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[-] DScratch@sh.itjust.works 315 points 3 days ago

Merging at the last minute is the correct way to do it.

Zipper merge, you fucks!

[-] flandish@lemmy.world 87 points 3 days ago

thank you. the math agrees, too. zipper merges are the way to go!

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 27 points 3 days ago

I would agree with this if literally anyone else knew how to zipper merge

[-] Banana@sh.itjust.works 22 points 3 days ago

The solution is educating people about zipper merging, not getting angry at those who actually do it.

[-] los0220@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago

Here in Poland it works quite well, at least when the merge is expected.

But we have signs reminding people of that and they also display this kind of driving tips on info boards on motorways when there is nothing more important.

[-] Banana@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 days ago

We only started seeing signs in my city telling people to zipper merge, but I was never taught it in driver's ed, and we really should be.

I wish we had better signage here like you have in Poland.

[-] Philote@lemmy.ml 24 points 3 days 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 25 points 3 days 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.

[-] LurkingLuddite@piefed.social 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Depends on what you mean by "the front". Too many people do not know how to look thousands of feet down the road. Probably why so many merge too early.

The assholes that also do not know how to look thousands of feet down the road fly to the end and cram in, which does nothing but further reduce throughput because it slows the lane people need to merge into.

[-] ragepaw@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 days ago

That is literally what a zipper merge is, and what you are supposed to do. Go to the end and merge. If they are "cramming" in, then the people in the lane are not doing their part either, because you are supposed to let people merge.

When people properly zipper merge, traffic will keep flowing. Your complaint about reducing throughput is a "well of fucking course it will" because you're putting more cars through the same space regardless of where they merge. People who slow down with hundreds of meters of space, then stop and wait for someone to let them in makes the problem worse, not better.

[-] LurkingLuddite@piefed.social 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Literally, no it is not. Nowhere does it say you have to get to the end before merging. THE WHOLE FUCKING POINT is to MATCH TRAFFIC SPEEDS AND MAKE ROOM to reduce interruptions. NOT to fill up all available space where ever you find it.

If you fly to the front past a bunch of stopped cars, you ARE NOT MATCHING SPEEDS. Those assholes are not zipper merging. Period.

The people who merge early are not utilizing all space, but THROUGHPUT IS ABOUT LANES AND SPEED. When one lane is disappearing, you CANNOT MAGICALLY ADD THROUGHPUT by cramming in before the bottleneck. Period. Ever.

[-] plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

If you fly to the front past a bunch of stopped cars, you ARE NOT MATCHING SPEEDS. Those assholes are not zipper merging. Period.

You realize if they were to match speed that would mean they must stop in an open lane, and that would just make everything much much worse, yeah? Thats also pretty much illegal everywhere lol.

[-] ragepaw@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Pretty confidently incorrect there with your capitals and italics.

https://youtu.be/mmSTSj_OMpA

https://youtu.be/cX0I8OdK7Tk

[-] Philote@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 days ago

That was the respectable speed part. I agree too slow is also an issue.

[-] ragepaw@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 days 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 12 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days 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.

Again: Merging at the last second does nothing but push traffic density up. Often past comfortable densities, which will slow traffic. It's the exact same reason rolling stops happen even without traffic accidents or lane closures in dense traffic.

[-] Randelung@lemmy.world 16 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Last minute is absolutely part of it. Use the available queueing space to keep congestion from spreading. I don't know where you drive where bumper to bumper didn't happen, though.

[-] LurkingLuddite@piefed.social 3 points 3 days ago

No it is not. Ever. You cannot magically add throughput by cramming in ahead of the bottleneck. That ONLY increases density, which DEMONSTRABLY reduces speeds.

Guess what happens when speed goes down? Throughput also goes down! You cannot magically add throughput by filling space beyond what is reasonable for the speeds you want to go. That's not how humans work.

[-] Randelung@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

It's not about throughout. You want previous intersections and ramps to be free. The extra lane is car storage space. If one lane is stopped and the other is free you absolutely move up to the merge point. Safely, mind you. The speed limit is way too fast, 30-40 kph is enough. Merging early causes shockwaves that turn into full blown stops upstream. Plus you block the whole lane until you've merged.
I've done traffic control systems for almost a decade so I actually know a little about the subject.

[-] LurkingLuddite@piefed.social 1 points 3 days ago

In some situations, it's not all about throughput.

Though traffic congestion is ALWAYS about throughput. You want less congestion? Then don't rush to the end of a closed lane and cram in. That ALWAYS hurts throughput, which ALWAYS increases congestion. Period.

Sure, if traffic IS backed up to other roads, then absolutely, fill up the closing lane and get off those other roads, though understand that filling up that lane will, always, always hurt congestion if throughput is already struggling.

[-] Visstix@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

Yes before the lane is closed. They are not doing that.

[-] MSBBritain@lemmy.world 22 points 3 days ago

No. You are explicitly supposed to go to the very end of the closing lane, and then merge, not before it closes.

[-] Visstix@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Well a closing lane would be marked with an arrow pointing to the lane next to it, and if it's closed it's a red X. You merge before the red X. I don't see a closing lane the same as a closed lane. Maybe it's a translation thing. And every country is different.

this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2026
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