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The 'Chicken' Merge (for lack of a better name)

I drive a beater, and if I'm alone I police the jerk merge - not so much because it's rude, but because it's highly disruptive to traffic and the police don't police it. If I'm merging I'll do the trucker thing and match speed with traffic, then creep along until the lane end forces me to merge. Do it and you'll find traffic flow picks up. If I'm in the merge lane, I'll happily pace the jerk merger, stay in my lane, and let them hit me if they want (or run off onto the shoulder or orange cones if not). So far nobody has opted to run into me. The trick is to avoid eye contact or any gestures, which makes it personal. 10 and 2 and eyes straight.

Goes without saying, if traffic is creeping in both lanes and it's a zipper situation, you zipper. That's just common courtesy, like a 4-way stop. And if you're lot letting someone zipper, you're the asshole, and they have a moral right to stick their bumper in front of you.
 
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Reli said:
People do it because it works. Odds are extremely high that nobody's going to hit them.
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+1 why does any animal do anything ? Because they can :laughing
 
There is nobody I despise more during the commute than clowns that try to block the zipper merge. This isn't Seattle muthafuka.
 
Not talking about the zipper.
Talking about this, but without the blinker.

Edited with mad photoshop skillz for clarity:
tumblr_nxil9htO9T1qz8owro1_500.jpg
 
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When two lanes merge together and lanes are supposed to alternate cars.
 
SFSV650 said:
Not talking about the zipper.
Talking about this, but without the blinker.

Edited with mad photoshop skillz for clarity:
tumblr_nxil9htO9T1qz8owro1_500.jpg
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This happens all the time on right hand lanes during gridlock. People use the exit lanes to coast as far as they possibly can ahead of traffic then "oops, l gotta cut back in".
 
Reli said:
I notice people are less likely to let me in in my BMW
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There's a merge like that on Ygnacio Valley Rd/Oak Grove Rd in Walnut Creek where it's a looooong right turn only lane, like half a mile long. During rush hour, assholes like to drive far up into the right turn only lane, then at the last second try to force their way across the sold white line into the go straight lane.

Except during morning rush hour, a bike cop likes to sit at the intersection. Saw so many people busted there. :laughing
 
Cut a few people off today that were parked in the passing lane. One guy gave me the bird. He got it right back to bring balance to the force.
 
Zerox said:
There's a merge like that on Ygnacio Valley Rd/Oak Grove Rd in Walnut Creek where it's a looooong right turn only lane, like half a mile long. During rush hour, assholes like to drive far up into the right turn only lane, then at the last second try to force their way across the sold white line into the go straight lane.

Except during morning rush hour, a bike cop likes to sit at the intersection. Saw so many people busted there. :laughing
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Busted for what? It's asshole, but I don't think it's illegal.
 
Agent Orange said:
This happens all the time on right hand lanes during gridlock. People use the exit lanes to coast as far as they possibly can ahead of traffic then "oops, l gotta cut back in".
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Northbound 680 right before the 24 exit. I have to admit I do it all the time. Idiots park in lanes 1 + 2 starting as far back as Alamo. All I have to do is zoom around them in lane 3 or 4, and look for a tractor-trailer with a big gap in front of him for me to cut into. I don't wait till the last possible second though.
 
Once a (smart) buddy said that actually a few cheaters help improve traffic because the system isn't optimized.
 
There's a lot of idiots on the road. Sometimes you have to cheat to not get stuck behind them.
 
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