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Slower traffic: keep one lane left of the right lane



 
 
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Old December 26th 13, 03:51 AM posted to rec.autos.driving
Arif Khokar
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Default Slower traffic: keep one lane left of the right lane

On 12/25/2013 07:01 AM, Daniel W. Rouse Jr. wrote:
> "Arif Khokar" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On 12/25/2013 02:29 AM, Daniel W. Rouse Jr. wrote:
>>> "Arif Khokar" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> So I was driving back from a shopping trip last night in the right
>>>> lane going about 70 mph (speed limit was 65 mph IIRC). As I pass an
>>>> interchange, a car comes up the acceleration ramp about 200 feet ahead
>>>> of me going roughly the same speed. This acceleration ramp is roughly
>>>> 2000 feet long according to the signage. I maintain a constant speed
>>>> in the right lane fully expecting this person to merge ahead of me,
>>>> but he remained in the acceleration lane. Just as the acceleration
>>>> lane was ending, he suddenly slowed down and merged in behind me.
>>>>
>>> As you pass and interchange, a merger is ahead of you at the same speed?

>>
>> Yes.
>>

> So you see the yellow diamond sign indicating merging traffic.


And?

>>> And you made a collision course for him instead of backing off?

>>
>> It's not a collision course since he was going the same speed and was
>> ahead of me.
>>

> Okay. But where does he merge?


I already answered this question at least 3 times in my previous
response. The answer is either ahead of me or behind me.

> The earliest point is as soon as the
> solid line becomes dashed.


And?

> The latest is when the shoulder line forces a
> merger to get in or be run off the road.


And?

> Note: I am not even addressing
> haveing the merger have to stop except for ramp signals. If it's a
> freeway/highway accleration line, through traffic should quickly pass,
> change lanes to the left, or brake.


As I stated in my original post, he had the amount of time that it takes
to traverse a distance of 2000 feet at 70 mph in order to position his
vehicle properly in order to merge (which is about 20 seconds).

>>> Remember, he is ahead of you.

>>
>> And?
>>

> There should have been no way the merger needed to slow down. You were
> too close, you closed the gap.


What part of the other driver was about 200 feet ahead of me going
roughly the same speed do you not understand? Explain to me how that
was a collision course. The fact is that he had sufficient room to
change lanes without taking any further action.

>>>> A couple of things ran through my mind:
>>>>
>>>> 1. Was this driver a complete idiot that couldn't tell he had room to
>>>> merge the whole time?
>>>
>>> No, you made it look like you were going to collide with him.

>>
>> All I did was maintain a constant speed. If he couldn't figure out
>> how to position his vehicle in order to merge nor figure out that he
>> had space to merge, that's his problem, not mine.
>>

> Seems like many on this group are MFFYs and would rather have a
> merger/lane changer risk hitting the car in front of them instead of
> braking.


I was behind him.
>
>>>> 2. If not #1, could he not use the roughly 20 seconds to decide to
>>>> speed up just a little bit to open up a gap and come in ahead of me
>>>> like I originally thought he was going to?
>>>>
>>> The driver has no obligation to speed up,

>>
>> He has an obligation to find a gap and merge into it. He had ample
>> opportunity to either find one ahead of me or behind me. If he felt
>> that a 200 foot distance ahead of me wasn't sufficient to change
>> lanes, he could have simply speed up by a few miles per hour and
>> opened up another 100 feet or so of distance in order to make a lane
>> change.
>>

> And you could have assisted the gap by, you know, slowing down.


It's far easier to merge into traffic that itself is not changing speed.
If I'm adjusting my speed to meet a gap when I'm trying to merge,
having a car slow down or speed up to move or eliminate the gap relative
to where I think it would be is a rude thing to do. The other driver
should not have had an issue in finding a gap when I was maintaining a
constant speed.

>> Alternatively, if he didn't want to speed up, he could have decreased
>> his speed by a few mph and when his car fell behind me, he could
>> switch lanes. The fact that he didn't figure that out until the lane
>> ended demonstrates is lack of timely decision making skills.
>>
>>> only to enter at freeway
>>> speed, which you were exeeding by 5mph.

>>
>> And?
>>
>>> Right of way doesn't mean
>>> collision course, you were supposed to have slowed down.


No, the person who has to yield to through traffic needs to adjust their
speed to not interfere with such traffic. Through traffic only has the
obligation to maintain constant speed and adequate distance between from
other vehicles.

>> No, he was either supposed to speed up or slow down to find a gap.
>> That's what merging means. I'm willing to bet the next thing you'll
>> tell me that traffic in a modern roundabout must slow down in order to
>> allow other vehicles to enter at speed. It appears that you don't
>> have the concept of right-of-way or what yielding actually means.

>
> Right-of-way means through traffic, keeping speed, but not closing gaps
> or cutting people off in a collision course.


Which is what I've stated several times. Again, through traffic should
maintain a constant speed and adequate spacing from the vehicle in front
of them. I fulfilled both of those obligations in the scenario I described.

> Merging traffic is supposed
> to enter at the prevailing speed of traffic AT or below the speed limit,
> not OVER the speed limit.


Merging traffic is supposed to enter at or close to the prevailing speed
of traffic. To be fair, traffic should be moving at a speed that's
realistic to achieve for merging traffic or they should allow for more
space between them and the car in front to account for slower merging
traffic. In the case I described, the merging area was more than long
enough for the vehicle to enter at the speed of through traffic.

> Most roundabouts in my area are speed limit 15mph with yield signs and
> yield to traffic already in circle. This is not the same as a multilane
> traffic circle.


Roundabouts have advisory speeds, not speed limits. Second, I brought
that particular example up because you appear to be advocating that
traffic in the circle should slow down in order to allow traffic to
enter the circle. My position is that traffic preparing to enter the
circle time their approach such that they merge smoothly into traffic
already in the circle without requiring them to change speed at all.
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