Motorway, merging lane question.

[Dan B]

Anyway apparently I shouldn't comment on car driving as I have three bicycles.

Yeah, you need at least five bikes to qualify for a driving thread.

 

[MattDB]

Sorry to sound harsh but every road I've ever driven on has signage when lanes merge in the way you describe, more attention required imo.

Maybe maybe - it's always difficult in a new place competing with everyone else who knows the roads but there's a chance I missed a sign.

 

[Drago]

What were you doing in 'the middle' lane in the first place when we drive on the left in the UK?

 

[MattDB]

What were you doing in 'the middle' lane in the first place when we drive on the left in the UK?

It was a really odd set up near Bristol approaching a junction. I needed to go right.

 

[DaveReading]

[QUOTE 4572070, member: 9609"]you are supposed to use both of the lanes until the merge-point, forming an orderly queue and leaving half a mile of empty road is bad practise and can cause other problems and unnecessary delays.[/QUOTE]

+1

The concept of merging in turn (zip merge) seems to be a mystery to most British drivers.

 

[mjr]

Yup. And the method abhorred by Salty uses roadspace more effectively.

An Ars Technica article on the topic;
http://arstechnica.com/cars/2014/07/the-beauty-of-zipper-merging-or-why-you-should-drive-ruder/

That's not why it's becoming more and more common here, though. It's because we measure pollution at the sides of the road and more lanes queuing = fewer cars by the kerb = "lower" pollution, except it's not. There's still as many cars, just reshuffled, plus the queues look shorter, so it encourages more motorists because the roads not that busy, so it ends up with more pollution overall. When will this country get a grip on motoring and clear the ways for cycling?

 

[slowmotion]

Oh I just stab it and steer, if anything's in the way they got brakes don't they.

I'm all for merging in turn and never sit in the 40 mile queue but proceed in an orderly manner in the outside lane and merge when appropriate, ie pipe on the rack, slippers in place and trilby on the parcel shelf, National Trust sticker on the rear windscreen.

It's just the tossers who seem to drive towards a merge or cut across to an exit at the very last second and expect everyone else to make allowances for their pisspoor driving skills

Anyway apparently I shouldn't comment on car driving as I have three bicycles.

I think that The Highway Code was drawn up before the ascendency of arrogant nobbers with a peculiar sense of entitlement in £50,000 status symbols. I know a bit about fluid flow, not a bad proxy for traffic behaviour. If you want fluid to flow smoothly and efficiently into a narrow pipe from two other ones, you don't inject one of the flows at a steep angle right next to the constriction. I don't expect Audi drivers, etc. to take any notice.

BTW, there's nothing better than a large truck blocking the outside lane for 600 yards before the constriction, and moving at the same speed as the inside lane. The nobbers go insane with rage. Great entertainment.

 

[PaulB]

Not a bike question but I just wondered with all the well informed highway code aficionados here whether anyone knew the answer to this...

I was on a packed, fast moving three lane stretch of road, I needed to change lanes and indicated right, saw a gap and moved over, i hadn't realised that this close to the point at which the outside lane merged into the middle lane and it became a two lane road. So this coincided with someone merging into the middle lane at the same time as I moved into it. No harm done but furious driver honked their horn at me for quite a while. Obv if I knew the road I wouldn't have timed my manoeuvre so badly but wondered, according to highway code, does the person merging have right of way here or the driver moving from inside to middle lane?

Let it go. There's a thousand incidents like this every day. Forget it and never mention it again.

 

[mick1836]

Sorry to sound harsh but every road I've ever driven on has signage when lanes merge in the way you describe, more attention required imo.

And the offence use to be and still may be, Driving Without Due Care & Attention, Section 3 Road Traffic Act 1988

 

[Milkfloat]

If you want fluid to flow smoothly and efficiently into a narrow pipe from two other ones, you don't inject one of the flows at a steep angle right next to the constriction.

With the zipper flow both streams are running at the same speed and you don't get a steep angle at the merge. All it needs is for people to take turns, if they are really fussed, get in the near side lane and you don't need to merge at all. I study traffic patterns as part of my job, trust me it works.

 

[slowmotion]

With the zipper flow both streams are running at the same speed and you don't get a steep angle at the merge. All it needs is for people to take turns, if they are really fussed, get in the near side lane and you don't need to merge at all. I study traffic patterns as part of my job, trust me it works.

Drivers with a sense of entitlement have no interest in zipper flow though, do they?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I think that The Highway Code was drawn up before the ascendency of arrogant nobbers with a peculiar sense of entitlement in £50,000 status symbols. I know a bit about fluid flow, not a bad proxy for traffic behaviour. If you want fluid to flow smoothly and efficiently into a narrow pipe from two other ones, you don't inject one of the flows at a steep angle right next to the constriction. I don't expect Audi drivers, etc. to take any notice.

The Highway Code was drawn up precisely because the roads were full of entitled nobbers in their status symbols.

 

[Drago]

Getting in the way of your 4x4 monster truck I think...




Note: this is a humorous post. @Drago isn't a delicate flower (well, he might be really) who is going to get upset by a bit of leg-pulling...

Good heavens, wouldn't take my old heap on a motorway!

 

[MattDB]

And the offence use to be and still may be, Driving Without Due Care & Attention, Section 3 Road Traffic Act 1988

You're right, I'd best hand myself in!

 

[G3CWI]

[QUOTE 4571923, member: 259"]The British are dreadful at giving way and merging[/QUOTE]

Really? Try driving in the Middle East, Africa or the Far East for a reality check.