Odd thing about being in a car.

Forum Sponsor
I would consider a congested but perfectly zippered commute on par with a much practised stunt team. I wouldn't chance it with HTA172 hanging over my head. I rather play it safe and botch the merge.
 
spitRR said:
Might be a repost, but applies to this thread I think.

[video=youtube;7wm-pZp_mi0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wm-pZp_mi0[/video]
Click to expand...

I remember seeing something similar that was done in LA. This was to prove that cars moving at the same speed can cause a bottleneck simply due to the fact that cars behind them have various level of 'comfort space'. Cars were driving together at 55mph (or whatever limit was) and about 1-2 miles back there was a total gridlock with NO accident...NO issues on the road. Simply caused by different levels of comfort space ahead of each person.

Personally I cannot stand traffic jams where there is no reason whatsoever for the jam...I even hope for a bit of a fender bender to explain it...but no...just dumbass drivers...
 
It's called the slinky effect. You even see it in F1.
 
spitRR said:
But it does.

Each one of those cars have left a car length of room in front of them. The moment another car merges into that space the vehicle behind it slows down and creates a chain reaction behind it causing a back up shown in the video. This is exactly what happens with zippering.
Click to expand...

My view is different .... If you think about it, the zipper comes mainly in play when the traffic is slow or slower than normal .... take the 401 ramp to 410 North, two lanes into one right in the middle of the ramp. Zip them in will give you higher volume through.

When traffic is moving normal, there's plenty holes to take without running to the end of the lane, but that requires people to actually pay attention, in both lanes, which is hard commodity to find these days.

My reply was that it does not apply to the zipper method discussed.
 
mimico_polak said:
Personally I cannot stand traffic jams where there is no reason whatsoever for the jam...I even hope for a bit of a fender bender to explain it...but no...just dumbass drivers...
Click to expand...

Yep .... hesitant drivers, slow drivers in left lanes, drivers touching brakes every time there's red rear light somewhere ahead of them, drivers who cannot drive smooth ... and voila you have a jam for no good reason.

Maybe the autonomous cars will get these folks off the road, so the people who like and can drive will finally enjoy the roads with their old, dumb and driver-aid-less cars .... would not that be great?
 
spitRR said:
This is the GTA, barely anybody drives "correctly".
Click to expand...

Totally agree, however I believe the best way to change things is to lead with a good example.

Good and competent driving is infectious...Hopefully...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
spitRR said:
But it does.

Each one of those cars have left a car length of room in front of them. The moment another car merges into that space the vehicle behind it slows down and creates a chain reaction behind it causing a back up shown in the video. This is exactly what happens with zippering.
Click to expand...


This is only true if the person is an idiot, but if we're honest there are quite a few idiots so your argument does hold some water...but the answer isn't "accommodate the idiots with policy" it's "educate the idiots so they stop braking when someone merges in front of them".
 
Had the complete opposite happen this morning. In the merger lane to DVP. As soon as the merge lane became a merge lane, i.e. became broken painted line, the woman stopped dead waiting for an opening to get into the lane. The whole merge lane was empty except the one car that was in front of her at the very end of the merge lane zippering into traffic.
 
Riceburner said:
Had the complete opposite happen this morning. In the merger lane to DVP. As soon as the merge lane became a merge lane, i.e. became broken painted line, the woman stopped dead waiting for an opening to get into the lane. The whole merge lane was empty except the one car that was in front of her at the very end of the merge lane zippering into traffic.
Click to expand...
And that's something that makes me mad beyond belief. At that point i don't care and ride past them to the right to avoid increasing the inner anger.
 
unfaZed said:
It's an indicator not an askicator - if my signal is on it means I am merging in - no amount of pouting or trying to speed up will prevent it from happening.
Click to expand...

I typically let people in... more than most.
But.. I also won't slam the brakes or swerve to avoid someone pushing their way into my space. I am more than willing to let the person bounce their vehicle off of mine.
 
Riceburner said:
Had the complete opposite happen this morning. In the merger lane to DVP. As soon as the merge lane became a merge lane, i.e. became broken painted line, the woman stopped dead waiting for an opening to get into the lane. The whole merge lane was empty except the one car that was in front of her at the very end of the merge lane zippering into traffic.
Click to expand...

This pretty much happens every morning on the south bound 404 / DVP at the 401 ramps and why I'm probably so biased against zippering. People just don't know how to do it proficiently and with this "me, me, me" attitude, I can't see it happening any time soon.

Sorry, I'm jaded.
 
mxs said:
Yep .... hesitant drivers, slow drivers in left lanes, drivers touching brakes every time there's red rear light somewhere ahead of them, drivers who cannot drive smooth ... and voila you have a jam for no good reason.

Maybe the autonomous cars will get these folks off the road, so the people who like and can drive will finally enjoy the roads with their old, dumb and driver-aid-less cars .... would not that be great?
Click to expand...

I came up behind one of those on hwy5 recently. Steady flow of relatively light traffic but the guy in front of me dabbed his brakes every 10-15 seconds. After about 5 minutes of this the curiosity of what a person who does this looks like got the better of me requiring a somewhat sketchy move to pull along side for a good looksee. The driver seemed very engaged with the task at hand. I think speed limits are set to be all inclusive.
 
Joe Bass said:
Tldr but is zipper merging only fot when a lane is ending? What about when everyone is lined up for an exit, and the empty lane is a through lane and people slam their brakes last second to cut in? Therby impeding through traffic? Seems to me that many drivers would not be able to distinguish one scenario from the other.

Sent from my custom purple Joe Bass mobile device using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
This is what happens. Exit lane has a backup so people use the straight lane and then brake at the end to squeeze in. Then that lanes backs up and people do it in the next lane. Before you know it you've got 3 of 4 lanes blocked up.

Also, the guys that pull out, fly up the merge lane, and then squeeze back in are not zipper merging.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom