The Person Who Cut You Off In Traffic Is Right - Cheddar Explains
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ก.ค. 2018
- Merging is every driver's nightmare. Numerous studies have shown that the zipper merge is the most efficient way for drivers to merge and ensure less traffic. But is it possible in practice? Cheddar explains...
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Zipper merge works but what happens is that some assholes do a double zipper.
Or drive in the middle of both lanes to police like asshats.
THE DOUBLE ZIPPER?!?!?!
😂
Not looking it at the other person's perspective. They think you're the asshole for cutting.
They need to look for better options. You can yell and expect people to follow it or have an open mind and look for alternative solutions.
And the people that think they need to slow down so freaking much to merge.
One important part this video fails to mention is that zipper merging only applies when traffic is moving slowly. If highway traffic is moving at full speed then you should merge early when you see the sign for a lane ending, and keep traffic flowing. If you merge late causing someone to slam on their brakes, then you are actually creating traffic. I think this may be why some people resist the idea of zipper merging, because it’s not fully explained properly, and therefore not always implemented properly in North America.
Ummm no. If traffic is moving at full speed people still need to make room for one car in front of them and one car behind them and then merge like a zip, it's still the most efficient way.
It won’t be moving fast for long with people like you. jordan. Everyone will cram into a small lane instead of two lanes if we listen to you.
Ok, CFJ90210 how does merging early make traffic better?
At high speeds (as mentioned by Jordan), zipper merging becomes increasingly safer and easier the further you are from the end of the lane. Ideally you would want to eliminate any chance of having to sharply brake (especially during a lane change), which could easily happen if you run out of lane and your advantaged-lane counterparts fail to compensate for your entrance.
At slower speeds, zipper merging at the end is obviously the most efficient since all available lane space is used.
Chris Jones, I think we are maybe saying the same thing. The way I am reading what Jordan (and Guessing CFJ was agreeing with?) is that you don't need to use the 'Merge like a zip or zipper merging' if traffic is flowing.
However, I think (and what it says in the NZ road code) is that you always merge like a zip at the end of the lanes if two lanes are merging into one. (Just to be clear it's different for on/off ramps.)
On a straight piece of road at high speeds, you need more room between you and the car in front than at low speeds. To merge at high speeds you need more room between you and the car in front. The point at which your car goes into the merged lane shouldn't change. The point at which you "sync" changes because of the extra room needed between cars.
Obviously, not everyone will do this but that's ok, let two or three cars go ahead of you if they're not making room before the merge point. it's still better than not merging like a zip at all. At the end of the day, there are a lot worse things for traffic then a couple of donkeyholes being so impatient they couldn't possibly get somewhere a couple seconds later because they let one person go in front of them.
Zipper merging and cutting people off are not the same thing.
Marshmallow Pie That's the thing. To the average person here in America, it appears to be the same thing.
The video title is obviously alluding to the fact that ignorant people _say_ that someone "cut them off" when they are actually zipper merging. That's sort of the whole point of the video. I guess they should have put "cut you off" in quotes in the title to emphasize that it was tongue-in-cheek.
@A K No it's not. read my comment right before yours.
Uh, if you're the only one "zipper merging"...then you're not actually zipper merging but being a moron. Der. Seems like all the egomaniacs have a license now to be idiots. Most proponents of this type of silly, emergency service halting merging, they're the type to always think they're special anyway, and skip ahead, Zip merge or not.
A fire erupts in a building, what do you do? Run out as fast as you can, right? Um, no. You move orderly in single files and so as to not effect a bottleneck at the exit. Zippers start at the bottom and go up, not the other way around. This is so dumb, seemingly only meant to pave the way for you not being behind a wheel at all. Sure, this would be swell with driverless cars, and I think that that's the point, because, otherwise, just der
Try to tell that to some morons.. i mean a lot of morons.
That's not the same thing as cutting off.
Blood Angel Not inherently, but that’s how it ends up seeming
Yea, I thought this was going to be about people who change lane right in front of you. Where I live all the merging lanes are so short that there is no option of weather to merge early or late, you just merge when there is space and hope you don’t get to the end and have to wait for someone to let you in. I guess we also don’t really have enough traffic for it to be an issue. If there was enough traffic that there was not enough space for all the cars to merge without anyone braking then you would have to zipper merge because it’s the only option, the merging lanes just are not long enough.
You my friend, have witnessed a click bait title.
It would not be the first time
The way I see it if you use your blinker it's not cutting off
Zipper merge is totally normal here in Germany.
I should watch the Video to the end before leaving a comment xD
Niklas Tought the same at the beginning: isn't that normal?
I was taught it in driver ed in the states. Also on my way to work some people yell and people trying to "early merge".
The difference is in Europe it's a actual zipper merge where neither lane has right of way. In the US the lane that is ending is supposed to yield to those on their left and not pass those on the left that they are merging with. Those on the left are expected to give way for the car lined up on their right. In the US the "all about me" attitude reins and everyone thinks they are the most important and pass on the right along with a whole other Trump driving techniques.
KEINE NACHT FÜR NIEMAND
As a traffic engineer, this is not true most of the time. When the left lane is backing up and the right lane is still moving these late mergers are further slowing down the left lane and forcing mass breaking. Acceleration and braking destroy highway capacity. The key to a zipper merge is that both lanes need to be moving at the SAME SPEED. That’s why I stay in the right lane, but keep moving at the same speed as traffic in the left lane even if it’s clear in front of me. It helps reset the lanes so they can move at the same rate again.
Calvin Clark - I'll cut the whole line and merge in front of the idiot leaving a huge gap because they are simply too slow to react. I feel that THEY are the problem. They held up the line, not me cutting in front of them. If everyone drove aggressive, I feel like there would be less traffic. The problem is people falling asleep at the wheel, lazily picking up the gas at a leisurely pace.
@@TheEgg185 That's not typically the issue being covered. The issue is people who merge earlier and wait their turn vs people who fly to the end of the merge point and force their way in front of others. There usually isnt an opening until they force someone to let them in. Early mergers typically have your approach. They see someone a little slow on the gas, throw on their blinker and slide into that spot.
Calvin Clark that's only due to the majority being in the left, so it gives the impression that the right lane is causing the left lane to slow down. If it were 50/50 as it should be, they would be slowing the other lane equally.
As a traffic engineer, you misspelled "braking"
Yet traffic engineers in other parts of the world disagree, and get laws passed forcing people to do zipper merges to great success. If it works elsewhere in the world it can work here. Most of the geniuses that try to merge early slow down the lane of traffic they are in just so they can get into the other lane early. Sounds like you're one of those geniuses. Thanks for that, not only is 1 lane moving slow because you think merging early is better when it isn't, you're also slowing down people who don't merge early by slowing down earlier than is necessary when the traffic in that lane permits you to drive more quickly.
This is only an issue in America. Everyone else got this figured out a long long time ago. If you "merge" early, you aren't merging, you're changing lanes. Pretty easy.
It's an issue in the UK too. Most people leave the closed lane at the earliest sign, 800 yards plus of when it's actually closed.
Akinto710 Stop sanctifying other countries, specifically EU countries. “ThIS Is OnLy An IssUE iN AmEricA”. America is not great, but not a hellhole.
@@KhanhLe-ib2po I never said America is a hellhole. Why do you get so personally offended that Americans can't drive? It's a pretty known fact that America have a lot of bad drivers. Everyone just get handed a driver's license and off you go good luck. You learn to drive from your parents, before you even have a license. Absolutely insane. In most other countries, especially Europe. Getting a license is much more difficult and cost a lot more money so it isn't a human right as much as it is in America. Of course there are bad drivers everywhere but Europeans tend to know the road rules because we actually learn it and have to answer correctly on our drivings test, where Americans just go for a 30 min stroll in their own car and that's it.
Akinto710 Because there are people who will try to sink America through dumb logic bc they live in a once powerful country and are jealous. No one seemed to point out the fact that “Is It OnLy A ProBLem in AmEricA” besides people that intent to say America is a hellhole. It is annoying af. Also where do you live? Cause I’m having to take a class to take my driver permit, not even license here.
I live in Denmark and my girlfriend is from Florida. In Florida you show up, take the test, pay $50, and you're done.
In Denmark you take 29 hours of theory lessons learning about laws, signs, situations on the road etc. Then you take a written multiple choice test with a police officer certified to handle driving tests. Then you have 4 hours in a closed court with 2-3 other people learning to drive the car with your drivings instructor, starting, stopping, changing gears etc. (The entire test and license is manual only) Then you do 16 hours of driving one on one with your certified driving instructor in the drivers instructors car who needs to have pedals on both sides so they can break for you if needed. And then you do 4 hours on a advanced technical course where you learn advanced evasive maneuvers, emergency breaking, drive on a wet track to simulate ice so you learn to counter steer and what to do when you lose traction etc. Then after that you can go take your test where you drive one on one with a police officer, and you pass that to get your license. This takes around 3-4 months and cost around $1500. And this is the minimum law requirements. Most people take more driving lessons because they don't feel ready yet. And many people fail their test aswell. And then for example if you want a motorcycle license on top, you have to do it all over again but with a motorcycle.
So yeah, not saying America is a hellhole but between these two scenarios i think it's pretty clear who is gonna turn out the better driver of the two.
Zipper merge is fine, it IS the assholes who cut in ahead of their turn.
Thank you, sometimes when you let someone in the person behind them zooms in front of you too thereby delaying your movement and slowing down your lane more
to be honest that's the beauty of the zipper merge, since you can leave enough room for 1 car but not 2 - since the 'pushing in' guy will have a space for him just 1 vehicle back they'll likely give up and just go 1 vehicle back. The way this works best though is if the guy in the right lane, although he has space, doesn't actually move into the space until the last second - that prevents people doing dangerous moves.
Just let them in when you're already in the dominant lane.
Shoulders of Giants -- "in the dominant lane"
Please, in what motor vehicle code is the phrase "dominant lane" defined?
@@timetravellingbunny3952 I think you hit the nail on the head. Crashes happen when both people think they are in the dominant lane and expect the other should give way.
I'm from the bay area in California. I have no problem with the zipper merge but the problem here is that it's never done right and causes more problems than it solves.
Can the behavior be changed?
Practice makes better! Time helps, too.
Cheddar can humans not be greedy?
I'm from the bay too. A) California doesn't endorse it, and B) people do it wrong. Often times people will sit in a fast moving exit lane and merge back onto the normal lanes after the white line splits and they could easily go into a guard rail straight down the center of their car. The difference is that when people do this, it forces people in line to hit their brakes, causing a whole wave of it and creating slow down because not everyone does it in sync. Not to mention the ample space from the exit that says "through traffic merge left" and everyone not merging until after the "right lane must exit" sign which is right at the exit. We have normal merges and that works fine, but the way people zipper merge is unsafe and illegal. We also have exits that serve as entrances at the same time - basically a new lane that breaks off to the side of the freeway where there's an entrance closer to where you enter and further down an exit. People use this as through traffic all the time but it's super fucking dangerous. Because the entrance is usually a semi circle that elevates, when you get to the lane that serves as both, your blind spot is the traffic coming from the freeway that's supposed to be exiting. Normally, if they're exiting it's not a problem, as they'll be slowing down to take the semi circle- but a lot of cars illegally use it for getting on the side road to get ahead. When they do this however, most cars are going 60-70mph on this entrance/exit, and entering the freeway with that as your blind spot is no bueno.
Germany does it, so it solves problems.
It's common courtesy to allow one to merge into ongoing traffic but you have those that are untamed and refuse to be courted therefore everyone on there own in this crazy world of non defensive drivers.
If you are referring to merging on to a freeway from an on ramp, then that is not what this video refers to. If you are, then it is incumbent on the vehicle entering the freeway to match the speed of traffic and then merge. Those who think they are being "courteous" and slow down or even apply brakes to "let someone in" will eventually being creating a backup of traffic behind them.
To be clear, this comment does NOT refer to the merging illustrated in this video.
please make a video on "keep right except for passing"!! it needs to go viral. change the world!!
Everyone talks about "letting" someone in at a merge. You should never have to "let" someone into your lane; there should already be enough space between you and the car in front of you to allow this to happen. Then everyone just lines up and the merge happens like clockwork at the merge point.
As a corollary, if you are the one switching lanes (in any scenario), you should not drive slower than the person behind you in the new lane and force them to brake.
You must be that guy that keeps stopping 20 feet from the white line at intersections.
@@richardlinares6314 You must be the douche tailgating me with your high beams on when there's plenty of space to pass me on the left.
@Fridden If people left enough room in front of themselves, they wouldn't have to decelerate as quickly and can probably avoid slowing down as much as the person in front of them (if they speed up again soon enough), which helps everyone behind them as well.
While I might get to my destination in the same time regardless of how I drive, reducing how much I fluctuate my speed eventually helps the traffic behind me speed up.
no, don't leave so much space that then everyone starts cutting off... this is why you see single lanes filled up with traffic... people don't need to be changing lanes just because they wanna go faster than everyone else.
@@ivanrodriguez268 I leave a lot of room in front of my car and I never feel like I'm being "cut off" when someone merges in front of me, I just let off the accelerator a bit to recover my gap. Surprisingly, even in slow traffic where my lane is faster, few people will merge in.
My problem with this is that if every zipper merger just merged early as well it would be essentially the same, just closer. The problem is obviously human nature where if we're waiting for any significant time (Many would argue any time is significant) then we don't want people taking our rightful spots and being through traffic earlier than us.
I also have some thoughts about police, they should have a hiatus in high traffic areas where they cannot pull people over for simple traffic violations during rush hour. How often are you driving home after work and there is a mile or more backup because they decided a speeder HAD to be pulled over during the busiest commute time of the day. It's absolutely asinine. Also, at fault drivers who wreck during rush hour should have their licenses suspended for a period of time, until they complete a class or lecture on how much fucking time they're wasting the rest of us.
Not true especially if it causes traffic to backup off the freeway or into an intersection. As much as anything else the zipper merge is about using all available space and not taking up the space behind you.
Merge 3 car lengths early and that’s 3 cars backed up on the off ramp, 3 cars who don’t get through that red late, 3 cars who are braking and causing other drivers to have to slow down.
Driving is a team sport and you are but 1 of thousands at any time. These dynamics are much bigger than you.
Zipper FTW, at least when traffic is slow.
I don't think you understand why its better to use both lanes
Blows my mind that people can't understand how it's better to use multiple lanes as long as possible. The more cars in a single lane, the more often they have to stop and the slower speeds they can safely drive at. If you have two lines that are half as long, that is half as much distance you need to be driving more slowly and stopping and starting all the time. It's obviously faster to use all available lanes until they ACTUALLY close and not merge early.
The thing about the zipper merging is that you really should find your "gap" well before actual merging and both lanes should move at about the same speed.
It is not about people who merge at the last minute, but the merge then BRAKE that causes other drivers behind them to slow down to restore a safe following distance. And this braking action propagates down the line of traffic.
Agreed.
Zipper merging looks great on paper but in the real world not as easy.
I have to go through a road that merges due to construction.
It was actually faster with everyone in a single lane.
When cars started using the Zipper method it slowed everything down because cars were merging and braking, trying to merge at different spots and drivers not letting them in.
What took an extra 8-10 minutes took 20.
@user-sb1vz9pv5y
What on earth are you talking about? There is no alternative to zipper merging. If you're choosing to drive differently, you're causing more congestion.
Zipper merging is the correct way to drive. It's not hard at all. A basic computer program can perform a zipper merge.
You're a very special driver. You *PREFER* driving in a single lane and ignoring the other lane because you're a poor driver. It's as simple as that.
Zipper merging is perfectly fine and I try to pre-arrange a gap for the car towards the end of the merge point. What is blasphemous is when people cut into an exit lane at the last minute when there's a long queue. I will do whatever it takes to ensure you don't get to cut in line!!
I get your feelings of "cutting in line" but honestly we need to try to overcome it. It just ends up making the problem worst by trying to teach the other guy a lesson.
And really there is no line since we are all going to different places.
@@agisler87 that's true. Sometimes we overtake a car just to meet them again at the next stop light and start the race all over again.
RealNameNeverUsed, what's most people don't realise is that, especially in a city, I do the same on my bike. In a car you may have the higher temporary top speed, but we both get where we're going at the same time. Have had people beep me out of the lane so they could surge forward and get to the back of a line of traffic, only for me to go sailing past on my pushbike and wave.
I do try, however, not to pass people that have already passed me on a road that is too narrow to pass easily, only doing so if it means I'll catch the next light as opposed to not. Just the same as a motorcycle. I can also ride at a little more than 50km/h (~35mph) for short distances if I wish.
@@morosis82 Yep. I have done the same on my motorcycle :)
I'm not sure where you live but drivers treat bicyclists pretty bad. I'm only about 6 miles from work and would love to ride a bike to work but there are just too many hot headed drivers and busy roads.
@@agisler87 Brisbane Australia. It's not perfect here, but the government has done a pretty big awareness campaign over the last couple of years on radio and TV and signage with laws about leaving space when passing. I also live fairly close to a dedicated bikeway to the city (about 10km of my 14km commute), though I do have to travel on a busy road that goes to a freeway onramp to get to it.
That's where the liberal application of speed comes in. If the traffic is not at a standstill to the onramp, than I have been known to do nearly 40mph from a standstill at the lights before it ;)
I always tell people "the lane isn't closed 3KM from the construction zone. It's closed at the construction zone. Use it until you can't use it anymore
This is america, most drivers here are too stupid to understand how to back their car out of a parking spot, let alone understand a zipper merge and be able to do it, and the ones that can do it, wont, because they think they own the road and have right of way everywhere they go.
It has nothing to do with intelligence, it has to do with temperament. Americans don't give a fuck where you have to go, only about getting where they are going.
Mac MashPotato I don’t believe your comment is so accurate, I live in Canada and driving isn’t that bad here. Not a lot of people are idiots when it comes to driving
Nicky J I think they meant America as in the US and not the continent, I apologize if I’m misunderstanding your comment but I think that’s what you are confused about. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Brennan.official I don’t live in Canada. I was trying to make a point. I don’t agree with people calling the US “America”.
Nicky J oh okay I understand now
It’s never made sense to me that people would merge early and leave empty road space in front of them when there’s a traffic jam behind them. Glad this is getting explained. Zipper merging is the way to go!
Because you should try to merge while moving, as soon as you see the sign so a zipper merge while moving. When you have to break at the end, you’re a fuckin asshole.
@@bradlesc1000 no my son that is wrong.
With the zipper merge, you will have to come to a complete stop no matter how many cars you put in the equation.
@@evansjohnc Sir, a merge is not a stop. Drivers like you impede the flow of traffic
@666dynomax Have you never tried to walk past someone and you both try to go the same way, then the other, then you figure it out after a few tries? Gotta account for imperfect human cooperation! All cars are not driven with the same brain (yet).
The thing the video doesn't touch on is it depends on how fast the traffic is moving. If the cars are very slow, late merging is better. If the traffic is moving well with large gaps between cars to fit into without disrupting flow, early merging is better. If a late merger happens in traffic moving well and cuts off someone, that driver that was cut off will brake and cause subsequent cars behind to also brake, causing a domino effect slow-traffic snake traveling backwards.
Generally you enter closer to the end. It doesn't have to be the literal end of the lane but close to it. You can merge early if there is a large gap obviously.
@@quin2910 I think what drives people nuts is when drivers literally ignore the merge and keep driving right through onto the shoulder lolol
@@EpicBenjo lol. Yeah there's 3 types of people. Those who merge like a zip, those who merge too late and end up cutting someone off or slowing down, and those who slow down and back up traffic so they can get in early.
ding ding ding, on paper everything works!!!!
We are mad at the folks who speed ahead of all the sitting cars and get in at the last second in order to avoid the line.
You mean the smart people, who aren't forcing traffic into a single lane well before the second lane is already closed? Why are stupid people always getting mad at smart people? If you were smart you would have driven in the faster lane for as long as possible, but you're dumb so you merge early slowing down not only the lane you merged into because it now has more cars than it has to have in it, but the lane you merged from also because you had to slow down to the same speed as the slower lane to merge into it from the faster one. You shouldn't be mad at people like me, people like me should be mad at people like you.
Early mergers will likely still speed ahead of some sitting cars as well before they find a spot to merge. So I don’t think this justifies not using zipper merge.
I'm all for the zipper merge. It totally makes sense.
This is true assuming most drivers know how to drive correctly...
I for one won’t be doing the zipper merge. It only works if other drivers know what you’re doing and are polite enough to accommodate your merge into traffic. In my experience, all that happens if you try to zipper merge in the real world is that you get to the end of your lane and then spend 5 minutes sitting there with your indicators flashing while everyone else closes ranks and refuses to let you in.
Wow, I've been wanting to make this video for so long. So happy to see you've done it for me. Everyone in the US needs to watch this video.
STOP MERGING EARLY PEOPLE
Um, no. Stop believing everything you hear just because they use the word science but never show actual data. Please. Uh, if you're the only one "zipper merging"...then you're not actually zipper merging but being a moron. Der. Seems like all the egomaniacs have a license now to be idiots. Most proponents of this type of silly, emergency service halting merging, they're the type to always think they're special anyway, and skip ahead, Zip merge or not.
A fire erupts in a building, what do you do? Run out as fast as you can, right? Um, no. You move orderly in single files and so as to not effect a bottleneck at the exit. Zippers start at the bottom and go up, not the other way around. This is so dumb, seemingly only meant to pave the way for you not being behind a wheel at all. Sure, this would be swell with driverless cars, and I think that that's the point, because, otherwise, just der
Did you actually watch the video? Did you notice no explanation for why it might be better? Because any explanation would assume that the traffic had already come to a standstill in both lanes. Sure, at that point zipper merging is the most efficient way to get the cars through. But guess why that occurred. Late mergers. Did you see the zipper merge graphic at 1:23 where people were literally merging early to keep the traffic flowing? How about the failed experiment for zipper merging? How about the video correctly citing California saying late merging causes sudden braking and accidents? This video is a joke!!! The only thing zipper merging is good for is cleaning up the mess that late mergers cause.
Do a thought experiment and put up signs requiring people to alternate merge on a highway. Then consider the scenairo where the right lane ends and there are three cars in the left lane. Does the second car have to slow down until a car merges in front of him? Should the cars realized there was an alternate merge ahead and then had car number switch to the right lane so that can obey the sign and zipper merge at the choke point? Does the third car switch to the right lane pass the second car and then have the right of way to cut in front of car number 2? The answers may seem obvious but the thing is that traffic violations and accidents are decided on carefully written laws and road signs. You can't say, "Well, you know what the sign implies!" In the end, at highway speeds you can't beat, lane ends, yield and merge. You know why? Because that same sign works at slow speeds. If your lane ends and you merge without yielding (or if the guy your cutting off doesn't yield) and there is an accident. It's your fault. Truth hurts!
THIS LITERALLY JUST HAPPENED TO ME AND IT'S WHY I LOOKED UP THIS VIDEO! I was merging and the other car zoomed forward to not let me in, but then the traffic was stopped so I inched forward, thinking she would let me go since the traffic was literally stopped and I was at the end of my lane so I had nowhere else to go and she inched forward again, almost hitting my car! I looked over my shoulder because I figured she was on autopilot or something and once we made eye contact I thought she would be like, "Oh, right, of course you need to get in!" and make space for me. Instead she was angrily mouthing out the word "NO!" But I was already basically half IN the lane! She insisted on going first, which meant that once the traffic flow started moving again, the person behind her had to completely stop in order to let me in, whereas I could have come in at low speed while the flow of traffic was slow if she had allowed ONE person to go in front of her.
That happened to me once. I just pushed in anyway. I was in an old car and I had gotten there first and had no where else to go other. Thst just stopping. He was mad but he let up
Issue is, is the zipper merger only works better if cars leave enough space --- if you know they're unlikely to do that then the zipper merger attempt is slowing things down and less safe.
Nah you’re the POS that knew you needed to be in the lane but waited till the last possible second to squeeze in. Try cutting people outside of your car and I doubt you’d have the balls. What you’re explaining is cutting a line, not merging.
An officer pulled me over for it... long story short no ticket, i schooled him, he was embarrassed and said "well try not to pass a cop, we are the enforcment after all"
Here in Belgium we known for quite some time about zipper merging, but it's only been made an official rule 4 years ago.
Everyone knows what it is and how it should be done, but still some do it incorrectly and think it 'cheating' when others do it correctly.
Give it a generation, those people will no longer be driving or be dead and there will be only people who see it as standard practice.
I deal with this every time I leave class going through three freeways, it is actually a lot faster to wait until last second to merge, just use your road til it runs out
That's the idea of the zipper merge, drive right to the merge and that's where you do your merge. If everybody switches lanes ahead of the merge, you'll have one long line in one lane while the other lane is empty and is being wasted.
Nah you’re just being a POS and think you’re better than everyone else. Get in the lane that everyone’s waiting in so we don’t just sit there while everyone that wanted to cut in line just gets to go while our lane isn’t moving at all. You do inconvenience other people. This isn’t a zipper merge.
They need more signs. They also need signs reminding slower drivers to keep right.
Slower drivers don't need to keep right because the left lane is for overtaking. You need to keep right when you're not overtaking, regardless of how fast you're driving.
Here in Japan few people zipper merge (they change lanes before the end) and few people jump into the open lane to zipper merge (because that would be rude), so I often see 1/4 or even 1/2 kilometer backup with a clear open lane.
Feals like a Vox Video
The voice is also similar. Maybe an ex employee have started a channel?
Because they are under the same company it seems and yeah vox used to promote this channel on a certain topic they are covering i think
joshua gumasing hummmmm
Except it's not leaning to the extreme political left.
*Feels
God this is decades old. Did younger drivers forget?
What really sucks is when someone zooms around on the *shoulder* to zipper merge. That's the unfair behaviour that warrants the frustration :P
In the meantime, how about we build out a better mass transit system and make it good enough for most commuters? ^_^
Self driving cars (by the people saying it will decrease congestion and what not) say efficiency will increase by 15% if EVERYONE has one.
To me, that's a lot of hassle for 15%
@@ArmyRangerSJ hence mass transit, not investing into self driving cars :)
Passing on the right is 100% dangerous and illegal. It’s even worse when you use the shoulder for it. You could tip your vehicle or ram a barrier. If you try to pass on the right using the shoulder, you will be pulled over. And really, the gravel shoulder isn’t meant for 55mph passing meneuvers
Bob dabiuld Passing in the right is needed if there are slow drivers in the left.
I think it makes sense letting 1 person ahead of you but then you got the genius 2-3 cars behind them seeing that car you let in front of you as an escort to allow them to also merge and then you gotta pick a fight with the next person to keep them behind you.
That's exactly why I don't even get on the interstate or freeway. I only drive on streets and roads. It's so much safer and a lot less stressful.
That is what a zipper merge is - you let one car in the closing lane merge into your lane, then you proceed past the merge point and the car behind you then allows one car from the closing lane to merge and proceeds past the merge point and so on and so forth. And in my experience you're far more likely to have people in the lane that remains open prevent you from merging on purpose because they're angry that you utilized the closing lane until it closed and didn't sit in a big line of cars like they foolishly did. I don't even think I have ever seen merging cars go several at a time, but I have had dozens of people deliberately prevent me merging after I remained in a closing lane until it closed. I've even had abuse shouted at me and had someone threaten to kick my ass for doing it, despite the fact it's literally what you're supposed to do.
What if we had signs that said "merge ahead, leave a space next to you"
The first one is a zipper the second third forth fifth tenth eleventh and twelfth are cutters and the reason why the early mergers fight the zipper.
All of those studies are centered around a perfect world where everyone perfectly obeys every law. Do one where randomly every third or fourth merger a random number of 3-5 people cut through instead of just one and see how that plays out. That’s more like reality.
If they want to change the public perception of these "late" lane changers, change the name from the "Zipper Merge" to the "Zippy Merge." It conveys that the later you merge, the faster the traffic flows.
Underrated
I've also see the super early mergers that cross the white solid line trying to out accelerate everyone ahead. I personally prefer to merge if there is any gap/space available. Waiting until the last second to merge will work but there are times where other cars just don't want to let you in.
I have done this before it was fashionable to start the zipper merge. I was heading home on an interstate highway and it was cut down to one lane MILES ahead. The right lane was still open so I proceeded to LEGALLY utilize the right lane while everyone else piled in the left lane. A state trooper pulled me over and stated I was disobeying signs. BS I told him. If that were the case they would have closed the right lane miles back. If the orange barricades were closing the right lane earlier that would be a justifiable traffic offense. But the lane was OPEN and I could legally utilize the lane therefore no ticket was issued. I would have fought it in court if he issued one.
In those miles of utilizing the OPEN lane on the right I encountered people trying to block me, truckers trying to block me, honking at me, etc. To me the zipper merge makes complete sense if everyone does it correctly.
Big Guy one time I had a state trooper try to block me from merging! Where I got on to the highway, traffic was already backed up into the left lane, and no one wanted to let me in “early”, despite seeing that I /just/ got on. So I rode the right lane as far as I could, and no one wanted to let me in, even the state trooper.
With backed up traffic use zipper merging, fast traffic change lanes before the lane end, so that you arent causing anyone to brake unnecessarily.
I do the same thing, I get a kick out of all the sheep that Instantly merge into the open Lane, meanwhile I'm blowing everyone's doors off in the nice open Lane. oh and if they don't want to let me in I'll just inch my way over slow until cars have to swerve around me and then punch it. fuckers
Benjamin Dyer hopefully you dont encounter anyone with sharp objects on the exterior of their vehicle, or a dash cam, when you illegally force your way into the lane.... Otherwise, your piggy bank will have a lot less quarters in it.
"lizard brains"? Why do I keep hearing youtube channels saying "lizard brains" these days?
Because we use those primal fear-based brains too often. Its how we got a lizard President.
@@loungelizard836 It's a step above an amphibian.
Captain Capellini notice that it’s only the TH-cam channels that depend on buying ad time on other TH-cam channels.
@@loungelizard836 , our president Trump is the best president we have had in 20 years!
Because elites and adrenochrome. Watch Yebo youtube channel
As a guy that has an hour and a half commute to work in bumper to bumper traffic, Atlanta has had the zipper merge figured out for a while. It's that southern hospitality, y'all.
I think the best way to describe a zipper merge is there is no lane with right-of-way so the two lane should enter the merge alternately. There is this idea that in a merge, the straight lane has the right-of-way that's why people think the cars at the other lane are cutting into their lane.
RAP. And yet many states have laws deciding the ending lane has the obligation and liability to merge safely and properly. The thru lane does have the right of way unless otherwise posted.
This isn't cutting off, cutting off is forgetting you need get onto an exit and double /triple crossing especially without a blinker.
I've always thought that zipper merging (even before I knew there was a name for it) as the most efficient rather than having a half-mile span of vehicles merging at random points
And I always thought the idiots that sped up ahead to cut in line was because they thought their time was more important than yours. We are all taught at a young age to wait your turn, to learn to plan ahead, and to obey the laws. But here, we have a group of people who think that they know better and "zipper merging" is the way! What they haven't told you is there are studies that discount what they are saying and that in many instances makes driving more dangerous. The best advice for anyone is drive defensively and watch for the idiots that are in a hurry.
@@birddogne666 Literally nothing that you said here is true.
@@sergeles people love to yell “ZIPPER MERGEE!!“ as they fly 30 mph faster than the closed lane and past two signs that say LANE ENDS MERGE LEFT. That is wrong. When the sign says merge you merge don’t shove your ass down to the end and then force your way in. The signs are the law not your love for a zipper merge
@@joewiniecki3282 that is quite literally what you're supposed to do. Part of the reason it's so backed up is because 90% of people don't know how to drive and merged too early.
@@birddogne666 Exactly, and obeying the law also includes using all of the lane because it is legal. I mean, here we have anti-zipper ppl thinking their time is more important than the ability for everyone to efficiently merge, but proceed to blame the entitlement on the ppl merging correctly during a traffic congestion just to satisfy their own ego.
I’ve always done this type of merging because in my head it’s been the most efficient in my head I’ve never understood people that done it earlier
The fact of the matter is there is just too many people that are incapable of safely driving, and should be held to a higher standard for driving tests
Got my license in Germany. Saw this principle enforced in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Norway growing up. Zipper merging feels safe to me, because, apart from efficient road use, you know when and where to expect a merge. Early mergers disrupt the flow (and speed) of a line already slowed down and disrupted enough by the closed lane up ahead. Also jerks: people who pull out of the lane being merged into, onto the empty lane, and then cut in line. They slow everything down again by forcing a maneuver in a steady flow of traffic, and they risk accidents that will have you stuck ten yards from the merge point for the next three hours, waiting for the carnage to be scraped off the asphalt.
"I refuse your reality and replace it with my own!!!"
Sorry moron, but the quote is "I REJECT your reality and SUBSTITUE my own". Ugh.
The video gives little insight in the theory, except repeating the zipper merge is better without saying exactly what is compared. Of course if everybody gets merged a distance D before the lanes are actually reduced and everything else remains the same, the just extends the distance over which there is effectively one lane by D. However that is not a realistic comparison. In a civilized merge, people get to agree on their relative positions in the merged stream, and once this is done, it is most efficient with the space before the merge if they perform the actual merge late, so much is true. But what really matters is the just throughput where there are fewest lanes available: get as many cars to pass this point per minute, and everybody will be home earlier. If a few people force their place in just before the reduction, that will cause braking and acceleration at this delicate spot, and that will reduce throughput. So late merging is fine, but speeding to just before the reduction and then forcing your car into the other lane is not.
Even in the animation the cars letting the merge cars in had to stop to do so, hence why the merge lane is always stop start and at a crawl until you're past the merge point. If people merged early when given the opportunity by plenty of drivers like me, while the traffic is still moving, the merging lane would continue to move, and wouldn't end up stopping and starting. Zipper merging CAUSES the stop start and CAUSES the traffic back up! This is clearly proven by the fact that once you're past the merge point, traffic flows freely, even if it's still at the roadwork speed limit. Zipper merging doesn't work, even if everyone does it as per the animation, as you have to brake to let the cars in, as they have come to a stop at the end of their lane. Theory and practice are 2 very different things!
Wow, I thought that everyone new about it. As she said, here in Germany it has been here for ever.
Next video: why tailgating is actually good and everyone should do it.
well yeah tailgating reduce the wasted space between cars.
/s
This is actually a perfect comparison. It works in theory because the wasted space between cars would be used, and traffic would flow faster IN THEORY. But in practice, there would be so many rear end collisions and pile ups.
This feels intuitive to me. I used to feel rude, but then realized that was stupid and that early mergers were actually the problem.
Yes look at all the cartoon evidence that it works! Funny how Cheddar couldn't find any real world footage of it actually working. Not even test footage. They even say, "Oh, maybe robots can actually make this work". Zipper merges only work to get more people through an intersection. A 1 lane road changes to 2 toward the intersection, then back to 1 lane after the intersection. This works because everyone is starting from 0mph and as cars in the queue don't accelerate in unison, gaps form for people to merge.
im watching this from germany and i expected this do debunk zipper merging because cutting you off in germany means cutting in line before its your time to merge :D
thats what happens if you dont have thourough training. we get this stuff drilled into our heads in mandatory hours of theoretical and practical lessons
We in NYC, and I am assuming LA have been doing the zip merge for decades.
We zipper in Vancouver, Canada. But there's always some guy who goes way further along the shoulder, or rides right up beside you and attempt to run you off the road.
I think the crucial part missing from the zipper merge is to have those in the closing lane follow someone in the merge-into lane instead of zooming ahead to close the gap. If there are missing teeth in a real zipper, it mostly zips in the same position.
@@joewiniecki3282 What I mean is that the two lanes should be in lockstep with each other, neither one passing the other.
Staying in the closing lane until the end helps prevent those behind you from rushing to the end and merging in front of a tailgater who then brakes to avoid hitting the merging car, causing a ripple of braking behind them which closes all the gaps for the closing lane to merge into, but the mergers don't think of the consequences, pass the cars who are braking, and proceed to make the problem even worse.
@@chinoto1 that's literally not a zipper merge, people on the right who are lining up like good little toddler zombies are NOT zipper merging, they are lining up, if the zipper merge happens at all people will have to pass you, pay attention
@@chinoto1 If people stopped merging early then both lanes would be moving at equal speeds. The only reason it's possible for someone to "zoom ahead to close the gap" is because most people tend to merge early even though they're not supposed to. And sorry but I am not going to artificially slow myself down below the speed limit because you made the foolish decision to merge a mile before you had to, or don't have to common sense to leave the lane you're in to take advantage of the free lane until it closes. You're the one doing it wrong by not taking advantage of the lane you can drive more quickly in, not me.
@@StreakyBaconMan Now this time, actually read what I said. If you need further clarification, I replied to a deleted comment as well.
I noticed my state has started using signage approaching lane closures explaining in large print how to use both lanes until the merge point and actually defining where the merge point is. And there's usually a couple state troopers watching for idiots not obeying the signs. Because people in this state don't know how to drive.
I was on a motorcycle and I was in the right lane planning to zipper into the left lane because of construction, the guy to my left purposely blocked me off giving me the finger and I almost drove into the construction workers.
You literally get a fine for late merger in the UAE. They have cameras near forks for this purpose alone. They really need to watch this!
This video talks a lot but says nothing. No math real example, lack of cases.
Imagine 2 lanes that merge up ahead. Let's say there are signs telling people in the left lane to zipper merge into the right lane. If 1 person in the left lane merges 20 cars before the point of merge, what does this do? It does 2 things: it adds one car to the right lane, slowing it down (obviously), and it also allows more cars in the left lane to pass. This slows the right lane down and allows the left lane traffic to continue moving. If 50 cars do this, the right lane traffic moves at a snails pace while the left lane traffic "cheaters" (hint hint, they aren't actually cheaters) get to fly by. If everyone instead followed the rules of zipper merging, the right lane would move much faster and would be at an equal pace to the left lane.
Welcome to Cheddar.
You really cant picture how using both lanes would shorten backup length smh this is the problem low iq drivers
All cheddar videos are like that. Empty and full of folks science.
This channel doesn't seem designed for that type of content. This is more like an infotainment channel. And I find most of their videos quite interesting.
Assuming everyone merged early,
What's the difference between two one mile lanes zipper merging, and one lane that's 2 miles long?
Everyone that merged early slowly did so courteously, allowing traffic to keep flowing, while the zipper merge tactic jammed up at the last minute , making it LESS efficient.
While early mergers are merging, the entire line behind them is being held at that point when instead they can make use of the merge point so that other cars can enter the on-ramp instead of the ramp being clogged already. So it’s not 1 lane that’s 2 miles long, it’s 1 lane that’s ~1.5 mile and the on-ramp being 0.5 miles long but only starting at where the last early merger chose to merge.
THANK YOU!!! I hate people that merge a mile ahead and slow traffic down
Why not introduce an alternating light at the merge. It incentivises both lanes to be even. It could just flip back and forth every 30 seconds to a minute or the time could be manually adjusted. Maybe more advanced versions could have an IR sensor so if there is no traffic in the closed lane it just stays green for the regular lane.
I've seen this before in usa
Sometimes you are forced to drive down the merging lane since no one wants to let you merge.
I just drive all the way down the choke point and wait for someone to yield to me and allow me to pass.
That's how it should be done actually. Just like a fluid going through a bottleneck. Their particles are forced to make room for each other to pass.
As cars are driven by humans who are governed by morals, we should accept that late merging pisses people off causing further delays even if the theoretical mechanical system makes that not the case. The only way zipper merging could work is if they start including this education when being tested for a license and would take 20 years to become part of social conscience.
In the Philippines this is taught in driving schools and sometimes appear as a question in the driving test for our driver's license, but some people just don't care
As a Kansas resident this doesn't work as intended. Kansas has a NO NOT PASS law that when you see a DO NOT PASS sign you pass you get a citation if you well... pass in a DO NOT PASS zone. i know more people who have a citation for a DO NOT PASS violation that speeding tickets.
That is 100% irrelevant to zipper merging.
Because you aren't supposed to pass on the right hand side during a merge. you are supposed to keep pace with traffic and then merge over at the end, the people on the left are supposed to make space for those on the right to get over but it should be like a zipper one on the left one on the right. Instead it's more like "I'm the most important, let me in."
@@wizbangFLL dude, you keep saying this but you're not correct. If you are on a road with a speed limit of 65, and everyone in the left lane is going 45, you honestly believe that you have to slow down to 45 in the right lane, too? That's not how it works.
@@DjMikeWatt what the fuck kind of road are you on, the left lane should be the faster passing lane, and when a merge comes up both lanes would come to a middle ground, for example; the left lane would be the one going 65 and would slow down to 50 to accommodate the fact that they will be merging into a slower lane where the speeds you go in the new lane are made to be a middle ground of both lanes, conversely the right lane going 45 would have to speed up to 50 to meet the new speed limit as going slower than the speed limit does give you a ticket for dusrupting the flow of traffic. Also i dont understand the damn american system where everyone goes WAY faster than the speed limits, because if everyone else does it as well. In New zealand we have a 10km/h tolerance and 4km/h on holidays, we also have standardized speeds, 50km/h (35m/h) in town, 70 (45m/h) on the outer areas, and 100 km/h (60m/h) in the country side, 40km/h in school zones and 30 km/h in road works areas. Following these guidelines is the simplest thing ever and makes it so much less likely of being ticketed for not knowing the speed limits of an area.
Literally 0 sources despite the many references to "science says"
Weasel words. That's what Wikipedia calls them.
Nothing breaks up a traffic backup faster than having larger gaps between vehicles.
Do not let this video lul you into loosing sight of your responsibility. If yours is the lane that ends, then you alone have the responsibility and legal liability to merge safely. The other lane continues thru, and does not merge, you do. The drivers in the thru lane owe you nothing, aside from common courtesy, which you wont get by trying to force any kind of merge. Just watch the signs, they usually tell which lane ends.
The person who made this video is trying to justify its own ideas, that's why they cite valid research mixing it with a specific perspective, failing to understand a successful merge happens when you profit from available space, not when you have late merger. Zipper merges occur all the time: either you merge early or you merge late. Merging late when the rule is to do it early is the true disruptor, just as it is to do it the opposite way. If you zipper merge either early or late will make no difference from each other, as long as everybody follows the same rule.
but you can't really zip early, since some people will zip earlier, completely ruining the zipping. ;)
By zipping late, it's easier for everyone to understand where to zip.
Yet if you zip too late then you are just waiting at the end of the lane. Which shouldn't happen. If you see a place to slide in then do it, if not keep going, thats what he meant.
Depending on how slow traffic is moving, merging early can hold up more traffic. So there can be a difference depending on when people merge.
Ever since i was 5 or 6 we had the idea of merging like a zipper drilled into us, whether your biking down a bike path in a group and the lanes tighten, or even just walking down a busy path, you always stay to the left (we drive on the left) and when its 2 lanes you merge as if both lanes are going to a single different road. Even though one lane essentially stays forward and the other goes into it you still merge like a zipper to keep both lanes running at the same pace and even account for it before the merge by having a gap stuttered between the lanes so that you have a gap you go to and the person in the lane next to you has a gap that he goes to infront of you, the moment people try to cut ahead is when it all goes to shit because suddenly one lane has to stop or slow down then take the next gap that was prepared for the guy behind you, slowing everything down for everyone. The thought that cutting into a lane as soon as possible to keep efficiency is just wrong, the roads are deaigned for efficiency already and cutting in before designers want you to ruins this planned efficiency
"It's better because it's better."
Great. how about you show the simulations where it shows that it's better. How about you at least show the results of a few simulations, with zipper merge, early merge, alternating lane flow, etc.?
All the examples present showed traffic continually flowing. This is not the case where people complain about late-merging. The case they complain about is where two or three heavy-traffic lanes turn into one, causing a backup. Zipper merges only work when both lanes are going the same, reduced speed. Not this lopsided full-speed vs stop-and-go that is common. At that point traffic is already moving at it's reduced speed, with throughput limited by the single lane, at half or slower speed. At this point, the location at which you merge doesn't matter because the traffic is going its set rate. All late-merging does is let you jump up in line.
Arguably late-merging is worse because merging generates rippling waves of breaking as people make room. This interferes with the 'smooth speed and consistent distance' ideal. If you merge far back in line, prior to the actual bottleneck, then the gap created by this rippling merge can be overcome by speeding up. Yes the cars will yo-you, but you can recover the lost space generated by the merge. The closer to the bottleneck, the less distance you have to rectify this.
This video seems like it will convince absolutely nobody. It just claimed superiority. It did nothing to demonstrate that fact, or to present the underlying situational trade-offs where it is and isn't advantageous.
@4:01 is that a clip from the big dig?
Hold on there!
The zipper merge seems to move cars no more efficiently through a choke point than early merging. However, it has other advantages.
The biggest advantage is the whole fairness and cheating thing. The second is that it uses the road area ahead of the merge more efficiently, using pavement that otherwise is not used.
ddd hhh zipper merging is faster, because you make use of the space available for as long as possible.
The traffic can only flow as quick as the one lane flows at the choke point. If people get over last minutes it can cause breaking at the choke point in addition the the delays due to the choke point. If people get over earlier, there should be no reason for breaking close to the choke point, all delays would be from the choke point ahead only and not from merging in the rear. Merging last minute causes delays because of the choke point AND because of sudden breaking because of last second mergers.
despite your reasoning, it still flies in the face of empirical evidence
It's not really merging last minute, it's just not merging an hour before
Timothy Schellin - empirical evidence? I’ll I saw was illustrations and the video saying it doesn’t work in practice because people are self interested.
Ya, empirical evidence... as in it has been observed and demonstrated to improve traffic flow.
This won’t work in real life. You try to merge last minute and people get pissed n will block you from merging.
JangaMaster maybe not where you drive but it certainly works in Germany
It DOES work in real life and could easily work everywhere if cops are out out at zipper merges and teach people in Drivers Ed to do so(some states already do this).
it will take a while.
That's the point, we're trying to get it to work- that's why they pointed out the twats that police lanes or don't merge or ignore signs.
If your objective is to merge at the last minute, you are the problem.
The problem is that they’re still describing it as one lane merging into another. In my city the dividing line simply ends with the car in front having the right of way. It makes merging so much safer, easier, and less stressful as neither lane is given priority over the other.
What? This is primarily in construction scenarios you can’t fix a lane that’s half open?
In Arizona when there’s a car on the side of the road you have to move to the other lane and even when both lanes have cars there’s never traffic at the merge because everyone unconsciously Merges late
Is that actually for emergency vehicles or just any moron who decides to pull off the road ?
It doesn't take alot of brain capacity why zipping later males more sense.
Correct. Not as much as it does to spell anyway...
Apparently it does...
Joe Berg : Instead of being an ashole, you could just give him a small hint. It probably was just a small mistake.
If you try to correct me, then I will correct your Norwegian. Skjønner du?
You would be correct except there is one part of the equation that people ignore. The people on the right are not permitted to pass the people to the left of them. This means that at whatever point the cars see a notice of merging, it doesn't mean "right then" but it does mean "don't pass those on the left" The result is that by the actual merge point everyone is lined up with a vehicle bumper (the person on your left) and the person behind this individual knows you are merging and will over the length of the merge slow down so when the point where you have to get over occurs you can smoothly move over. The secondary piece of this is if there are more lanes to the left of the one to your left they may merge over as well allowing for cars behind to speed up and move traffic forward they would still see you would be getting over. and be able to plan for it.
No.
stfu
You just keep a good distance from the guy in front of you and if your in the right lane (left for me in Australia were its normal to zipper merge) you just have the people staggered in the lanes when you see that first sign telling you to merge soon, its just second nature for everyone here to see the sign and know that you are going merge at the end where the lanes join, everyone leaves a gap and sees the gap next to them that the will take. Also its illegal to pass on the right lane, but the point of the zipper merge is that you arent passing people you actually normally just let the car directly beside you get ahead when your in the right lane and take the spot behind them
I'm very curious how people like you come across ideas like this. Did you think of it yourself? Did some other idiot think of it and tell you about it, and now you believe them and are spreading the BS to even more people?
"Lined up" lol
this is cancer.
Some lady was aggressively refusing to let me in. I started signaling to merge, and she sped up to not let me in. So I did what I always do. I just started slowly merging lmao, and I looked in my rear view mirror seeing this bratty girl throwing a temper tantrum flipping me off, and just clapping and yelling "good job!" over and over again lol.
THIS LITERALLY JUST HAPPENED TO ME AND IT'S WHY I LOOKED UP THIS VIDEO! I was merging and the other car zoomed forward to not let me in, but then the traffic was stopped so I inched forward, thinking she would let me go since the traffic was literally stopped and I was at the end of my lane so I had nowhere else to go and she inched forward again, almost hitting my car! I looked over my shoulder because I figured she was on autopilot or something and once we made eye contact she would be like, "Oh, right, of course you need to get in!" Instead she was angrily mouthing out the word "NO!" But I was already basically half IN the lane! She insisted on going first, which meant that once the traffic flow started moving again, the person behind her had to completely stop in order to let me in, whereas I could have come in at low speed while the flow of traffic was slow if she had allowed ONE person to go in front of her.
Zipper merging is done when the traffic is bumper to bumper and 2 lanes are merging into one. In ALL other circumstances, the merging traffic must yield.
Zipper merging is not the same as late merging. The first one is fair to all and efficirnt, the second one is ass*** trying to chear
That's wrong. You're wrong. But, it's not your fault. Typical American who thinks she's right about everything. No surprise there.
@@DjMikeWatt
How do you know they're a lady from America? It could be a man from Saudi Arabia.
Ruth Cuadrado Those are the same thing. So, thanks for creating more traffic! F*** you!
You don’t understand the point apparently. It is about using the whole road. Makes the quee smaller.
Im still gonna cut slow people off because no matter what i will always pass them lol
This isn't something you just spring on the ignorant masses and assume it's going to work. Unless this is incorporated into our driving tests, and until our driving tests require more than a 5 minute cruise around the block, this is completely useless and will lead to more problems.
Also, the way to make the zipper merge effective is to force the geometry, if you close both lanes throttled into one central lane, then neither lane is the 'correct' lane and the behavior will follow naturally.
This would only create road rage.
@@bobby1970 road rage is caused when one driver thinks that they own something that is taken away from them. If you feel you own the lane and someone cuts in front of you, your sense of mobility has been taken away. If it's unclear who owns the downstream lane, no one feels they own the lane and it's a brand new lane there will be less road rage and smoother merging. It just requires twice as much cones for a construction site.
As long as humans are driving this will always be a problem. Alot of people take advantage of this to skip ahead in traffic. I am all for blocking them.
So you're the problem, then. You're the asshole.
The only reason they can skip ahead in traffic is because people are NOT doing the zipper merge. People merge early, allowing the "cheater" to move up and skip ahead. If everybody stayed in their lane and merged 1 by 1 at the last minute, no one would be able to skip ahead as both lanes would be moving equally.
Idiot.
redsoxfan tried to already explain it, but the thing is that there is a difference between those that speed up till the end (because other people changed lanes early) and those who patiently drive till the end to merge at the end (without going at a higher speed than the "main" lane).
@@DavidMulderOne you can run a low speed differential, but going 55 when traffic in the other lane is going 5 is not safe or prudent...
Yep, this is totally normal where I live but we didn't dare to do it in Canada because we were scared of the people's reaction. Those big trucks are intimidating you know...
Thank you!
The most efficient way is if both lanes are moving at the same speed with suitable gaps between cars for the merge. So, if you are a believer in the zipper merge, start matching the speed of the non-closing lane well ahead of the merge, 1/4 to 1/2 mile out. That will reduce the human nature to believe you are "cheating" and also allow for inefficient backup at the merge to clear a bit. It's still the zipper merge, you are just resetting it a little further back.
Problem with the zipper merge is it expects people to give a shit about one another.
QuikTrip 32oz Haha sadly people in this world are way to selfish.
Milwaukee going north bound cuts off the third lane at about 2.5 miles from the city due to construction. First mile or so it goes slow bc ppl are trying to merge early. Then for the final mile stretch the third lane picks up but has fewer people traveling on it. So then I take the lane up to where it ends but some people dont like it bc I was able to pass up like 50 plus cars. Sorry but I like late merging as it can shave off about 5 minutes if not more off my commute.
**a German wondering how acting according to the zipper merge could be so hard**
It's because Germans don't have an over-inflated ego like most Americans.
Cutting off means you do not give the turn signal before you change lanes. Doing so forces the other driver to press on the brakes, that's not a seamless zipper merging.
The problem is, this creates traffic snakes when people cut in front of someone, as the car they just cut in front of now has to break quickly and then the car behind them also has to break quickly etc. causing freeway traffic for HOURS. I'd recommend CGP Grey's video on the topic. If we had perfect reflexes it'd be fine, but we don't, so we over-break and causing traffic jams.
As a Missouri resident this doesn’t work because people know to get over miles ahead of time but then yhe drivers get back over and speed all the way up to the front just to cut in front of everyone making everyone brake and slow down even longer. So most semis now just block slow lane and passing lane.
the concept of 'alternate merge' has been around for a long time..zipper is just a new name for it
zipper merging is VERY different than some asshole using the merge lane as a chance to skip past traffic, especially when traffic is moving at a steady pace, but everyone has to brake to accommodate some jerk who zipped down to the end of the ramp instead of looking for a smooth easy transition spot into the flow of traffic. that little pump of the brake petal has tremendous ripple effect in rush-hour traffic.
Uh, if you're the only one "zipper merging"...then you're not actually zipper merging but being a moron. Der. Seems like all the egomaniacs have a license now to be idiots. Most of you now seem to think you have a legitimate right to do what you'd be doing anyway: being bad humans. Most proponents of this type of silly, emergency service halting merging, they're the type to always think they're special anyway, and skip ahead, Zip merge or not.
A fire erupts in a building, what do you do? Run out as fast as you can, right? Um, no. You move orderly in single files and so as to not effect a bottleneck at the exit. Zippers start at the bottom and go up, not the other way around. This is so dumb, seemingly only meant to pave the way for you not being behind a wheel at all. Sure, this would be swell with driverless cars, and I think that that's the point, because, otherwise, just der. You believe talking heads and driverless car mechanisms to be good for you...ugh...and all because they said the word science. Lol. No actual data, just dumbo