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I live in the Twin Cities and "Minnesota nice" means merging incredibly early when a lane is posted as closed. As a transplant I can always count on getting and

by dusing 12y ago

I live in the Twin Cities and "Minnesota nice" means merging incredibly early when a lane is posted as closed. As a transplant I can always count on getting and extra 1/2 - 1 mile ahead by staying in the closed lane. It is getting better, but still 40% of the time the car at the end of the zipper merge is NOT happy to see you, and thinks they are letting you in. Signage is helping at the big construction areas.

hockeybias 12y ago
You nailed it.
VikingCoder 12y ago
"Getting ahead" means you're not following the whole point of this idea, which is to MINIMIZE the speed differential between the two lanes. If you want to show people how it's done, you go the same speed as the cars next to you in the open lane, and zipper merge at the end. GRRRRR. Yes, THEY are doing it wrong, because they're early merging. (IDIOTS!) But you are ALSO doing it wrong. I'm reminded of the George Carlin comment that everyone who drives slower than you is an idiot, and everyone who drives faster than you is an asshole.
- dusing 12y ago
  "Getting ahead" does not mean speeding, and its hard to go the same speed as the full lane when it is at a stand still. I do slow down from the speed limit significantly just in case someone wants to pop out.
tedsanders 12y ago
The whole point of zipper merging is to minimize speed differences between lanes for maximum efficiency and maximum safety. The proper way to execute a late zipper merge is to match speeds and merge at the end. You are not correctly zipper merging if you are passing other cars before merging at the end.
- boyaka 12y ago
  He is helping to correct traffic. Everybody else is messing up the zipper merging by not filling in both lanes equally.
  - tedsanders 12y ago
    No. The way to correct traffic is to stay in the right lane, moving at the same speed as the other lane, and merge at the end. That is what the zipper merge is. Driving at a faster speed than the other lane does not correct anything.
    - QuiteMouse 12y ago
      The zip line is always free though, so obviously you're going to be going faster then the other lane that is backed up with traffic.
      - tedsanders 12y ago
        Again, the correct way to zipper merge is to reduce your speed to the traffic beside you and then merge at the end. The whole reason zipper merging is efficient and safe is that both lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, making merging quick and easy. If you zoom past the other lane of traffic, you are actually worse than the early mergers in terms of safety and efficiency. Edit: For those of you downvoting me, could you please explain your reasoning? Do you disagree with the content of my message or its delivery?
        simias 12y ago
        You need to have the same speed at the point of merging, not while you're just driving 1km of empty lane leading to the merge point. It would be very silly to drive at a snail pace in an empty lane for no reason. You just have to slow down to the other lane's pace when reaching the merge point. What would be the point of matching speed with the other lane when you're not actually about to merge?

by dusing 12y ago

hockeybias 12y ago

You nailed it.

VikingCoder 12y ago

"Getting ahead" means you're not following the whole point of this idea, which is to MINIMIZE the speed differential between the two lanes. If you want to show people how it's done, you go the same speed as the cars next to you in the open lane, and zipper merge at the end. GRRRRR. Yes, THEY are doing it wrong, because they're early merging. (IDIOTS!) But you are ALSO doing it wrong. I'm reminded of the George Carlin comment that everyone who drives slower than you is an idiot, and everyone who drives faster than you is an asshole.

dusing 12y ago
"Getting ahead" does not mean speeding, and its hard to go the same speed as the full lane when it is at a stand still. I do slow down from the speed limit significantly just in case someone wants to pop out.

tedsanders 12y ago

The whole point of zipper merging is to minimize speed differences between lanes for maximum efficiency and maximum safety. The proper way to execute a late zipper merge is to match speeds and merge at the end. You are not correctly zipper merging if you are passing other cars before merging at the end.

boyaka 12y ago
He is helping to correct traffic. Everybody else is messing up the zipper merging by not filling in both lanes equally.
- tedsanders 12y ago
  No. The way to correct traffic is to stay in the right lane, moving at the same speed as the other lane, and merge at the end. That is what the zipper merge is. Driving at a faster speed than the other lane does not correct anything.
  - QuiteMouse 12y ago
    The zip line is always free though, so obviously you're going to be going faster then the other lane that is backed up with traffic.
    - tedsanders 12y ago
      Again, the correct way to zipper merge is to reduce your speed to the traffic beside you and then merge at the end. The whole reason zipper merging is efficient and safe is that both lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, making merging quick and easy. If you zoom past the other lane of traffic, you are actually worse than the early mergers in terms of safety and efficiency. Edit: For those of you downvoting me, could you please explain your reasoning? Do you disagree with the content of my message or its delivery?
      - simias 12y ago
        You need to have the same speed at the point of merging, not while you're just driving 1km of empty lane leading to the merge point. It would be very silly to drive at a snail pace in an empty lane for no reason. You just have to slow down to the other lane's pace when reaching the merge point. What would be the point of matching speed with the other lane when you're not actually about to merge?