Drive to the end of the lane and then merge. Simplest reason: why the fuck would they build that much lane if you’re not supposed to drive on it? Alternate reason: you’re just stretching the traffic jam farther back where it could be blocking people from exiting or getting on.
B) Your lane is exit only. Get the fuck out of that lane, you’re blocking people legitimately trying to exit. You’re a cheating cheater and you’re clogging the exit lane.
C) Your lane is not an exit and you want to get into an exit lane. Get into the exit lane as soon as possible. Late merge is just going to clog up a lane and you’re a cheating cheater.
These situations are not the same.
bss03@infosec.pub 15 hours ago
Yep. Science says OP is wrong: acg.aaa.com/…/zipper-merge-keeps-traffic-moving
ISTR there being some indication that as speeds increase, merging further away from the “final merge point” can help, but that’s for designing roads with permanent lane reductions, not for temporary lane closures due to construction, accident, etc. But, I also couldn’t find that science when I looked for it.
Exatron@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
Zipper merge works best as long as the people involved understand it and actually want to do it.
DarkCloud@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
In Australia if your front two wheels are ahead of the other person’s front two wheels, and you’re indicating to move into their lane - you have to let them in. It’s the law.
Takes a lot of the rage out.
LogicalDrivel@sopuli.xyz 7 hours ago
In a civilized country, that might work (Australia though, really?). It would just promote idiots to race ahead of people here in the States. Im kidding btw. Love you Aussies.
funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 6 hours ago
many states have laws that require you to let people merge. they don’t.
LodeMike@lemmy.today 11 hours ago
Do you mean “they have to let you in”?
Thebeardedsinglemalt@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
Like most things, a zipper merge works only if EVERYONE is abiding by it. Much like they tested and found out that a plane can have all passengers boarded and seated with luggage in about 15 minutes…if everyone followed the rules. But know, every damn over-entitled Karen, Jaxson, MacKhenzie and the rest of their ilk feel the rules don’t apply to them.
Banana@sh.itjust.works 17 hours ago
Learn what zipper merging is you fuckin potato.
Or do you want backups to take up twice as much space as they need to? It’s about efficiency. If everybody zipper merges, you still get your fucking turn.
titanicx@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
Yeah people like this are fucking idiots. Just let the dude over it’s not going to slow you down it’s not going to stop you shit if it cost you 15 seconds oh my god what the fuck ever. People are fucking retarded when they think that they have the right to own a lane.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 12 hours ago
The thing is that selfish people trying to skip to the front of the line and cut in front of the people in the through-lane right behind another merging vehicle instead of taking their turn alternating with through-lane vehicles absolutely do create congestion which can back up a long way.
Zipper merges only work when people in the merging lane aren’t being selfish assholes and trying to do that.
Banana@sh.itjust.works 15 hours ago
Right! People get so crazy impatient and entitled when they enter a vehicle.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 12 hours ago
If everyone zipper merges correctly. More often, half the drivers try to use the lane that’s ending to skip to the front of the line and create a bottleneck that brings traffic to a stop for half a mile…
rumba@lemmy.zip 12 hours ago
That is the zipper merge acg.aaa.com/…/zipper-merge-keeps-traffic-moving and both lanes should be full all the way with every other car giving way.
zebidiah@lemmy.ca 8 hours ago
This! Also, let the motorcycle in front of you if you are at the head of the line at the light! We will be long gone before you pull your thumb out of your ass and take you foot off the brake when the light turns green
ccunning@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
musicjunkie@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
This article falsely assumes the only options are halting traffic to wait for an opening or dash faster than speed of traffic until the end of the lane closure then just expect someone to allow room so kinda a bad explanation of zipper merge and proper driving etiquette
Not sure if you took drivers ed but zipper merging is not zooming past stopped cars to last second dart over in the shoulder, it’s speed matching the lane you are merging into to weave in like a zipper. Crazy how even the name isn’t informative enough for people to understand the concept
plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works 19 hours ago
So if the traffic is slowed down you want everyone to just move over early making it even worse…?
No, you populate both lanes than alternate right of way.
kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 hours ago
Why have two 1 mile long backups when you could have one 2 mile long backup.
*Taps head
disorderly@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
I’ve been reading this for years, and the hypothesis always seems to be that zipper merging is good because it maximizes road usage. You know what else maximizes road usage? Bumper to bumper gridlock.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
Gridlock doesn’t maximize it. Bumper-to-bumper at 80mph does, though
Krelis_@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
Zipper merging, when done properly by enough people, prevents (selfish) others from racing past
swagmoney@lemmy.ca 16 hours ago
just let them merge for fucks sake
Paddzr@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
I swear either this is some US crap or rage bait.
swagmoney@lemmy.ca 6 hours ago
feels like a bit of both tbh
taiyang@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
If it’s a lane closure, yes, you zipper merge at the end-- imo, because you need visual confirmation of what’s happening but also because it’s predictable and usually both lanes are already matching speeds and zipper merging ahead of you. There’s no need to complicate things with an early swap. Granted, I rarely see a lane closure warning more than 100 meters, if at all… in my tiny car, the best indicator that we’re merging is sudden lane changes of everyone in front of me.
Where I draw the line is when there’s an exit only lane on a freeway and people are zooming along and suddenly want in. Did they jump into that lane just to get ahead? Or are they a helpless victim of circumstance from the latest onramp and unable to merge until now? I let them in, but I’m usually bitter about it.
TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca 20 hours ago
Zipper merge you fucking savages
Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
When
phar@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
I don’t understand people like this. There are two lanes. Use them. If everyone merges into one lane over two miles it’s going to create a HUUGE backup. Use both lanes, zipper merge at the end. Stop being stupid and use your brain instead of your emotions.
rumba@lemmy.zip 12 hours ago
Oh they read it, that’s why they’re there. It’s faster.
nycvin@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Upvoting all of OPs posts because you gotta respect the commitment
Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
sleet01@lemmy.ca 6 hours ago
ITT: people too hyped on zipper-merging to read and comprehend the actual issue being discussed.
FudgyMcTubbs@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
I think people forget that nobody is racing you. If someone merges into traffic in front of you, theyre not winning and youre not losing. It’s all OK. You dont have to be upset.
justme@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 hours ago
I remember an article from a certain parody magazine about “the state is introducing the Velcro merge, because majority is to stupid for the zipper merge” and they photoshopped a street sign with cars in random angles honking at each other xD
Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
Oh no, they definitely read it. They just don’t care and expect you to let the merge.
TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca 20 hours ago
Because that’s the correct procedure
Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
No its not. If all the cars are in one lane and you drive past all of those cars in the empty lane and then expect all those cars you passed to let you merge, you’re a piece of shit.
HenriVolney@sh.itjust.works 19 hours ago
Bonus point for the fuckers that speed up in order to pass as many people as possible
musicjunkie@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Few things bring me joy like showing just a wee bit of room to bait those fools to try to cut a dozen people off just to slowly close the gap as they approach my blind spot and force them behind me
I watch people get out of line then dash down the single file all to get 4 cars ahead so they get to work 4sec faster. No sympathy for antisocial scum
plyth@feddit.org 19 hours ago
Which they can’t do if everybody stays in lane and waits till the last moment.
Meissnerscorpsucle@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
I don’t know about you guys, but the teeth an my zipper are lined up ahaid of time and “traveling” the same speed. I would be fine with zipper merge if that where the case, but every time i am in the open lane and the other one closes there are 10 jerks who sped to the end and now feel i should have to come to a full stop and let all 10 get in front. Also, my zipper gets joined at the botom and the “merge” point travels back up the the path. we are all going to sqeeze into one lane anyway. Don’t care where it happens as long as everyone maintains speed. If you expect me to stop my lane so 10 can come from yours we have a problem.
chuckleslord@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
If everyone stayed in the lane that’s about to close, your scenario wouldn’t happen. The issue isn’t the people going all the way to the end to merge, it’s everyone merging beforehand that causes the backup.
Traffic waves in that scenario come from people merging. If everyone merged at the end, there would be a small, consistent slowdown there. One small wave being reinforced over time. But, because everyone in the lane about to close merges as soon as they can, there are dozens of waves being generated all at once, which causes the stop-and-go effect. And as the backup becomes worse, more people start merging earlier, causing even more waves and more backup.
EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 3 hours ago
The funny thing is that when I’m in the lane being merged into, I specifically hang back a little and just leave space for the next car up in the lane that is ended. I’m spaced as if they are already in my lane.
Note that this doesn’t actually speed anything up; they could simply get over immediately or they can run the lane to the end. It makes no difference.
Banana@sh.itjust.works 17 hours ago
The issue is that in backed up traffic, not zipper merging results in a single lane of cars that takes up twice as much road space as zipper merging.
Perhaps the issue is zipper merging not being taught in drivers ed, idk.
chuckleslord@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
It’s taught, but the concept is counter-intuitive, goes against American etiquette for queuing, and puts all of the risk for getting stuck on the driver doing the correct thing (going all the way down to the merge).
lightnsfw@reddthat.com 17 hours ago
If things are flowing properly both lanes would be combining at the end where the closed lane cuts off, they would be moving at the same speed by necessity. No one would have space to zoom to the end because it would be occupied.
Soulphite@reddthat.com 19 hours ago
Do you like grid locked traffic? Because merging 2 miles early causes grid lock traffic.
pjwestin@lemmy.world 16 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).
plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works 12 hours ago
That’s blocking the box, gridlock is just bumper to bumper traffic in any condition.
LurkingLuddite@piefed.social 17 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.
EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 3 hours ago
People that glaze zipper merging are ignoring that the real issue is the bottleneck caused by the lane reduction.
Soulphite@reddthat.com 17 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.
pjwestin@lemmy.world 16 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.
DmMacniel@feddit.org 19 hours ago
How wide is your grid o.O?
jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
It’s weird when people think getting places fast or first is the point of driving.
“Safe” is the word you’re looking for. Then, as fast as safe will calmly allow.
mech@feddit.org 19 hours ago
I let drivers like this in every time.
It doesn’t cost me anything, and avoids a dangerous situation for myself and everyone around when they inevitably push in anyway.DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Zipper merge is not what this post is about. This post is about the people who pass the drivers who are zipper merging to get further along in the line.
CultLeader4Hire@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
I’m a tax payer and I’m going to drive in all the lanes I paid for then zipper merge when needed. If we all pile up in one lane because we are too collectively stupid to use all our lanes and zipper merge we are the traffic we deserve.
Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Everyone fight
Leviathan@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
That sign was for him and for you to prepare to leave the room for a car to zipper merge when the time comes, dummy.
Jesus, the only thing worse than incorrect is confidently incorrect.
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 17 hours ago
Bruh, just let them in. It costs you all of 3 seconds, at will prevent a road rage incident. If you got ac, we all getting to the same place at roughly the same time.
LurkingLuddite@piefed.social 17 hours ago
OK people, this is not a hard concept but apparently I have to spell it out: It’s the same as an on-ramp.
If you’re racing up an on-ramp just to slam on your brakes and merge with a highway that’s already slow… you are part of the problem! Period. Full stop. Fuck you.
“Fill the lane”? Why? It’s going away. Again: same as an on-ramp. If you’re speeding up past what the traffic is already going, you’re not practicing a zipper merge!
JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 hours ago
I don’t really understand what zipper merging has to do with this if the issue is that they waited until the very end of the lane to try and merge and now have to do it immediately. (At least that’s what I assume is happening based on the description)
BeUnique@lemmy.zip 15 hours ago
Nah, they read it. Just want to cut in line because they feel more important that everyone else. It’s pretty obvious when somebody pulls that shit on purpose. Then others you can tell they are oblivious. I usually let them in either way because I try to not get annoyed by the little things in life but sometimes it’s hard to not get annoyed…
Nusm@peachpie.theatl.social 17 hours ago
There’s Zipper Merge, and then there’s “I’m more important than everyone else, so I’m going to the front of the line and force my way in.”
See, the single file line continues to move if everyone gets over when the sign clearly says “Lane Ends Ahead Merge Now”. It may move slowly, but it moves. If people pass everyone in line and speed ahead to force their way in, the single file lane then has to repeatedly stop to let those people in. The people who followed the road sign and moved over are now being punished, forced to repeatedly stop, and keep getting pushed farther and farther back by those prima donnas whose trip is way more important than everyone else’s.
You can keep yelling “ZIPPER MERGE!”, but those assholes saw the same sign I did telling them that they should move over, but they didn’t. Now they can wait.
atx_aquarian@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
Zipper is solid in a situation where an entire lane merges into another. There are different situations where it doesn’t make sense. I’m a big believer in zippering where it works, but then there’s the 6-lane highway where one exit lane is backing up into the through lanes. Then someone blows past that line in the other through lanes and cuts into the very front of the line. I’m sure some of those people are saying “zipper!” as they do it, but if everyone conventionalized a zipper point at the end of an exit lane, we would impede the through lanes, too. The point of the zipper is to smooth traffic flow and use the full capacity of the roadway; applying it broadly to highway lanes mixed with through traffic is antithetical.
SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 hours ago
Z I P P E R
M E R G E