Why do idiots try and control my driving?

Beepcake · 9 Feb 2006 at 11:17

Del Lardo said:
If there are 3 lanes going down to 2 then there is no reason not to use all 3 lanes until they merge into 2. I know we're British and like to queue (probably genetic memory from the war) but if there are 3 lanes then I'm using which ever one has the shortest queue.

The highway code says you should move your vehicle "in good time", which in my mind doesn't mean pushing in at the last minute

And as for the making the queue longer; yes it won't extend by one car immediately, but it also won't shrink by a longer period because people are pushing in at the front. If everyone slowed down before they reached a potential bottleneck, and got over early, the traffic would flow much quicker.. but unfortunately that goes out of the window the moment some people think they know better or think they are too important to queue.

The original poster was in the right in my opinion though, no reason to block if it's a fair distance from the point of merge

Pug · 9 Feb 2006 at 11:20

chris.tarry85 said:
Doing this must make the traffic slower

quite the opposite.

Filling all available lanes and allowing "zip-merging" (one for one) limits delay caused by unneccesary queuing and also diminshes tailbacks

http://www.iam.org.uk/Pressroom/News_Releases/Archive/nr0115.html

36. "Zip" merging (alternate lane) at lane closures
The IAM is campaigning for the next edition of the Highway Code to be amended to discourage wasted space by "zip-merging" (from alternate lanes) at lane closures for road works etc. The current edition, Rule 262 states "use your mirrors and get into the correct lane for your vehicle in good time…do not switch lanes to overtake queuing traffic". Unfortunately, upon seeing an advance warning sign of a lane closure, many drivers misinterpret "in good time" to mean "now" and immediately change lanes, so wasting a long stretch of empty lane before the taper of cones and making any tailback longer! Some drivers will stay longer in that lane, overtaking the queue, which can lead to resentment from others, and occasionally to the dangerous and obstructive practice of a vehicle straddling the white line to prevent this. A far more efficient method is, on seeing the sign, if we adjust our speed depending on traffic conditions and merge from each lane in turn on approaching the cones. In practice, this is likely to be earlier at faster speeds and close to the cones in stop-start conditions and will be fair to everyone.

Morba · 9 Feb 2006 at 11:23

Pug said:
and fwiw i wasnt "bombing down the outside and cutting people up" i was in the outside lane when i realised and so decided to continue for a while (200 yd board good example) and then look to merge, not force my way in.

your post came across as people were queuing, not that traffic was still moving very freely.

Pug · 9 Feb 2006 at 11:24

Morba said:
your post came across as people were queuing, not that traffic was still moving very freely.

aah, in that case my bad.

Lets call it slow moving traffic in a queue formation

EDITED

Morba · 9 Feb 2006 at 11:26

you were in the right then imo

Beepcake · 9 Feb 2006 at 11:28

Pug said:
quite the opposite.

Filling all available lanes and allowing "zip-merging" (one for one) limits delay caused by unneccesary queuing and also diminshes tailbacks

As it says in the article you quoted, if everyone did it then it would be fine, but the 'norm' is the way the highway code describes so trying to mix that with some people zip-merging is a recipe for disaster and agro

Tesla · 9 Feb 2006 at 11:30

If you know Bristol then I guess you know the M32.

During peak times the Ikea exit is queued back along the motorway.

The traffic is moving slowly in the other two lanes, I am not in a rush and see a car indicating and moving out to my lane.

So I stop to let him out. He then cancels the indicator and stops. So I go to move forward, as he does this the indicator comes back on and he nudges back out then stops.

So I go to move off then he pulls out all the way. This whole episode taking 10-15seconds.

He then burns off in 1st gear about 100yds up the road. Then slams on the anchors.
He then indicates and nudges back into the queue near the front.

I am not happy by this so stop the car next to his (it was safe to do so) and me and the car behind (they could see what had happened too) just had hand on horn and gave him the finger. lol.

Scuzi · 9 Feb 2006 at 11:38

What was the point in that? The best thing to do with numptys like that on the road is to ignore them and get on with your own journey, let the buck eejits fly on in front. Teaching people a lesson using hand signals and horns only takes you down to their level and should you be unlucky enough you might even get a psycho who is willing to leave thier car to attack yours

I'm not saying I never did it but after a bad experience I've decided it's best to let these cretins ahead and forget about them.

Bear · 9 Feb 2006 at 12:59

Scuzi said:
There's nothing cheeky about that. What's the point in having 800,yards of an empty lane, just to be courteous and British. I hate the way people here expect you to pull into the left lane at the first sign that the right lane will be closed. If anyone does use the right lane up until the lane closure, people seem to try their best to teach them a lesson and block them off.

It's stupid.

Its not stupid at all because you then keep the flow of traffic moving if you filter in good time. If everyone had to stop to let some impatient idiot through then it causes the traffic to start/stop all the time which causes larger tail backs.

Bernard · 9 Feb 2006 at 13:03

Totally agree.

It's far more stupid to carry on using the open lane until the last minute, expecting someone to let them in, only to find they're only a car ahead of where they would have been if they had merged in good time like the rest of the drivers.

Malachy · 9 Feb 2006 at 13:05

Pug said:
Why do idiots try and control my driving?

Answer: because you drive like a nonce!

merging at the last minute ***** me off and i will not let people in it causes stop start driving and does slow down the flow of traffic. (the same amount of cars have to get through the same gap no matter what way you do it so constant movement is better than stop start. Also stop start driving causes accidents in such situations. is one of my gripes this along with middle lane drivers.

No swearing. Read the FAQs

Pug · 9 Feb 2006 at 13:22

Malachy said:
(the same amount of cars have to get through the same gap no matter what way you do it so constant movement is better than stop start.

people filling up all space in front of their car in the left hand lane are equally to blame for causing stress and delays in this situation.

Read my post above: the Institute Of Advanced Motorists RECCOMEND one-by-one (zip) merging at or nearer to the cones than we currently do.

Its been PROVEN that if all drivers leave a big enough gap to allow a one by one merging the merging will be carried out at the same speed by each driver and will thus be more fluid and quicker than getting into lane well in advance and queuing/waiting for a single procession to go through. not to mention the longer tailbacks caused by this process.

Stop discussing the same thing when FACT points to the contrary.

Pug · 9 Feb 2006 at 13:25

Bernard said:
expecting someone to let them in

that right there is the problem, and major cause of tailbacks.

It isnt a competition, and no one should "let" people in. You should leave a large enough safety gap in front of your vehicle, which would enable people to merge without interrupting the flow of traffic.

We need to get out of this mentality "He's using the outside lane, therefore i'm gonna defend every last inch of road".

Malachy · 9 Feb 2006 at 13:26

yes thats fine in theory if every singlge drivers leaves exactly enough gap for 1 car infront of him, Hit reality! a lot of these theorys are great on paper and computer simulaters, but do not take into everyday circumstances.
and thats great but i leave a gap for 1 car infront of me great i am cruising at say 30mph this car pulls infront and now i need to slow down to create a safe braking distance. now someone else pulls in as i have a gap and i need to slow down again. if people get in lane earlier you can stay at a more consistant speed and not have to deal with this. as said these things work great on paper but it will never happen in the real world.

ok 3 quees in the super market 2 of them have huge quees 1 has a shorter queee but a sign saying its shutting in 3 mins. you get to the checkout as it shuts. i am at the checkout next to you and i thought 'that quee is shutting soon so i will wait in the longer quee' should i just be like ah well mate i have waited my turn fairly you have been careless and not really thought about waiting and are in a rush and your time is obviously more important than mine ill just let you infront of me? no thats unfair and pathetic. sorry youll go to the back of the quee for being a fool!

Pug · 9 Feb 2006 at 13:44

its called one-by-one or zip merging for a reason tho mate, and if people were to be better drivers they'd realise this, and wouldn't nip in where there isnt space to do so (this applies to LH lanes and RH lanes equally). Thats not the fault of the theory tho, thats the fault of muppets who refuse to acknowledge it.

Look, i could argue this one to make a point, but i'm too busy in work. Suffice to say, in a year or 2 it'll be in the highway code, and will be understood by all to be the most effective way of minimising delays at lane closures, and become standard practise.

Doesnt mean people will do that, and they'll continue to be "at war" with other road users to gain a few inches of tarmac.

It isnt the fault of the theory if it fails, its the fault of the drivers that cause it to fail. The theory works as long as everyone will play their part in making it work, and to do that we'll need to fill up both lanes and allow a 1 to 1 merging system.

Surely if it benefits everyone its worthwhile to all?

Bernard · 9 Feb 2006 at 13:48

Pug said:
that right there is the problem, and major cause of tailbacks.

It isnt a competition, and no one should "let" people in. You should leave a large enough safety gap in front of your vehicle, which would enable people to merge without interrupting the flow of traffic.

We need to get out of this mentality "He's using the outside lane, therefore i'm gonna defend every last inch of road".

When the lanes are jammed, there is no gap for them to drive into!!

They steam up the outside, stick their front end slighty into the inner lane, this causes delays simply because other drivers DO let them in.

I've lost count of the number of times, I've seen it happen. M-Way slows to a crawl, get 2 miles further up to see its people like this causing it, as soon as it's down to 2 lanes fully, suprise suprise, the traffic starts flowing again.

Freefaller · 9 Feb 2006 at 14:17

It must be the Mediterranean blood in me, but I don't do queues really. I don't wait till the last minute, but I at least pass the 200yd mark before even thinking of merging. Anybody who plays traffic cop is more dangerous than the person trying to get in at the last minute and frankly they are being stupid and shouldn't be on the road.

It really doesn't bother me that people use up the whole lane as long as they don't cause a blockage when they try to merge at the last minute, as long as the differential in speeds are matched there shouldn't be any need for braking etc...

The OP sounded like he was being perfectly reasonable and the idiot in the fiesta is going to cause an accident.

Sometimes I dream I could actually own a big tank that I didn't care about and had a free licence to knock people out of the way who behave like idiots - this would be a prime example.

Freefaller · 9 Feb 2006 at 14:24

Whether it's "right" or wrong, it doesn't give people the right to drive like idiots and take the laws into their own hands.

Futhermore, people who stick bumper to bumper to stop people merging are being just as foolish and reducing their safety braking zone too.

As long as the outside lane drivers, don't bully or drive aggressively to push in they are being safe and they are perfectly in their right to be there.

If people actually bothered to do the 1 in, 1 along, methodology there would hardly be too much of a slow down, it's because people are being a) too stubborn, b) too aggressive c) too ignorant d) too stupid to drive like sensible intelligent human beings.

Bernard · 9 Feb 2006 at 14:26

Yeah people who go bumper to bumper to stop them is as bad.

But when the people trying to get that extra two cars in front cause the inside lane to come to a stop, people tend to get much closer, as they are moving a lot slower.

cleanbluesky · 9 Feb 2006 at 14:38

I do this, but usually only when there is a reason for it. There is a 2-lane slip road onto the A13 whereby, in the wisdom of people who draw road-lines, the right hand lane merges into the left lane (without warning) instead of merging into the A13. The problem is that driver who are unfamiliar with this try to follow these lines, meaning that if you are side by side things might get a little close - so in this scenario I will straddle both lanes in order to stop people getting in on the right...