Someone ... please invent a merge in turn camera!

[Liquidfox]

I had this the other week on the A1 southbound, was temporary road works for what must have only been one night, 800 yard signs with people backed up in Lane 1 at least another 200 yards further back... cue me zipping down Lane 2 and saving myself probably 15 minutes of sitting in traffic, much to the annoyance of the idiots who don't know what Merge In Turn means

 

[NathanE]

Never drive at a normal speed past stationary traffic like that. Your mistake, unfortunately. I did that a few years ago and had the same treatment of some idiot straddling both lanes.

For some reason I find that if you creep past the "I didn't read the Highway Code" lane at a reasonable speed then people are less inclined to pull out. As it "looks" like you are actively seeking somewhere to pull in, I guess.

 

[Rroff]

Er that is what merge in turn means, not sit in the left lane then block people who try to follow the traffic management.

It is not pushing in, simply people with a modicum of intelligence who can follow instructions.

I'm talking people who push right to the front, not merging in turn, usually with 2-3 other people on their tail and all 3-4 cars try to push in front of the furthest car forward in the left lane as they can not taking turns to merge in - I'm guessing in some regards its a response to people in the left lane closing ranks but still.

The problem is for every person that understands how to use merge in turn and willing to use the right hand lane, you get another person who just abuses the system. Its a bad system because no one likes queue jumpers and it looks like queue jumping even to people who understand merge in turn.

 

[Rroff]

Never drive at a normal speed past stationary traffic like that. Your mistake, unfortunately. I did that a few years ago and had the same treatment of some idiot straddling both lanes.

For some reason I find that if you creep past the "I didn't read the Highway Code" lane at a reasonable speed then people are less inclined to pull out. As it "looks" like you are actively seeking somewhere to pull in, I guess.

The difference is towards the end, slow down a few car lengths short of the end of the road indicating in and people are more likely to tolerate it, blast past all the way to the furthest point you can possibly get forward and push in people are more likely to see it as queue jumping and after a couple of people do it get fed up and lane block.

I think its a badly broken system imo, on the way to work theres a long dual carriage way, ends at a roundabout with a busy retail park on the left turn and over the roundabout straight into town the 2 lanes come in together, at busy times you get a mile long queue of people in the left lane, some queueing to get into town and others to get into the retail park but anyone going all the way down the right over the roundabout and merging in after just looks like queue jumping.


EDIT: Had to link to it on google maps as the sign on the maintenance vehicle is midly ironic http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&s...d=X0Lj5bV5P9LaMhi86y90Dg&cbp=12,286.98,,0,9.4

 

[NathanE]

The difference is towards the end, slow down a few car lengths short of the end of the road indicating in and people are more likely to tolerate it, blast past all the way to the furthest point you can possibly get forward and push in people are more likely to see it as queue jumping and after a couple of people do it get fed up and lane block.

Exactly. In other countries it is called "zip merging". Because the idea is that two lanes of traffic are zipped together. The idea is not to get to the far end necessarily. But to simply find a suitable space (as far a long as possible) where you can perform your "zip-lock" move between two cars.

If you're blasting along at the speed limit then it is pretty damn clear you're not there to find a opportune place to zip merge. You're there to get to the absolute front. Which is fine - except not with most of the British public unfortunately. Which is why after my identical encounter as the OP a few years back I modified my approach to be more passive than active.

 

[kaiowas]

Part of the issue stems from the way they always close 1 lane and force people to merge into the other. People get funny about traffic moving into "their" lane and are more likely to make it awkward for others to join. If the cones were laid out so that the two lanes were forcibly merged into the middle of the road and then taken off to one side as required then people would probably merge in a more cooperative manner.

 

[Dabbles]

Problem is merge in turn just doesn't work - if you get say 6 cars that have all been in the left lane within a 1/4 mile of each other they will all naturally stop in a nice line on the left, the next person who comes along - who say was a mile back when the queue formed - if they go out to the right to the front of the queue appears like queue jumping and it all just escalates from there and while some people don't care personally I feel really cheap using the right hand lane to pass 20 cars and then merge in turn at the end even tho thats how its supposed to be used.

This is the problem. Merge in turn doesn't work. Easiest way to fix it would be to have the usual 800 yard markers, put cones down the centreline from the 600 yard signs and then in the last 50 yards bring BOTH lanes together, straddling what would be the centreline (if it's been burnt off) with cones.

 

[Rroff]

This is the problem. Merge in turn doesn't work. Easiest way to fix it would be to have the usual 800 yard markers, put cones down the centreline from the 600 yard signs and then in the last 50 yards bring BOTH lanes together, straddling what would be the centreline (if it's been burnt off) with cones.

Actually thats quite a good idea - possibly not that exact method as the cones would probably get hit a lot but having some kinda demarcation builing upto the point where the road physical merges. (That said it would work for anyone driving sensibly and discourage lane blocking and make it appear less like people are queue jumping if they are genuinely merging in turn).

 

[Sin_Chase]

Problem is merge in turn just doesn't work - if you get say 6 cars that have all been in the left lane within a 1/4 mile of each other they will all naturally stop in a nice line on the left, the next person who comes along - who say was a mile back when the queue formed - if they go out to the right to the front of the queue appears like queue jumping and it all just escalates from there and while some people don't care personally I feel really cheap using the right hand lane to pass 20 cars and then merge in turn at the end even tho thats how its supposed to be used.

Merge in turn, queue in both lanes. It's an effective solution which works when people can read the road more than 1 foot in-front of their noses.

Picking and choosing a place to merge further back from the merge point is ridiculous and defeats the whole point of merge in turn. You merge, in turn, from 2 queued lanes at equal, predictable intervals. It speeds the process up when everyone knows where they stand. Crawling along looking for someone to let you in with an indicator going is not effective.

The problem is you are looking at it from a courtesy/'fair' point of view. It's a traffic management measure and has no bias towards being fair. It exists to manage traffic when 2 lanes become 1 as effectively as possible. We have a permanent merge in turn (Filter in turn) in Jersey and bar the odd foreign numpty or asshat it works perfectly, as it should do. People know it is approaching and use both lanes appropriately. You don't dare block someone from a valid merge here, it's just a huge "DON'T DO IT". It's nothing at all to do with whether it works or not and all to do with education on how it is supposed to work.

 

[MrMoonX]

people are tards, try the A3 at hindhead, two massive lanes, signs saying merge in turn use both lanes, people sit in inside lane and then try to block those of us clever enough to read and use the outside one, resulting in more traffic, than if everyone just merged in turn, **** tards!

 

[Dabbles]

people are tards, try the A3 at hindhead, two massive lanes, signs saying merge in turn use both lanes, people sit in inside lane and then try to block those of us clever enough to read and use the outside one, resulting in more traffic, than if everyone just merged in turn, **** tards!

Merge in turn doesn't work because those people who don't know how it really works are in the majority. These people see you as pushing in. Whether you are technically right or wrong this attitude won't change. The system needs changing.

 

[Kenai]

Part of the issue stems from the way they always close 1 lane and force people to merge into the other. People get funny about traffic moving into "their" lane and are more likely to make it awkward for others to join. If the cones were laid out so that the two lanes were forcibly merged into the middle of the road and then taken off to one side as required then people would probably merge in a more cooperative manner.

This, it is beyond me why they don't do this, it makes it clear to people that there is no priority between the two lanes and that one set of traffic isn't pushing into the others lane.

 

[Dabbles]

To be fair, there is an element of 'getting one more car ahead' when it comes to merge in turn, with a lot of people merging before the pinch point and others driving right to the end of the lane that is closing and then nearly running over the cones to force their way in.

 

[Mucky_Pup]

I wouldn't fly down the outside at the 50 limit, as shown there's plenty of idiots who will move into the centre to block you at the last minute, or people who won't be looking and decide to change lanes just as you're behind them. Although the other edge to the sword is you'll probabley get more people moving to block you "queue jumping" if you're coming up on them slowly and they notice you sooner.

 

[Barks]

Nothing wrong with doing the speedlimit past stationary traffic in the other lane

It's reckless.

 

[Meridian]

1) Signs saying a lane is closing does NOT mean merge in turn. It means get into the next lane over before the outside (or occasionally inside) lane closes. A sign with big letters saying "Merge in turn" means merge in turn. Nothing else does. People may choose to if a lane is closing, but that's not what the sign means.

2) Merge in turn works in one circumstance, and one only: when both lanes are travelling at the same speed. Even then it's really only really successful at low speed, which is why the real signs are usually only seen in 30mph limits. If the lanes are travelling at different speeds then merge in turn can never work properly, if at all.


A better and more accurate name for this thread would be: "Get out of my way while I cut over at the last possible moment". Because I can pretty much guarantee that all the people who think a lane closure sign mean merge in turn like to get as far up the queue as possible, and feel pretty d*mn satisfied with themselves if they succeed.


M

 

[Simon]

Nothing wrong with doing the speedlimit past stationary traffic in the other lane

Ever heard of hazard perception, seems yours was off and you were lucky not to go into the back of the vehicle that pulled out.

Surely the principle of merge in turn is to merge in turn rather than fly past everyone and cut in at the last moment?

Ah well, another: 'I nearly had an accident, quick to the internet to shift the blame to the other party so I feel better about myself' post

 

[Dabbles]

Surely the principle of merge in turn is to merge in turn rather than fly past everyone and cut in at the last moment?

I've seen this a lot on these forums and these people think they are the ones merging in turn correctly. They wonder why people don't leave them room when they've witnessed them travel past 1/4 of a mile of cars in their mirrors before they try to 'merge in turn' 1/2 a car length in front of them.

 

[Overlag]

Nothing wrong with doing the speedlimit past stationary traffic in the other lane

seriously? Ive been driving less than 6 years and i know thats a absolutely stupid thing to do.

 

[rypt]

I'm talking people who push right to the front, not merging in turn, usually with 2-3 other people on their tail and all 3-4 cars try to push in front of the furthest car forward in the left lane as they can not taking turns to merge in - I'm guessing in some regards its a response to people in the left lane closing ranks but still.

The problem is for every person that understands how to use merge in turn and willing to use the right hand lane, you get another person who just abuses the system. Its a bad system because no one likes queue jumpers and it looks like queue jumping even to people who understand merge in turn.

Merge in turn is supposed to work at the front, like a zip. You have 1 car from left lane, 1 car from right lane, 1 car from left lane, 1 car from right lane, and so on


But I guess this thread also illustrates how useless the majority of UK drivers are, given the wrong interpretations of how merge in turn works that have been stated above.