Poll: Merge in turn - why does nobody get it?

I do about 40,000 miles a year so have seen this quite a bit. I always use the free lane yet you get some people moving across infront of me to let me know I'm the impatient one (not all the way, I can still get through) and then I get to the merge and no one lets me in.

Absolute knobheads.

Meridian said:

Yes it does. If there is no sign saying "Merge in Turn" then you are required to move as soon as it safe to do so, and before your lane runs out. ONLY if that sign is there will the correct option be merge in turn.

Click to expand...

Could you point out the section of the Highway Code that supports this?

Rule 134 says:

134
You should follow the signs and road markings and get into the lane as directed. In congested road conditions do not change lanes unnecessarily. Merging in turn is recommended but only if safe and appropriate when vehicles are travelling at a very low speed, e.g. when approaching road works or a road traffic incident. It is not recommended at high speed.

Click to expand...

As you can see in the video, the lane is moving very slowly and is... you guessed it.. approaching roadworks. Therefore the correct way to handle merging is to merge in turn at the lane closure, as per the instructions in the highway code.

It's not a high speed merge, just because some of the people in the inside lane are driving excessively fast doesn't change that.

The guy in the Scenic cannot be described as anything other than a halfwit. What on earth was he doing? Very strange behaviour.

Glaucus said:

I bet traffic James would say a significant reduction.

Click to expand...

Glaucus said:

Mass usage, does not make it correct, does not mean the people with knowledge should bend to doing it wrong.

Click to expand...

Does not make it correct but as a driver you should respect other road users, something I doubt you have the capability to do judging by your forum posting style.

norm said:

Does not make it correct but as a driver you should respect other road users, something I doubt you have the capability to do judging by your forum posting style.

Click to expand...

Rofl.
That doesn't even make sense. I don't have to respect them for driving poorly. You don't need to respect people in all areas, nor should you. However not having respect for people in one area, doesn't in anyway mean you have zero respect for them at all.
I will however give people plenty off room, let people, say thank you, apologise when I **** up, indicate ect etc.
I guarantee I let more people in at junctions or anywhere else than these **** who drive down the centre.

Your just fall off it and don't like it when pointed out you posted something wrong.

Glaucus said:

Your just fall off it and don't like it when pointed out you posted something wrong.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the new sig.

This and getting back over to the left if you aren't overtaking anything are the two main things that could really do with hammering home somehow, too many don't get it.

uchuff said:

This and getting back over to th left if you aren't overtaking anything could really do with hammering home somehow, too many don't get it.

Click to expand...

And the 40mph-EVERYWHERE brigade

Without a doubt the Merc driver was in the right and the Reault driver was in the wrong.

The Renault driver even pulled out, on purpose, in front of a faster moving vehicle causing it to change speed (and/or direction)... which is a breach of the highway code.

Silly **** just didn't like people driving properly, felt as though their British queuing ethic was being challenged and closed the lane.



One of the things I like about driving in mainland Europe... most people here know how to merge properly (1 left, 1 right, 1 left, 1 right... etc)... and don't kick up a stink about it.

The lane is a lane until it is no longer a lane... without putting anyone in danger.

That's one of the reasons there are extra lanes... to stop epic queues that tail back twice/three/four times as long as they need to in order to stop other queues related to it.

Traffic would flow more smoothly if people had a clue and didn't react selfishly like the Renault ****

I'm dissappointed the poll on that newspaper page you linked to disagrees... at least the one on here has some common sense.

Freefaller said:

Merge in turn is far more efficient, end of. People queuing for hours because they're being "polite" or whatever other ridiculous sense of "correctness" is absolutely hilarious.

Click to expand...

It is if people observe it. My (general) experience is that people in Lane 2 drive like ***** and refuse to let the cars in Lane 1 merge.

Freefaller said:

If people weren't so selfish and encouraged people to slip in in front of them, they could keep the average speed to 30-40 mph or so and this would be a higher speed than cramming together for miles on end.

If you make a gap for the car in front then people can merge more effectively. Packing yourself together is not efficient if you look at the fluid dynamics of it it just doesn't add up. Merging in turn is more efficient.

This is what people end up doing because they're being selfish:



If people spaced themselves out and let people in whilst keeping a higher average speed you'd get a much more efficient bit of filtering:

Click to expand...

Yup... just yup...

Works soooooo much better in mainland Europe thanks to the lack of British ego...

Should have crashed into the back of him and claimed whiplash.

Kaeo said:

Should have crashed into the back of him and claimed whiplash.

Click to expand...

If it weren't for the video and/or witnesses, then the Merc would have been deemed at fault in this scenario.

No, no, he wouldn't.

Whole system needs an overhaul really - in many cases even the road layout and/or signage run counter to how its "supposed" to be done.

It doesn't even work properly in the UK (not sure about other countries) anyhow as people won't merge in turn even if they used both lanes to queue as touched on above.

Eh?

Merge in turn is fine, having impatient folk charging down the less congested lane to get ahead of the pack is not.

If you've merged at an appropriate time the efficiency of the filtering is maintained. Jerks speeding down to get in front of the queue and then muscling in to filter are completely in the wrong.

^^ Yup regardless of whether they are "in the right" or not it causes just as many problems as the people doing it "wrong" if not more so.

Reminds me - was at a wedding recently where the topic came up as someone had an incident of that type on the way there and out of several dozen drivers - most of them with 30+ years driving experience I think there was about 3 people who knew how it was "supposed" to be done - and interestingly one of the people who didn't know is a driving instructor :S

Since the queue is past the merging point at the end of the video (they're still moving slowly) then merging at the very end of the lane wouldn't make things any faster anyway. If everyone was moving at a decent speed then I'd agree it would be fine, but since they're already crawling, the Merc driver just thinks his time is more important than everyone else. I find this a horrible attitude to take, and yeah I'm British in mentality in that respect, so I queue and wait my turn because I don't see why I should be able to rush ahead unless I was in an emergency situation. Just because it's legal doesn't make it cool. I've queued for coach tickets before and some guy tried to push in front of me, I see that as much the same thing. There's enough room for him to "merge" standing slightly in front of me, it's not illegal either, but why is his time more valuable compared to mine? If you wouldn't do it at a shop etc, why do it on the road?

When I did my driver's licence in Holland, this was hammered in to me, so although some sensitive petals might think that I'm jumping the gun, it's actually the way I was taught to do things, and the Dutch (and Belgians) still do it that way, alongside TV and radio campaigns to remind people. It works so much better, use all the road space for a more efficient journey.

It needs to be better enforced in this country.

Then again people not using mobile phones also needs to be better enforced....