freeway merging

I agree with you, I think a lot of folks have had it drummed into their heads that slower is better for so long that they think it applies to acceleration also. Tests by BMW and others have proven that more rapid acceleration (not full throttle but perhaps half or so) thus getting up to speed more quickly saves gas. The tests I saw were conducted with conventional cars, I suspect the same may be true with the Prius but I have no data to back it up. The trade off of course is getting worse mileage for a shorter period of time.

But I doubt you will convince the average high school driving instructor or your aunt Hilda.

There is also a safety factor, we are better off going the speed of the traffic we are going to merge with, but that seems lost on some people also.

 

While I don't get a lot of freeway driving (mostly rural area) I have noticed a distinct improvement in mileage by accelerating quickly rather than slowly. If I recall all of the numbers correctly, my mileage went up by about 2-3 MPG by doing this.

 

Where I live, "Yield" is commonly interpreted as "force the driver with the right of way to get over, slow down, and cut him off and then slow down to make him pass you to keep pace with the flow of traffic.

 

I'll tell you why I merge slowly. It is because I'd be dead long ago if I didn't!

Couple the idiots that try to block people from merging by tailgating the car ahead of them within inches and the fact that half the merging ramps are unsafe at any speed and I have to drive slow enough to be able to stop right at the top of the ramp.

I'd much rather hold up the whole damn line of speeding drivers than be forced into the guard rail or off a cliff.

If the ramp has sufficient room even when I know the road well, there is still no guarantee I can merge fast because I have often gone faster than I should on ramps I know have plenty of room or a break down lane in case I can't fit into the flow, only to find there is construction there with no warning till I am on it and lots of equipment and barricades to hit if the traffic is too solid.

 

I AGREE!!!!!! Man, this drives me nuts at times.

People will merge VERY slowly to the freeway then cruise @ 80mph! Hello?!? Wasting gas there.

It would be nice if people actually used their V6s and V8s to catch up to speed while entering the freeway and cruising @ 65mph instead.

Ironic.

 

Here in Spokane, where, if I take the freeway, I'm always in the slow lane, I've noticed that drivers merging onto the freeway usually speed up to merge into the space in front of me. I'll move into the next lane or slow down if necessary, but it's seldom needed. Mostly I can leave my cruise control set and drivers will merge in just fine.

People and rats are nicer when they are less crowded, meaner when they are packed too close.

And feel free to rant. Most of us do.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tomdeimos @ Jul 3 2006, 07:22 PM) [snapback]280665[/snapback]</div>

Yes, but you live near Boston, home of the meanest, nastiest drivers in the country! Merging in Boston is a nightmare. :blink:

Tom

 

In the Chicago area, what happens is that at every single on-ramp there is a huge backup of cars not moving at all because no one knows how to merge. Everyone gets to the bottom of the on-ramp and slams on the brakes, and the people already on the expressway slam on the brakes because they don't know what to do about these people. Once you get past the on-ramp, the traffic usually opens up again, until you get a half mile to a mile from the next on-ramp, and it starts all over.

It makes me homicidal.

 

The slow freeway merging thing must be a worldwide phenomenon.

We are from Melbourne, Australia and the exact same thing happens here on all of the freeways. WHY can't people speed up to 100KM/h. That is what the merge lane is for, so you can get to the speed of the rest of the traffic to make merging easier.

 

well when i try to merge onto the highway here, i'm usually forced to slow down. i'll get up to speed (60mph, the speed limit), then someone in the right lane decides they don't want me in front of them and will speed up 10-15 mph to pass me. this causes me to slow down to 50 to get behind them, thus slowing the people behind even more.

figured i'd mention a bit of the problems of the other side too.

 

See, artie, plenty of kindred spirits. Rant away.

I glance over at the "leader" in the on-ramp/merge lane to judge their speed, then either accelerate or drop back slightly to accomodate her/him (and change lanes if it's questionable). It's when you CAN't change lanes that the adrenaline kicks in and you quickly do more glancing.

 

The kids in my driving school are taught to merge AT HIGHWAY SPEED for safety. This is an isue of "what seems logical, is not".

People try to merge slowly because they think it is safer (re the poster who said he needs to be able to stop at the end of the ramp). However...if yoiu are matching the speed of the other traffic, you can merge in within inches theoretically.

Here is the question...if everyone is going 100 mph, and you are going 100mph, and there is a space to get into that is 6 inches longer than the length of your car...can you fit? The answer is yes. If you are going 90 mph, can you do it? the answer is no.


So, all you weenies that putt onto the freeway becaue you think it is safer?....you are wrong...plain and simple. SO.... stop endangering us.

 

I would counterargue to all the buttheads flying along in the
righthand lane less than 2 car-lengths from each other to BACK OFF,
and stop endangering ME as I try to come onto the highway.
.
_H*

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(artie @ Jul 3 2006, 01:37 PM) [snapback]280633[/snapback]</div>

I'm curious as to why you are using cruise control in a congested environment. :huh:

Changing lanes to make room for cars merging onto the freeway is a dangerous proposition, and it sound like you are waiting too long to initiate your lane change – hence, the 18 wheeler breathing down your neck.

Cruise control + congestion + merging traffic + lane changes . . . sounds to me like you need to change your driving tactics.

The Math of . . . Changing Lanes
Of the 42,643 motor-vehicle-related fatalities in the United States last year, 3 percent—1,304—occurred in cars changing lanes or merging.
http://www.discover.com/issues/apr-05/depa...changing-lanes/

I rarely have problems with merging traffic. I leave more than enough space in front for them to safely merge, and I'll gladly slow down rather than abruptly change lanes. After all, I am a reformed driver. I now drive a Prius . . . I love slow traffic . . . slow traffic is an MPG friend.

 

Reading this thread makes Spokane seem like not such a bad place to live at all. Of course, Fargo was even better: merging is not much of an issue when there are only about 5 other cars within a quarter of a mile.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tnthub @ Jul 3 2006, 07:06 PM) [snapback]280657[/snapback]</div>

Hey, that sounds like Pennsylvania.

 

We don't have the merging problem here, as there are no limited access highways. I have to drive for an hour and a half to get to the nearest one. Our state highways are just two lane country roads.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(artie @ Jul 3 2006, 01:37 PM) [snapback]280633[/snapback]</div>

In Nor Cal and So Cal, I haven't generally observed what you're talking about that much.

In the Seattle area (when I lived there), I saw it ALL the time. It's incredibly annoying esp. if you're stuck behind the slow poke. It seems like Seattle area drivers just creep onto the highway and think their car will break if they accelerate. Hello.. those acceleration ramps are for accelerating.