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re: Driving "Morally"? What do you think?

Posted on 6/3/16 at 7:57 am to
Posted by Roger Klarvin
DFW
Member since Nov 2012
46505 posts
Posted on 6/3/16 at 7:57 am to
I don't have a problem with any of them if the rules are being followed. The catch is that people usually have to change lanes over the solid white to do them and so they are technically illegal.
Posted by UKWildcats
Lexington, KY
Member since Mar 2015
17080 posts
Posted on 6/3/16 at 10:19 am to
They're all dick moves; #3 especially grinds my gears. I will admit that #2 is actually savvy if it works, as the people you're merging in front of have no idea you're being a fricking prick, because they assume you're just entering the highway from that on ramp. The other two take a real a-hole to have the gall to pass everyone flagrantly and expect to be let in. I am always sure to reward them with a middle finger.
This post was edited on 6/3/16 at 10:22 am
Posted by cardboardboxer
Member since Apr 2012
34330 posts
Posted on 6/3/16 at 10:31 am to
quote:

I will admit that #2 is actually savvy if it works, as the people you're merging in front of have no idea you're being a fricking prick, because they assume you're just entering the highway from that on ramp.


That is a pretty interesting concept to me, the notion to consider what strangers in other cars think of me as I drive.

I guess the idea is that if they like me they will let me in, but that doesn't make sense really. I never really have a problem merging in on any of the scenarios because at the end of the day no one wants to screw over "the a-hole" so much as to get in a wreck. I shove my car in there, they move over or let me in, life moves on.

The times I am the person who might be screwed by an aggressive merger I always let them in. I don't see the point of getting so upset about driving. I think that kind of retaliatory road rage causes more problems then accommodating a few assholes.
Posted by cardboardboxer
Member since Apr 2012
34330 posts
Posted on 6/3/16 at 10:41 am to
quote:

2 is not really an issue if it works, but it is hard to see it working to advantage in most places.



I will say out of the scenarios I definitely do #2 the most. There are two places on my commute where it is a massive benefit:

1. One place where there is a major curve in the highway, and the exit is right before the curve and the entrance is right after the curve. Cars always slow down on the highway for that curve to 1/4th the speed, but if you exit hop (as I call Scenario #2) you can almost maintain full speed until you have to merge back in. I take my final exit soon after that merge so I need to be in the right lane anyway so it works great for me. Sometimes if the curve traffic is really bad (like backed up past the exit bad) I will get off one exit before the curve exit, because that exit doesn't have a light either. Then I take two exit hops to get past the curve and merge back in after the massive line of curve traffic. It's just pure win either way, probably cuts 3-10 minutes off my commute depending on if I have to do one or two exit hops.

2. Another place has an exit right before a curve, and after that curve there is often traffic that I can't see. But the service road is on a hill next to the road, so I can get off, see if there is traffic after the curve via the high road, and if there isn't any traffic I get back on. If there is traffic I stay on the service road through the light to the next exit which is the one I need to take for real. That has saved me a decent amount of time in the past too.

I get that if everyone did that my tricks wouldn't work. But everyone doesn't (actually I wouldn't have figured it out without following a very aggressive BMW one day) and that is road all the same in my eyes.



Posted by larry289
Holiday Island, AR
Member since Nov 2009
3858 posts
Posted on 6/3/16 at 4:00 pm to
1 thru 3 = Discourteous, narcissist and immature. Moral or not does not enter the equation.

But guess it could be an indicator.
Posted by cardboardboxer
Member since Apr 2012
34330 posts
Posted on 6/3/16 at 4:23 pm to
quote:

1 thru 3 = Discourteous, narcissist and immature. Moral or not does not enter the equation.



I get discourteous (it is for sure), I kinda get immature (because the driver in all scenarios doesn't care what others think), but I don't get how it is narcissistic.

Unless you are implying I am trying to brag about it in this thread, in which case you might be onto something.
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
27880 posts
Posted on 6/4/16 at 7:35 am to
Here is how I handle #3:when I see the sign that says I have to merge ahead,I merge halfway.

This prevents a bottleneck ahead,and keeps traffic flowing smoothly.

I highly suggest that everyone adopt this maneuver.Yeah,you are going to make a few asshats mad,but you will make more people happy.folks ahead will actually stick their hands out their window and give you a thumbs up.
Posted by ChEgrad
Member since Nov 2012
3262 posts
Posted on 6/4/16 at 9:00 pm to
You are the only one so far to understand that filling the closing lane to the end is the best method. If this would happen no one could complain about a-holes speeding past them. Once filled, zippering in creates an orderly and stress-free consolidation of traffic.

There should be no complaint about anyone using the full length of a merge lane.
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
27880 posts
Posted on 6/4/16 at 9:35 pm to
It could work,if everybody drove the same speed,and kept the same distance from the car in front of them and all have the same reaction time,but since people are different and drive differently, it doesn't work.

I drive about 100,000 miles per year,all over The U.S.,and I go through this situation probably at least 4 times each day that I am driving.

The only way that keeps traffic ahead of me moving,is to block the traffic behind me from passing me.

Driving a Semi in start-stop traffic is a bitch,so I do whatever I need to do,to prevent having that situation.I will continue to do that,until all people drive the same way.
Posted by ChEgrad
Member since Nov 2012
3262 posts
Posted on 6/5/16 at 12:48 am to
I agree that driving slowly, but steadily, is the best way to make sure traffic flows. Studies have shown that traffic jams are cleared faster once traffic approaching the jam slows to a consistent pace that gives he jam in front time to clear.
Posted by Grievous Angel
Tuscaloosa, AL
Member since Dec 2008
9672 posts
Posted on 6/6/16 at 9:26 pm to
quote:

Situation 3: A lane is about to end and the signs are clearly marketed during rush hour. As some cars try to merge in early, in another the driver goes all the way down the ending road (blowing past standstill traffic on the merging into lane) to the point of the merge then forces his way in at the end via a zipper merge. Is this driver being amoral?


I will crash my damn car before I let you merge at the last minute.
Posted by Aux Arc
SW Missouri
Member since Oct 2011
2184 posts
Posted on 6/7/16 at 11:30 am to
quote:

I will crash my damn car before I let you merge at the last minute.


This is why traffic backs up so far. Fill both lanes and take turns like we learned in kindergarten. It's not that fricking hard to understand.
Posted by cardboardboxer
Member since Apr 2012
34330 posts
Posted on 6/7/16 at 11:47 am to
quote:

The only way that keeps traffic ahead of me moving,is to block the traffic behind me from passing me.



So you straddle two lanes-aka something illegal- to prevent people from merging in last minute - aka something at best amoral? That doesn't seem to be the correct set of priorities.

I actually do the opposite. When I am in the second to rightmost lane (aka the lane being merged into) I will purposefully speed up down that lane to prevent people from merging over too early.

quote:

I will crash my damn car before I let you merge at the last minute.



People think that until you play chicken with them in the merging lane, then they decide in reality they would rather let you in instead of crashing their car. I have never not had someone let me in.
Posted by Supravol22
Member since Jan 2011
14411 posts
Posted on 6/7/16 at 12:43 pm to
All 3 are only acceptable if you're rushing with an emergency

Anyone doing any of these things just to pass people is a huge doucher
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
27880 posts
Posted on 6/7/16 at 3:17 pm to
Must not be illegal,cops see me doing this all the time, and I haven't gotten a ticket yet. As I said, I don't care who I make mad behind me,in those situations,as long as as traffic keeps moving.
Posted by cardboardboxer
Member since Apr 2012
34330 posts
Posted on 6/7/16 at 3:28 pm to
You are wrong that stopping late merging is better for traffic, but you aren't alone in your wrongness:

quote:

a Minnesota Department of Transportation study revealed that 15 percent of drivers actually admitted to straddling lanes to block late mergers in construction zones.


LINK

That is a very interesting read on all of this actually.
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
27880 posts
Posted on 6/7/16 at 4:39 pm to
I only care about what keeps traffic moving,even if a bit slower.45 minutes of stopping and starting in a fully loaded semi is rough,so I keep it from happening.
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