I dont know why so many drivers in the UK find it hard to merge sensibly - they get behind the wheel and become morons.

It is common in other countries to see signs like these ...







I think zipper merging is incompatible with the British mentality of needing to get in a queue for things. Jules

Exactly J77 and Jules

Not so long back I was coming home from Derby with my mate after a cinema outing and traffic had built up a bit at a smallish roundabout. You can go straight on from both lanes but once the other side of the roundabout, an arrow points left to indicate merging required.

As I cruised across in the left lane, I clocked a Peugeot in my wing mirror who zoomed over in the right hand lane and stopped level with me. He had therefore cut a couple of places from the queue behind. I could have let my blood start boiling and blocked him out but I waved him in and he put his hand up in acknowledgment. My mate said I should have blocked him as that would have taught him a lesson. Pointless and wrong! LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

It’s interesting to have an insight into a queue jumper’s frame of mind

As you say tigger, there seems to be two sets of thinking, and it helps to understand both.

I am with Jules and J77, it is best to keep the traffic flowing smoothly and merge, especially after road junctions and traffic lights where extra lane are provided (for a short distance) to get more cars over the junction.

The 'blocking the road' brigade cause problems around here on the dual carriageway urban roads by travelling in the outer lane for miles and miles.

I think its best to just travel at your own speed, in the appropriate (most left hand) lane. I find using cruise control helps prevent temptations to race others. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
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Tigger wrote:

It’s interesting to have an insight into a queue jumper’s frame of mind

A38 going West into Landrake......uphill 50 mph overtaking lane there primarily for slow moving trucks going up the hill, still even when there is a line of stationary traffic you still get people charging up the hill in the outside lane trying to get home 2 minutes earlier......  Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

Merging is just fine , it is something that happens in a dynamic environment , also if it is mandatory it is normally posted and or marked on the road . Queue jumping is something that happens in a static situation when the driver is a) fully aware of what he is doing , or b) has not paid enough attention to the developing situation ahead or c) missed temporary signing .

People can justify all they want but queue jumping by anything with more than 2 wheel is not clever ,not courteous , and is disruptive . 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

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Last edited by MartynB on 18th Jul 2019 8:04 am. Edited 1 time in total

Tigger wrote:

It’s interesting to have an insight into a queue jumper’s frame of mind

It is amusing that when no traffic offence is being committed, the people who decide to police the roads according to some rules they have made up and use their car to block others, are the ones committing the traffic offence.

A good rule of thumb on how to react is what would your actions be if a marked police car is present, would you block that....no you wouldn't. If a marked police car was at the head of a stationery queue of traffic would you still use the unused lane, yes you would, because you are not doing anything wrong. Would the cars behind the police car put their car as close to the back of the police car as possible and maintain that to try and block the other driver out. No they wouldn't. It's quite obvious who is in the wrong. 
Hung like Einstein, smart as a horse.

Well said shiggsy.  LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

Let me get this right...

Long queue of traffic and clearly signed that outer lane closed 800yds _ 600yds and so on , me sitting patiently on a 10 hour trek to Scotland and a ( I will use the term buffon ) thinks it appropriate to speed up to the filter cones and just cut in, and people think this is ok???

Quite obviously they have never worked inside those cones and saw some ( buffon sheep ) flying up towards them.

On one occasion the buffon sheep did not judge it correctly and ploughed into safety wagon, can I just add there was an urgent rush to get him out


are not buffons. If it wasn't so bad it'd be funny.

🐑
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JulesK I don't think anyone is encouraging bad driving.

I think that what is needed in all driving is a little give and take, and that includes using all the road provided and merging like a zip, definitely not trying to barge in from either lane.

In my area (the M5) there is quite a problem with lane discipline. The motorway is left with a lot of unused space on the inner lane as people seem to (aggressively) drive nose to tail in the middle lane. Quite often this stops traffic moving back into left hand lane once they have overtaken and so causes long queues in the outer lane.

We have several places, going both north and south where the motorway needs to merge from 4 lanes to 3, this often causes accidents and queues in the outer lanes as people fight to keep their 'so called' place on the road. Luckily the inner lane(s) are safer and run free. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
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People who go flying up and charge in are stupid. Just use both lanes at a steady pace and don’t leave it until the very last chance and then merge. That’s if you don’t come across someone trying to block the lane.

People can justify all they want but blocking a lane and ignoring merging in turn is not clever, not courteous and is disruptive. It is the preserve of the self important etc LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

Just like someone else said I sit in a long queue because I can read the sign saying lane closes in 600yrds , others fly up the closing lane to the cones effectively pushing me and everyone else further back in the queue.
The zipper effect only works on a pc or if people don’t drive upto the cones , as soon as the traffic brakes to let them in the whole thing is . You then get the saw effect ebbing & flowing Do it now ! Your a long time dead !!

So you are on a busy 3 lane motorway, the sign says outside lane closed 600 m - most sensible folk start to merge and as you can't fit a quart into a pint bottle the middle and inside lane start to back up with slow moving traffic. Along comes smart arse who then continues on the outer lane and expects to be let in at the last minute. Yeah right Sensible folk start merging when they see the signs rather than waiting until the last minute. Gripes, it's not that you drive a BMW doc  MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

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600 yards of empty carriageway, epic idea. The key is to avoid blasting down to the very end and try merging but 600 yards could be used if we did not have the “you aren’t getting one car in front of me” mentality.

In my original example, I stopped dead at the first arrow when I could have ploughed on until the lane ran out. I then took evasive action when the lane blockers started their campaign.

Shiggsy covered it well above LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey