Merging Idiots - Finally a result

Merging Idiots - Finally a result

Author
Discussion

cashmax

Original Poster:

1,218 posts

248 months

Saturday
quotequote all
Road works on my local dual carriageway, merge in turn signs, normal mayhem ensues.

I was driving up the clear lane and a truck decides to pull across and block both lanes in an attempt to control the traffic in the empty lane. He makes it impossible to get past and no doubt thinks he is doing some kind of community service. Something I have seen them do many times. Although this time as we approach the merge point, there is a traffic car there and one of them gets out, walks in front of the truck and signals for him to pull over on the hard shoulder.

This is the first time I have seen one of these dheads humbled.

But it did get me thinking - surely the simplest way to deal with idiots who refuse to use both lanes, is to not tell drivers which lane is merging, that way they don't know which lane to "defend"

Forester1965

2,929 posts

11 months

Saturday
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Pet hate of mine, the merge-in-turn-monitors. Petty minded angry people who don't realise they're slowing themselves and everybody else down.

Terminator X

16,400 posts

212 months

Saturday
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Yep I always drive to the front. 9 times out of 10 some tt is blocking both lanes

TX.

Ultra Sound Guy

28,816 posts

202 months

Saturday
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I’ve seen a couple of places (roadworks and permanent merges) where neither lane merges into the other but the road is laid out such that the two lanes both merge together into a “mid” lane! Seems to stop all of the arguments.

C69

585 posts

20 months

Saturday
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Ultra Sound Guy said:
I’ve seen a couple of places (roadworks and permanent merges) where neither lane merges into the other but the road is laid out such that the two lanes both merge together into a “mid” lane! Seems to stop all of the arguments.
Hopefully this approach will become more common.

Caddyshack

11,913 posts

214 months

Saturday
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My friend held his ground in his Cayman against a trucker who wanted to block the road. The repair bill ran in to a few thousand. Nobody assisted and it went knock for knock on insurance. The driver should have been prosecuted.

nordboy

1,980 posts

58 months

Saturday
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More signage on the approach, 'use both lanes' and 'merge in turn' would work better as well. These days you have to spell it out, signs, signs, signs.

The central lane is an idea but they often need a whole lane of separation from the workers/ equipment, so not always possible.

Megaflow

9,950 posts

233 months

Saturday
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Nice to see something done about it, but it won’t make a difference. Warwickshire police recently posted on Facebook that both lanes should be used to the merge point, the amount of people telling the police they were wrong is simply mind blowing.

Pica-Pica

14,520 posts

92 months

Saturday
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The best way, if there is the road space, is to merge both lanes into a central line, then divert onto the single open lane after that.

IanH755

2,012 posts

128 months

Saturday
quotequote all
Imagine if the Government reintroduced "Public Service Films" like the old Green-cross Code ones and drink driving etc only its used for things like this, with a 30sec to 1min "advert" on the BBC/ITV around Soaps and the latest Celebrity cook/dance/jungle guff etc which simply states "This is the correct way to do "something", if you don't do this then YOU are in the wrong, not others who are doing exactly what they are supposed to, its YOU who is the idiot!" and have someone who is "respected" doing the advert, rather than some chinless government spokesperson.

You could do a whole ream of these -

Middle Lane Morons
Can't merge from a sliproad
Merge in-turn (zipper)
What "speed" the NSL actually means for different roads & vehicles etc

There's so many different versions of idiots who need re-educating on simple common sense things.

NDA

22,356 posts

233 months

Saturday
quotequote all
It always amused me that in the London rush-hour, 99.9% of drivers use both lanes to merge and there's no hassle. I used to commute into the centre from 80 miles out - did it for years never had a problem. Occasionally there'd be an issue, but in over 20 years of 6am commuting, I'd say it was very rare.

Out of town - different story. Only this week I had some idiot keeping an inch from the car in front so I couldn't get in, luckily the driver in front of him stopped and I went in front of him. It was so ridiculous.

Stick Legs

6,048 posts

173 months

Saturday
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I had a lorry do this to me once on a dual carriage way, blocked both lanes 1/2 a mile from the merge.

I was in my Range Rover & there was quite a large grass area between the edge of the carriage way and the armco...

...I drove around him and merged at the front...

...Not my finest hour I'll admit.

Still amuses me just how apoplectic he must have been though. biglaugh

Sporky

7,359 posts

72 months

Saturday
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nordboy said:
More signage on the approach, 'use both lanes' and 'merge in turn' would work better as well.
Yup. For all that I know I should use both lanes and merge at the end, there's a lot of aggro doing what you're meant to.

Reminding/instructing people each and every time is probably the simplest route yo getting the tight behaviour.

Glenn63

3,139 posts

92 months

Saturday
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People who block lanes are dumb and stupid, that is all. I’m a trucker my self and glad that trucker got pulled up for his stupidity.


and31

3,597 posts

135 months

Saturday
quotequote all
cashmax said:
Road works on my local dual carriageway, merge in turn signs, normal mayhem ensues.

I was driving up the clear lane and a truck decides to pull across and block both lanes in an attempt to control the traffic in the empty lane. He makes it impossible to get past and no doubt thinks he is doing some kind of community service. Something I have seen them do many times. Although this time as we approach the merge point, there is a traffic car there and one of them gets out, walks in front of the truck and signals for him to pull over on the hard shoulder.

This is the first time I have seen one of these dheads humbled.
Excellent! I’m a lorry driver and it infuriates me when a fellow “ professional “ does this!
If the lane is live I’ll use it right to the pinch point




Edited by and31 on Saturday 30th November 18:57

SmoothCriminal

5,308 posts

207 months

Saturday
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I can never work out why the always close one lane into the other, it should be set out as one poster says above like a zip, would literally take half a dozen more cones and then after it's down to one lane they could angle the cones to whichever lane they want open.

Skyedriver

18,992 posts

290 months

Saturday
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Thing is, there's a standard procedure to follow for signing at all roadworks; Chapter 8 IIRC but that may have been superseded now as I'm retired.

Sheepshanks

35,098 posts

127 months

Saturday
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I always wonder why the truck drivers don't just drive down the right lane themselves - it's not like they're not going to be able to cut in at the merge point.

Pica-Pica

14,520 posts

92 months

Saturday
quotequote all
IanH755 said:
Imagine if the Government reintroduced "Public Service Films"
Or a compulsory on-line test every few years to keep your licence. A failure could mean you repeat the on-line test within, say, 3 months. There could be a higher points pass required on the second test, and some questions could be a mandatory fail if a false answer given.

popeyewhite

21,497 posts

128 months

Saturday
quotequote all
Caddyshack said:
My friend held his ground in his Cayman against a trucker who wanted to block the road. The repair bill ran in to a few thousand. Nobody assisted and it went knock for knock on insurance. The driver should have been prosecuted.
I have to say both are as bad as each other here. Who on Earth wouldn't give ground to a truck if they're in a tiny sports car?