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This is not really specific to Germany. Zipping is also used in e.g. in The Netherlands and Belgium. It's been required by law in Belgium since 2014 and has bee

This is not really specific to Germany. Zipping is also used in e.g. in The Netherlands and Belgium. It's been required by law in Belgium since 2014 and has been campaigned in The Netherlands since 1989 (apparently). Also, having lived in Germany for five years and having been in 'Stau' for many times, Germans are also not terribly good/efficient at it. Typical problems: people switch to the lane that is supposed to zip when traffic is going faster, which is obviously counterproductive; and not leaving openings for people to zip. It's probably still better, but it would be far more effective if all drivers would actually cooperate.

christoph-heiss 8y ago
Pretty much the rule in Austria too.
bebna 8y ago
Stau is a bad example for most cases, but yes you will always get some who think they know better, even if they had to learn in the driving school that lane jumping makes it just slower for everyone.
pnutjam 8y ago
I think your wrong. You should switch to the faster lane, zipping should make both lanes the same when optimized.
Cthulhu_ 8y ago
In my experience, zipping as described here - when getting onto the highway - isn't done properly in NL. People still try and force themselves onto the highway or other lane as soon as possible. My colleague called it "eerste blokjesangst". Just keep going for a bit further, use the whole road, and make sure you're matching speed with the rest of traffic, instead of making them (unknowingly) slow down to let you in. Also keep in mind you ARE allowed to overtake slower traffic on the on-ramp, so if there's a truck there, just pass it on the right, then merge.
- nf05papsjfVbc 8y ago
  Usually, it is safer to merge behind the truck.
  - davedx 8y ago
    Not sure about that. Trucks generally have very powerful brakes and can stop faster than you'd expect. Crashing into the back of a truck can be catastrophic.
    - UI_at_80x24 8y ago
      I'm a Part-time truck driver. Truck do have big powerful brakes, (newer ones with disk-brakes are really awesome) but it still takes a LONG time/distance to slow/stop 80,000lbs from 100km/h. Kinetic energy is a real bitch. There are videos of new volvos with 'automatic emergency braking' that is impressive to watch; but that isn't real-world. In the real world during a 'panic stop' the trailer brakes lock up and the trailer starts bouncing. If you are lucky the tractor wheels don't lock up, but while you have slammed on the brakes, you are still steering and trying to avoid hitting anyone. 316ft for a car vs 524ft for a truck.[1] Almost twice the distance. And that does NOT match my real-world experience. I'd say on average it takes 3x-4x the distance to stop a rig. [1]https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/stopping-distances-for-commercial-vehicles-28265 https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/stopping-distances-for-com...
    - mikestew 8y ago
      If you can’t stop a sedan faster than a truck can stop, you might consider taking a driving instruction course.
    - michaelcampbell 8y ago
      All the brakes can do is stop the wheels; you still have way more mass generally and momentum to actually get stopped. While crashing can be catastrophic, I'd like to see some numbers on how many crashes into the backs of trucks were because the truck out-brake'd the smaller vehicle behind it as opposed to the smaller vehicle not paying attention.
mont 8y ago
> It's probably still better, but it would be far more effective if all drivers would actually cooperate. That's the issue with most of solutions to traffic though.
blevin 8y ago
As self driving cars become more common I'm curious if we will see an opportunity to shift to more globally efficient cooperative behavior, or if the need to interop with human-driven cars means the same incentives and behavior patterns will persist.
- mark-r 8y ago
  It will be worse as human drivers learn to take advantage of the predictable risk-averse behavior of the self driving cars.

christoph-heiss 8y ago

Pretty much the rule in Austria too.

bebna 8y ago

Stau is a bad example for most cases, but yes you will always get some who think they know better, even if they had to learn in the driving school that lane jumping makes it just slower for everyone.

pnutjam 8y ago

I think your wrong. You should switch to the faster lane, zipping should make both lanes the same when optimized.

Cthulhu_ 8y ago

In my experience, zipping as described here - when getting onto the highway - isn't done properly in NL. People still try and force themselves onto the highway or other lane as soon as possible. My colleague called it "eerste blokjesangst". Just keep going for a bit further, use the whole road, and make sure you're matching speed with the rest of traffic, instead of making them (unknowingly) slow down to let you in. Also keep in mind you ARE allowed to overtake slower traffic on the on-ramp, so if there's a truck there, just pass it on the right, then merge.

nf05papsjfVbc 8y ago
Usually, it is safer to merge behind the truck.
- davedx 8y ago
  Not sure about that. Trucks generally have very powerful brakes and can stop faster than you'd expect. Crashing into the back of a truck can be catastrophic.
  - UI_at_80x24 8y ago
    I'm a Part-time truck driver. Truck do have big powerful brakes, (newer ones with disk-brakes are really awesome) but it still takes a LONG time/distance to slow/stop 80,000lbs from 100km/h. Kinetic energy is a real bitch. There are videos of new volvos with 'automatic emergency braking' that is impressive to watch; but that isn't real-world. In the real world during a 'panic stop' the trailer brakes lock up and the trailer starts bouncing. If you are lucky the tractor wheels don't lock up, but while you have slammed on the brakes, you are still steering and trying to avoid hitting anyone. 316ft for a car vs 524ft for a truck.[1] Almost twice the distance. And that does NOT match my real-world experience. I'd say on average it takes 3x-4x the distance to stop a rig. [1]https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/stopping-distances-for-commercial-vehicles-28265 https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/stopping-distances-for-com...
  - mikestew 8y ago
    If you can’t stop a sedan faster than a truck can stop, you might consider taking a driving instruction course.
  - michaelcampbell 8y ago
    All the brakes can do is stop the wheels; you still have way more mass generally and momentum to actually get stopped. While crashing can be catastrophic, I'd like to see some numbers on how many crashes into the backs of trucks were because the truck out-brake'd the smaller vehicle behind it as opposed to the smaller vehicle not paying attention.

mont 8y ago

> It's probably still better, but it would be far more effective if all drivers would actually cooperate. That's the issue with most of solutions to traffic though.

blevin 8y ago

As self driving cars become more common I'm curious if we will see an opportunity to shift to more globally efficient cooperative behavior, or if the need to interop with human-driven cars means the same incentives and behavior patterns will persist.

mark-r 8y ago
It will be worse as human drivers learn to take advantage of the predictable risk-averse behavior of the self driving cars.