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

Who was in the right?

  • I agree with the Renault driver, he was right to block the Mercedes driver.

    Votes: 34 11.4%

  • I agree with the Mercedes driver, there was no need for him to be blocked like that.

    Votes: 263 88.6%
  • Total voters
    297
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ci_newman said:
The merc driver wasn't doing anything distinctly wrong (although we've only got 1/2 of the information, perhaps he was in the right hand lane already then moved into the left to drive past everyone).

The subsequent behaviour from both drivers was appalling though.
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What if he was though? Just because he was in the right hand lane and the left hand lane is free, he's not allowed to change lanes? Don't think that would really come under the guise of undertaking though.

In my opinion, if they wanted the road down to 1 lane, they would have started the cones 600 yards earlier, where the video started, not 600 yards ahead where they actually put them.

Renault driver was grade A, weapons grade, cocksocket.
 
The situation is a massive pet peeve of mine. I recall a simple scenario in Milton Keynes, drove past a queue of a good 35 cars and some hero tries to block me, complete morons.
 
What would happen if the merc driver plowed into the back of the Renault instead of swerving to avoid, who would the insurers side with?
 
I was in agreement with the general thrust of the thread on principle anyway, but I've now watched the video - the Renault driver is a grade-A muppet. What a tool.
 
Gambisk said:
What would happen if the merc driver plowed into the back of the Renault instead of swerving to avoid, who would the insurers side with?
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Without footage, probably the Renault, since it's a case of Car B going into the back of Car A. With the footage, it's arguably dangerous driving by the Renault so they'd likely lean towards the Merc.
 
By British driving standards Mercedes may have engaged in unsportsmanlike behaviour by using all of the lane to merge in but clearly a road rage incident from the Renault and totally unnecessary.
 
I do wonder how different the poll would look if I'd just posted this in GD. It's skewed in here as most people actually understand how to drive :p
 
It's more likely the people who visit a motor enthusiast forum (or at least a sub section) know how to drive correctly. If you posted it in GD, you'd get a more accurate figure, provided you avoid having a potato option.
 
How can either of them be considered to be in the right?

- Renault driver changes lane in front of a faster moving car, causing the other car to brake. Renault driver is in the wrong.
- Having braked and avoided an accident, the Merc driver then attempts to use the hard shoulder to overtake. Merc driver is in the wrong.
- Renault driver moves into hard shoulder to block the Merc. Renault driver is in the wrong.


It's all very well people pointing out that they understand how merge in turn should work and that it's very efficient when done correctly. But when the inside lane is moving considerably more quickly than the outside lane (because too many people moved into that lane early), then anyone 'taking advantage' of the empty lane actually then contributes to the reduced throughput.

Once the above problem has started, the only way to improve the throughput is for the inside lane to artificially match speed with the outside lane. The outside lane will then begin to move more quickly (as reduced merging goes on ahead) and the inside lane can then increase speed to match (using the empty space ahead) to then establish increased throughput as the cars merge into the gaps between matched-speed lanes (as per Freefaller's diagram in post #38).

Had the Renault driver not changed lanes to 'block' other drivers and instead just been someone in the inside lane who began slowing to start reducing the speed differential between the lanes, then he'd have been right - in the sense that it would begin a process which should then increase the overall throughput and speed of both lanes.

'Flying' down an empty inside lane and correctly merging at the end, is not the wrong thing to do, but it does nothing to resolve a problem which already exists.
Attempting to artificially slow the inside lane and then correctly merge at the end, should result in improved throughput and reduce delays overall. But changing lanes and deliberately swerving to block drivers attempting to take advantage of the faster empty lane, is wrong.
 
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Howard said:
It's a shame that 9 people don't :p
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I was one of those voters, not because I don't know how its supposed to be done or think the Renault driver was in the right but because once you get more than a small number of drivers doing it wrong it is no different to pushing in effectively even if you are in the right and causes as many problems as people doing it wrong.

We definitely need more/better signage and education or a complete change to how it is approached.
 
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I think the answer is being missed. The poor person in the Ren O should have given way to the rich person in the Merc, the rest of the noise is just, well, noise. We are British, we have a class system, we should be clear on our position in society. I'm surprised actually as the cheese eating surrender monkeys usually surrender, I suspect this one was being obtuse. He needs some border penetration from some Panzers.

I think I've cleared this up now in a nicely uncontentious way by using facts. I did try and draw something but apparently swastikas are not PC these days :(
 
Rroff said:
I was one of those voters, not because I don't know how its supposed to be done or think the Renault driver was in the right but because once you get more than a small number of drivers doing it wrong it is no different to pushing in effectively even if you are in the right and causes as many problems as people doing it wrong.
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Rubbish. Both lanes are there for a reason. If everyone kept their distance, used both lanes, and merged sensibly, the traffic would flow far better. The animations in this post illustrate it perfectly.
 
Rroff said:
I was one of those voters, not because I don't know how its supposed to be done or think the Renault driver was in the right but because once you get more than a small number of drivers doing it wrong it is no different to pushing in effectively even if you are in the right and causes as many problems as people doing it wrong.

We definitely need more/better signage and education or a complete change to how it is approached.
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So what you're saying is if a bunch of other people are doing it wrong, I have to do it wrong too?

Or to put it another way, if a bunch of other people are doing it wrong, that makes it right?
 
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