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The difference is localized. The UK is much smaller, and therefore has less regional tastes about merging. In the Midwest and Eastern seaboards of the US you

by o0-0o 12y ago

The difference is localized. The UK is much smaller, and therefore has less regional tastes about merging. In the Midwest and Eastern seaboards of the US you have polite and diverse people respectively. In California, you have experienced drivers. California works like the zipper merge already, and the rest of the US is flummoxed by what to do - depending on where you are.

teamonkey 12y ago
I don't think it's so much about being smaller, more that there is only one set of rules for the whole country and those rules are more strongly enforced. Also, from what I can tell, the driving exam is far more rigorous in the UK.
- bsder 12y ago
  Speeds in the UK are way slower than the US, and cars are way more expensive to run in the UK than the US. Consequently, everybody and their dog doesn't expect to drive a car in the UK.
  - beejiu 12y ago
    I'm not sure we drive any slower in the UK. A residential road is 30mph (very rarely 20mph), country roads are 60mph and arterial and motorways are 70 mph. That seems comparable with speeds in the US.
  - jameshart 12y ago
    Demonstrably and comically false (except on the running costs front - you're spot on there). Not only are UK motorway speed limits 70mph (and traffic speeds higher still), 70mph is also the limit on most dual carriageways, and major undivided roads have a 60mph limit. In the US you'll rarely find a road with no central divider with a limit above 45, and only major multilane highways go to 65 and higher limits (depending on state).
bsder 12y ago
No, California traffic is just so stationary that it devolves into zipper merging ... sort of. Zipper merging also generally only works when there is movement after the zipper. In many places in the US, the point where a zipper is occurring is followed by more traffic injection (um, there was was a reason for losing that lane, after all, and it was probably the fact that there was a new lane coming in) in less than a mile and any advantage is lost.

by o0-0o 12y ago

teamonkey 12y ago

I don't think it's so much about being smaller, more that there is only one set of rules for the whole country and those rules are more strongly enforced. Also, from what I can tell, the driving exam is far more rigorous in the UK.

bsder 12y ago
Speeds in the UK are way slower than the US, and cars are way more expensive to run in the UK than the US. Consequently, everybody and their dog doesn't expect to drive a car in the UK.
- beejiu 12y ago
  I'm not sure we drive any slower in the UK. A residential road is 30mph (very rarely 20mph), country roads are 60mph and arterial and motorways are 70 mph. That seems comparable with speeds in the US.
- jameshart 12y ago
  Demonstrably and comically false (except on the running costs front - you're spot on there). Not only are UK motorway speed limits 70mph (and traffic speeds higher still), 70mph is also the limit on most dual carriageways, and major undivided roads have a 60mph limit. In the US you'll rarely find a road with no central divider with a limit above 45, and only major multilane highways go to 65 and higher limits (depending on state).

bsder 12y ago

No, California traffic is just so stationary that it devolves into zipper merging ... sort of. Zipper merging also generally only works when there is movement after the zipper. In many places in the US, the point where a zipper is occurring is followed by more traffic injection (um, there was was a reason for losing that lane, after all, and it was probably the fact that there was a new lane coming in) in less than a mile and any advantage is lost.