I do my best to keep a decent following distance, and try to match the average speed of traffic in rush hour. Sure, some people will merge in front of me, but t

I do my best to keep a decent following distance, and try to match the average speed of traffic in rush hour. Sure, some people will merge in front of me, but there's usually enough buffer space that I don't have to adjust my speed by a lot. And when traffic inevitably clumps up, I slack off the speed a little instead of having to brake. I've notice that some people are perfectly happy to stay behind me and match my speed, to avoid stop-and-go. I also try to position myself to make my merging intentions clear. I try to find a reasonable space to match speed and merge in, instead of trying to force myself in front. If traffic is completely blocked up, I will drive closer to the car in front if it's necessary to encourage a proper zipper merge. I sometimes see people getting really pissed off at that, usually the people who seem to be glued to the rear bumper of the car in front of them. The basic rule I adhere to is that whoever's front bumper is the furthest forward gets to merge in front. It should be so self-evident and obvious, put people just don't want to let other people "win".