Jackholes Make Traffic Move Faster

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
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May 18, 1997
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You see it done all the time. The rest of us humans are forced to merge over because of a lane closure. There is always "that guy" (the jackhold referred to in the tag line) that zips up the the front and merges in at the last minute because he will get to his destination 4.6 seconds earlier. Turns out that it is the rest of us screwing up traffic not him. While some states are championing this behavior and trying to teach it, I was in Oklahoma the other day and it is illegal to zip up to the front there. Crazy Okies.

Check out the video.

You might be annoyed enough to respond to one of those rude drivers with an obscene gesture. But guess what? A lot of studies show those rude drivers are helping traffic flow better. It makes sense if you think about it:
 
Here in town there is a place where the right lane is a turn lane and ends before the intersection and lots of people try to run up on the right(which is illegal to pass on the right) and cut into the line. One got upset because I didn't slow down and let him pass and ended up on the sidewalk, there was nobody behind me so he could have easily just dropped in behind me as he should have.

I swear, once I am retired I am going to spend my mornings just making laps round the block there and driving slow in the right lane and making "those people" get in the back of the line :p (jackhold isn't the word I use for those people, I think they are more "anal" than that)
 
And then you have Philly where we all get the "don't merge until you are forced to" mentality, but you also have a-holes who just drive in on the shoulder because their exit is in 5 miles. I hate Philly.
 
What I got from the article was that them being rude makes other people act rude themselves, such as tailgating the car in front of them, so that there is now more traffic, thus making it more efficient than when people leave 200 ft distance between them and the car ahead. It still doesn't seem to answer that if in a perfect world, where people could zipper correctly, and not leave tons of space between cars during stop and go traffic, this would be more efficient.
 
I find the way to combat this is be the jackhole that cuts over the lines before merge area, because someone's leaving a 4 car gap back there.
 
It's a nice theory but requires everyone to actually participate and follow the rules. Try that in Houston where they literally speed up when you signal that you want over... just so you can't. I've actually been honked at for slowing down slightly to allow someone indicating they want over to merge.

I still think that dedicated "exit only" lanes should have a barrier or something starting about 100 ft before the exit to keep people from cutting over at the last second when they know it is an exit only.
 
...or in other words, learn to drive like an A.I.!

Or more simply let the damn car do it for you...? :cautious:

That said, I feel our kids will look at us with sheer 'bizarrement', that we had to drive own cars (only plebs have drive their own, don't-chya know)....
 
When there is a lane closure, and it's very clear that that only one lane is useable I refuse to let people in that come running up. Like the other 50 cars sitting behind me are just there for no reason. I get so close to the car in front of me, and I don't even acknowledge they're there.
 
If it gets backed up big word there IF. IF everyone is drving at speed and moves over in time then the line does not slow down. But of course theres that one person that thinks not and then merges at the last min then it starts the slow down in the first place. So ya zipper works but also zipper causes the issues in the first place. Some highways tend to make the merge longer like a mile then squeeze them in slowly till there all over I find those rock get ppl thinking.
 
Because I deal with it ALL THE DAMN TIME. if you know your lane is ending. Don't count on me letting your ass in. construction or accident. Give me a turn signal and I'll let you in. Try to force it and I will spend a day in court just to screw you over. EVERY TIME. I freaking HATE asshats who try to skip the line and jump ahead. These are the same shithead teenagers that do it at amusement parks too. And no I don't let them skip either.
 
jedijeb13 said:
(which is illegal to pass on the right)
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You definitely do not live in New Mexico. Here most pass on the right, go slow in the far left lane. Then folks get angry because they want to make a left turn but can't get in because the cars go slow now in the left lane and wind up forming long unbroken lines of cars (gee, could be why the LAW says pass on the right?). Far right lane is known as a right turn lane yet, even when you turn on your blinker 500 ft before you turn, the driver behind you stares at the flashing blinker light, makes zero effort to change lanes (the ALWAYS do this, I watch them in my mirror) and then they get mad at you because you dared to slow down and make a right turn while in the right turn lane.

It's not unlike those who race from red light to red light, apparently clueless that street lights are on a timer ...

termite said:
Americans as a whole have no idea about how to merge. On ramps, off ramps, lane closures whatever.
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Try the " big i " in Albuquerque NM some time ... you'll love it. Be sure to try it around 5 PM
 
Gonna be honest, i do this most of the time for a couple reasons; if I don't 20 others will and I'm stuck sitting there and because it works 99.9999% of the time.
 
I will usually go up and merge near the front instead of jumping in early for this reason, traffic does move faster when people aren't backed up trying to merge early. But I'm never a dick about it, I don't try to force my way in. That said, there's always some dip shit that tries to get over into the merge lane way before the merge, but stays in his spot in the line so nobody can "cut" in front of him. That shit's annoying.
 
As a proud jackhole, I agree with this assessment and hope to make more people mad.
 
semi related there's a left turn lane on one route home from work that goes under a bridge, it's a single lane, has it's own left turn light and all, gets pretty backed up. The assholes will ride up in the "go straight lane" and then just cut over acting like it's a double turn when it's not. Saw some bitch do it one time in an SUV in front a cop, I laughed my ass off watching her get pulled over.

I'm not a violent person but I'd have no problem beating these people in the face if it was legal.

It's reckless and causes accidents when you have some shitbag who thinks he's being slick fucking over everyone else. The same people that will fuck over 50 people on the way to work cutting them off, zipping in and out of traffic, causing untold braking and backups behind them, all because they didn't want to leave 30 seconds earlier... the amount of time they usually save with all their fuckery. It amazes me the people that do selfish shitty things thinking they are saving time. Those double solid white lines exist for a reason, and while I'm no fan of tickets, I'd love to be the cop that spends all day fucking peoples day up for basic failure to follow the rules of the road.

Doesn't matter if it's cheap or expensive, the absolute BEST thing you can get for your car is a dashcam that runs automatically when you turn on the car, you can bet the person that fucks you over and causes a wreck will have no problem lying to the police about what actually happened.
 
I will straight-up run your ass into the barrels if you try this shit. The signs in work zones clearly state "Lane closed xxx feet ahead, merge now" NOT "speed the fuck up and slam in at the last minute".

Also, where I live we have an intersection where the right lane is wide. People constantly try to slide up as if there were a dedicated right-turn lane there. I purposefully pull far enough into the center of the lane that it blocks them out of it, fun times.
 
Makes sense? No. It doesn't make sense. One of the main purposes of road laws is to ensure fairness when it comes to traffic flow. Jumping ahead of other cars in order to merge (which often includes pulling *out* of the backed up lane, zipping ahead several cars and then merging back into the lane he started in), is not fair. It naturally offends most people's sense of fairness and *that* is what causes others to flip him off. I don't really give a crap if it somehow makes traffic move faster: I care that some yahoo is trying to cut in front of me and several other people who have been patiently waiting in line.

Yeah, you try that kind of crap and try to merge in front of me, and you'll see how close I can drive to the car in front of me. (Hint: damned close.)
 
I don't believe this is still being discussed. This is a total jackass move, and does NOT help at all. It hurts the process because other people have to slow down to allow the jackass to merge. If people were to zipper merge properly, then it won't matter at all where in the process the change takes place, toward the end of the merging lane or near the beginning. It is the people who push forward and refuse to zipper merge with the rest that are causing half the slowdowns of the whole process. The other half is caused by the idiots who merge too slow.

It says it in the driver's manual in nearly every state in the US: MATCH SPEED WITH TRAFFIC BEFORE MERGING. That is the ONLY way to do it. Too slow or too fast causes problems.
 
That has been standard around here for a long time. It does actually help reduce traffic slowdowns. Smooth zipper merges are part of it, the other part is consolidating the length of the slowdown into a shorter length.

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Madoc said:
Makes sense? No. It doesn't make sense. One of the main purposes of road laws is to ensure fairness when it comes to traffic flow. Jumping ahead of other cars in order to merge (which often includes pulling *out* of the backed up lane, zipping ahead several cars and then merging back into the lane he started in), is not fair. It naturally offends most people's sense of fairness and *that* is what causes others to flip him off. I don't really give a crap if it somehow makes traffic move faster: I care that some yahoo is trying to cut in front of me and several other people who have been patiently waiting in line.

Yeah, you try that kind of crap and try to merge in front of me, and you'll see how close I can drive to the car in front of me. (Hint: damned close.)
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The only reason one might perceive it as "jumping ahead of other cars" is because people think they have to merge early so 90% of the people end up in the straight lane while the merge lane appears empty. This cause traffic to be worse than if people just stayed in the lane and zippered in when it merges, it causes the straight lane to back up more than the surrounding lanes which is more likely to cause accidents with people exiting the lane going slower than traffic on both sides of them. I see no problem with safely jumping in to the merge lane and moving up, as it shortens the backup as a whole. Although, I'm not talking about being an ass hole and forcing your way as far up as you can in the merge lane but at the very least just continuing to move forward and merge at first opportunity as close to the merge as possible.
 
usually both lanes are backed up regardless. You'll get to your destination eventually, even if you merge early.
 
Don’t care. It’s rude, courtesy is important with a two ton weight that can travel 150mph

I never do it but it does make me smile when traffic is backed up at roadworks and someone leaves their car two feet into the merging lane so people can’t cut in at the front.
 
ZenDragon said:
I have seen cops give people tickets for that here, not that it matters to you, just an observation.
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Erm, I'm legally in a lane keeping people from driving beside me up to a light where there is no turn lane. Maybe the original description was poor? In any case, I've seen the cops give multiple tickets out for people trying to force the turn. The right lane is ~1.5 normal lanes in width for whatever reason, but is not striped for another lane. People just try to squeeze by to get up to the light (I've even seen them run up onto the sidewalk).
 
As one of the crazy Okies, the zipper method only works as long as everyone plays fair and either lets folks merge or takes a open spot even if not the last possible instant. But that rarely happens. Some folks are oblivious to the need to merge until faced with the end of lane then:
either force the merge with resulting mass braking and an whole group of cars coming to a near stop in the thru lane,
slamming on their own brakes and causing the need to merge lane to stop,
bent sheet metal and a long wait for the LEOs and wreckers to clear the resulting mess.

Others are sure they are one of the entitled ones but the results are similar to the oblivious.

I have noticed that since we passed the 'merge now' law and with the better merge ahead signage, traffic does seem to flow better and I have seen fewer merge wrecks. Not sure what the official numbers are. Sometimes theory and reality don't match.
 
The zipper merge works on paper or on a computer simulation but it DOES NOT work in real situations because there will always be a group of asshats that think they are more important than everyone else on the road. Anyone that is promoting the zipper merge can't, with a straight face, tell me that it is safe or correct for a car to be speeding in excess of 60 MPH in a merge lane while all of the other lanes are traveling less than 10 MPH waiting to merge. I've seen countless accidents because of a vehicle needing to exit the jam and move right to the emergency lane because of overheating, etc. only to get plowed into by the asshat doing 70 in the "zipper" lane just to the left of the emergency lane. There are even idiots that will pass to the right INTO THE EMERGENCY LANE to get around slower cars. If you do that shit here in my state in front of a LEO you'll get a ticket.
 
In heavy traffic, those people are actually using the full length of the available lane, instead of inefficiently merging before the lane ends. Essentially, they fully utilise the available road and thus are a positive impact on total road capacity, though minor.

I used to not let them merge, but after looking at it like that, I let them in. No sense in wasting brain power on getting upset.
 
jevans64 said:
The zipper merge works on paper or on a computer simulation but it DOES NOT work in real situations because there will always be a group of asshats that think they are more important than everyone else on the road. Anyone that is promoting the zipper merge can't, with a straight face, tell me that it is safe or correct for a car to be speeding in excess of 60 MPH in a merge lane while all of the other lanes are traveling less than 10 MPH waiting to merge. I've seen countless accidents because of a vehicle needing to exit the jam and move right to the emergency lane because of overheating, etc. only to get plowed into by the asshat doing 70 in the "zipper" lane just to the left of the emergency lane. There are even idiots that will pass to the right INTO THE EMERGENCY LANE to get around slower cars. If you do that shit here in my state in front of a LEO you'll get a ticket.
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It's all about the delta. If the delta between lanes is over 5mph or so, it's dangerous and turns into a traffic disaster.
 
jevans64 said:
The zipper merge works on paper or on a computer simulation but it DOES NOT work in real situations because there will always be a group of asshats that think they are more important than everyone else on the road. Anyone that is promoting the zipper merge can't, with a straight face, tell me that it is safe or correct for a car to be speeding in excess of 60 MPH in a merge lane while all of the other lanes are traveling less than 10 MPH waiting to merge. I've seen countless accidents because of a vehicle needing to exit the jam and move right to the emergency lane because of overheating, etc. only to get plowed into by the asshat doing 70 in the "zipper" lane just to the left of the emergency lane. There are even idiots that will pass to the right INTO THE EMERGENCY LANE to get around slower cars. If you do that shit here in my state in front of a LEO you'll get a ticket.
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Well, your scenario only happens because people are not doing the zipper merge, there wouldn't be one long slow lane if everyone was trying to use both lanes. It's because people feel like they're correct and entitled to their position in the "correct" lane and merge early that causes the merge lane to be empty.

No, someone wouldn't with a straight face tell you it's safe to do that, because that's not how the merge is suppose to work. You're describing bad driving while merging and saying that's how zipper merge is suppose to work, which is wrong.

This thread does show why self driving cars are going to be awesome, they won't get angry and hurt feeling because someone arrived at some point in the road 5 seconds before them.
 
If it is a lane merging over, going to the end is fine, however most jackholes will go way past this and into the solid line to get as far as possible. Another problem is when it's not a merge lane but a turn lane and they just don't want to wait in queue so they run down the other lanes and at the last second try and cut someone off.
 
Seriously? We're still arguing about this? Either everyone merges early, or everyone merges at the last minute. It doesn't really matter. I used to be die hard in the early camp, but it doesn't matter. So why keep fighting this and be sad?

Obviously, the best solution is to have the two lanes merge into one *middle* lane, and then shift over, but... that's not gonna happen.
 
What they are describing in that video is not the same as the situation that should be pissing people off.

It's the guy that zips to the front of the line then cuts off someone at the same time that causes the trouble (likely hitting his brakes hard at the same time), not the people zipping to the front of the line and merging in the first available slot they see with plenty of space to prevent anyone hitting their brakes.

What's worse is the jackholes will cut off a semi truck who has to slam on their brakes and lose all their rolling inertia and take forever to accelerate again. This ends up making the situation worse for the massive line behind the truck.

This video is describing a "zipper" method where even the lane meant to merge is still moving at near the same speed as the remaining lanes. Everyone merging at similar speeds means no one slams on their brakes and the line keeps moving at the same pace. I zero issue with the way this video describes.
 
AaronGant said:
Well, your scenario only happens because people are not doing the zipper merge, there wouldn't be one long slow lane if everyone was trying to use both lanes. It's because people feel like they're correct and entitled to their position in the "correct" lane and merge early that causes the merge lane to be empty.

No, someone wouldn't with a straight face tell you it's safe to do that, because that's not how the merge is suppose to work. You're describing bad driving while merging and saying that's how zipper merge is suppose to work, which is wrong.

This thread does show why self driving cars are going to be awesome, they won't get angry and hurt feeling because someone arrived at some point in the road 5 seconds before them.
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To clarify. This is a two-lane merge into another two-lane... from an interstate to an interstate spur. Folks traveling at interstate speeds all the way through a long 90° merge in the far right lane... all the way down to the two-lane bottleneck. This results in three lanes of stop-n-go and them squeezing in at the bottleneck. Nothing wrong with that. They just need to slow the fuck down and do a proper zipper merge. The merge is posted 45 MPH anyway but, it happens EVERY DAY, cars are doing 60 to 75 through that bend passing the rest of the traffic doing less than 10. People just don't give a fuck these days because they think they are immune because they drive 2 tons of metal and plastic. I generally stay in the 3rd lane through the bend and merge into the 2nd lane at whatever speed they are doing. It still comes to a complete stop about half-way through with the asshats flying through to merge. Now. IF someone is signaling and maintaining MY speed, of course I let them in... especially 18-wheelers. These guys are on the road a lot and appreciate common courtesy on the road. Folks forget they are driving a 45-ton vehicle with a full load.
 
I wonder if it would teach and show drviers if instead of having on lane merger into another they just make the merger happen between lanes so both lanes must merge. Im sure driving down the center line would cause more problems than help so this idea is probably shit.
 
There are apparently 2 types of drivers here

1. Egocentric dumbasses that think people are cheating to get to the front of the line
2. Normal level headed folk with a concept of physics and timing that recognize using 2 lanes is better than 1
 
This simulation works only in the instance of automated car driving - not humans. The more merges you have, the more you have undecided elements of "Is he letting me in? I can't tell? Should I go?"

Also, we are talking apples and oranges here - a lot of folks are talking about a lane closure - for instance, a 3 lane highway becoming a 2-lane highway. In this case, I agree COMPLETELY with the zipper logic here. Of course, any logical person would tell themselves to get to the far-right lane that is less affected by the merging of lanes 2-3.

The separate topic we are talking about is - let's say a highway is splitting off, Highway A is 4 lanes, and splits off where the Left 2 Lanes go to Highway B North and the Right 2 Lanes go to Highway B South. Since it's rush hour and everyone is trying to get home, most everyone needs to go Highway B South, so the lanes for Highway B North are going at normal traffic speeds (~50-70mph) while the Highway B South lanes are at a crawl backed up. This doesn't apply to the zipper method, as plenty of idiots wait until they are pass all the backed-up traffic to try and get into the Right 2 lanes at the very last second.

Don't confuse those please, it's very easy to but they are entirely separate.
 
nysmo said:
There are apparently 2 types of drivers here

1. Egocentric dumbasses that think people are cheating to get to the front of the line
2. Normal level headed folk with a concept of physics and timing that recognize using 2 lanes is better than 1
Click to expand...

Risk vs reward and some people don't like merging and will happily sit in the lane going slow to avoid having to do so.
 
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