[Canada]This might be both the most frustrating and most satisfying zipper merge captured on dashcam
Posted Jun 5, 2018, 6:55 AM UTC
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Sometimes they even put up signs that say "USE BOTH LANES UNTIL MERGE"...and people still only use one lane, & get pissed if someone is smart enough to use both lanes like the sign says!
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How dare you safely, legally and properly get around this lovely traffic jam we've created! Hhhhnnnnnnnnggggrrrrhhhhh
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hahaha I hate when someone uses both lanes. They are always driving down the middle of both lanes to block cars from passing. I know you just worded it wrong but i'm just picking on you.
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Can we take a moment to discuss what looks like a bullet hole in this persons windshield?
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Welcome to the prairies, it rains gravel
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That’s from gravel?! Crazy!
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Well.. at least that's what you tell your insurance company.
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Hazard of cutting line
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The best thing is....when some idiot truck driver decides he's going to be the "road police" and blocks the open lane. I've seen that so many times on the 401, where one "helpful" trucker decides he's going to make sure everyone waits their turn. I've even had one of those morons pull onto the shoulder to try and prevent me from exiting the highway at an off ramp, when the blocked lane was the right hand lane, so everyone was lined up in the far left lane....except for this idiot trucker of course.
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When traffic is lined up like in the OP, would you consider it to be acceptable for someone to put along at ~10 mph in the empty lane?
Fast enough for second gear in a car, but slow enough that a truck can idle for a more consistent speed. Faster than traffic waiting on the left, but not so fast it looks impatient. Slow enough that merging at the end without stopping is possible, but not so slow that the varying idle speeds of any following vehicles will cause that irritating ripple.
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I've done that before. Except it wasn't a lane. There was an accident on I-25 in Colorado. 2 lanes going down into 1. People were in both lanes waiting, and merging directly in front of the wreck. One asshole thought he would pass everyone on the shoulder, so I definitely straddled the line between the lane and the shoulder.
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Then you're an asshole too !~ The offramp I needed to get to was OPEN, the entire offramp was EMPTY, there were dozens of people whose destination was THE OFFRAMP, but this asshole trucker blocked people from GETTING OFF THE HIGHWAY, thereby reducing the blockage, all because he thought he was the fucking lane police. Assholes are never hard to find on the roadway. You don't know what/where everyone is going, blocking people from using a lane of the roadway, just because you think they're "cutting the line" is an asshole move. You're the cause of most of the unnecessary stoppages I see every fucking day on the highway.
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There were no exit ramps in between where we were, and where the crash was. Long stretch of highway with no exits/entrances.
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Then this is entirely and completely different than the situation I described. You weren't blocking a "lane" like the asshole truckers I see do it every fucking day. But I still think you were wrong to take it upon yourself to police those who were trying to get around the blockage. Two wrongs really, really don't make a right.
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blocking people from using a lane of the roadway
You also didn't read what I posted. There were 2 lanes. Both being used. I was in the right lane. Somebody tried passing the entire accident by driving on the shoulder of the road. The shoulder is NOT a lane.
Did you just copy & paste this in response to me, without even reading what I typed?
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I did read what you wrote, I do think you were wrong. If people want to make bad choices, its not up to you to police them, that's, you know, the police's job.... And you don't know, probably they were just assholes trying to get around the accident quickly, but maybe they were rushing to the scene to be with a dying relative ? The point is, you decided you were the authority in the situation, when you aren't.
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I enjoy making sure people don’t skip line and cut—basic manners from kindergarten. So, you’re welcome little fry guy!
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It's not cutting, it's driving properly. If everyone was using both lanes, like they're supposed to, the line would be half as long and they'd have just 1 rolling zipper merge at the front. Instead you have people just parked trying to let people into the 1 lane over 1km away from the actual construction zone.
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He's wrong and since he is an asshole he will vehemently defend his wrong position until he dies. Not worth even responding to.
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It's a troll. Stop feeding it.
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Sudden braking in a late-merging situation often results in rear-end collisions, the most common type of work-zone accident. I’ll take polite, safe, and slow over rude and dangerous line cutting.
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Yes sudden braking from going 20km/h is the cause, not being distracted.
If you look at the video there was 0 late braking, 0 "cutting-off", was a safe maneuver and absolutely the correct way to use the road. If they wanted everyone single file for miles they would have blocked the lane off miles back.
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Sudden braking in a late-merging situation often results in rear-end collisions, the most common type of work-zone accident.
I like pie. That has about as much to do with the conversation as what you just said.
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Kindergarten also teaches you to follow the rules you fucking numpty.
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And then cammer camped out in the left lane with a completely empty right lane.
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I saw that too. But the rest was very satisfying.
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Hundreds of lemmings.
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That was a great game when it came out...
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My favourite was the blocker. The way his hair swished back and forth as he checked left and right.
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I don't even see signs as early as the end of the line. Seems that people are really queuing because everyone else is queuing.
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Wasn't there some comedian who would wait at random doorways until a line formed behind him, and pretty soon there'd be a couple dozen people in line essentially waiting for no reason except there's a line there?
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Yeah! I remember a video of this but I can’t seem to find it :(
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When Homer Simpson's line "everyone is stupid except me" is actually true.
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I am in awe.
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Saskatchewan, my home province. I was watching this thinking, yeah I could see this happening here. Turns out it did. Drivers here are a special kind of terrible.
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Why ?
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Frustrating seeing literally hundreds of vehicles queued in a single lane and on ramps backed up when there's still another lane open. I didn't even see any signs indicating there was a closure ahead
But satisfying watching the cammer passing them all using the deserted open lane.
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Yeah. I'm just so confused about all the people staying in the left lane.. like.. sheep really.
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like.. sheep really
^(*)Canadians
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Nah believe me this was fucking bizarre for me to watch too.
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I've only seen it since moving to Ontario from BC.
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Conjecture on my part (I’m sure there’s science backing/disputing this somewhere), however: I’d be willing to bet that zipper merge is faster precisely because it reduces the bumper-to-bumper latency inherent when people queue up. i.e. Driver 1 moves, a moment later Driver 2 starts to move, etc. Multiply that down the line a few hundred times vs. half that (2 lanes) and you have less time getting to the bottleneck (the place where you’d zip).
That’s how I’ve always visualized it. I think of traffic as a compression wave, ripples caused by this sort of human-induced latency.
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That's about right.
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Oh man one of the worst things about moving from BC to Ontario is the complete lack of zipper merge awareness. Drivers in Ontario are aggressive as fuck but turn into damn milquetoasts when faced with a zipper merge.
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Oh man one of the worst things about moving from BC to Ontario is the complete lack of
zipper mergeawareness.
Fixed that for you...
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Wow, that's a lot of sheep.
Worst I've seen is a line of about 15 cars doing the speed limit on the highway in the LEFT lane, with the right lane completely empty. Yet, I was the asshole for passing them all in the right lane doing 10 over.
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I thought this was just a Seattle thing. Dumb people here just loves waiting in line.
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Is it still that way on I-90 to I-5? Used to be a sign warning the lane will end in 3/4 mile (IIRC), and that was where everyone jumped out of the lane, and you either got to be an idiot in the stop-and-go watching a lane get unused, or an asshole making the idiots angry, stopped occasional self-appointed road police idiots blocking the lanes.
Idiot or Asshole, that's the choice that road culture gives you.
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It's been more than four hours, I think I need to consult a doctor.
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Surfin' Bird starting at 0:54.
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That’s not a zipper maneuver (You have to have several people in 2 lines cooperating to have that - you’re just one person who stole an empty space), and those people in line aren’t lemmings or sheep as so many like to say. IT’S YOU PEOPLE DRIVING ALL THE WAY TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE WHO MAKE THE LONG LINE SLOWER BECAUSE THE LONG LINE HAS TO STOP AND WAIT SO YOU CAN GET IN. You are the reason the long line isn’t moving faster. The people opting to enter the long line early are doing so in a place it has no impact on the progress of the whole.
NOW THAT I’VE SAID ALL THAT, I must admit I have difficulty reconciling what I believe above with the fact that cutters will probably always exist, which is why..... sometimes I drive to a point closer to the front. I STILL DON’T GO ALL THE WAY TO THE END LIKE THESE SELF-CENTERED IMPATIENT PEOPLE WHO SLOW THE LONG LINE SIGNIFICANTLY.
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But the late mergers always get through, forcing the queued drivers to watch with mounting frustration as BMW after BMW cuts to the front of the line.
Here’s my translation of that: The people in the long line are correct that the line would move faster if everybody did their merging early; HOWEVER, THE COPS WILL MOST LIKELY NEVER FORCE THIS BEHAVIOR ON EVERYBODY. As a result, there will always be people rushing to the front to cut in, and as a result, the cutters will always slow the long line. Because this isn’t going to change, the longliners would do better to let them in graciously - by using the zipper.
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No, don't translate it into stupid, leave it in the original language: things would be exponentially faster for everyone if all available road space is used and there's a single merge point. How in the world could it be faster to have dozens of different merge points and leave stretches of perfectly good road unused?
Use both lanes until they end. Merge at the ending point, taking turns with the lane you're merging with. Simple stuff.
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Your inability to use alternative language as a way to clarify the original will not be the standard by which those who can will live! If you don’t want to think, fine, but piss off before suggesting that others do the same or before thinking of insulting someone as you did.
Look. You agree that a single line moves after the bottleneck; right? If a single line is so bad, why is it good after the bottleneck? I’m even agreeing that a zipper at the bottleneck is best if it’s clear we got cutters in our company (which is almost all the time). However, if we don’t have cutters (which does happen in more-thinking cultures like England and Japan), we can get ourselves in order long before we are forced to, and we can get up to speed before the bottleneck- instead of after, which is what cutters force on us.
This concept that it could be “exponentially faster” is a bleeping joke. It’s just better than nothing. The zipper at the bottleneck is just the way to go when you’re around people who don’t yet understand. Single file has nothing to do with politeness as so many suggest.
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Wrong. This is exactly what a zipper merge is. The whole point is to use ALL available lane space before you merge. Cammer did nothing to slow down that ridiculously long line of lemmings.
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Nope; you’re wrong. There is no zipper unless several people participate, and it’s defined by people in the long line deciding to let just one car in, which results in 2 lines merging just like a zipper on pants or a jacket; it’s got nothing to do with where on the long line it happens. More importantly, I agree that the camming person alone probably didn’t slow the long line; however the copycats that I suspect were on his/her tail certainly did.
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So by your logic the copycats on his tale would have made it a zipper because they were participating?
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The people in the right lane do not have the power to create a zipper. Only the people in the long line can create a zipper by deciding to let only one car in front of them. Of course, sometimes they inadvertently allow one or more in. The people in the right lane cooperate by not trying to get two cars in at a time.
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Zipper Merge Demonstration
205,319 views 👍263 👎35
Description: Using the Zipper Merge when a lane is ending or otherwise obstructed is the most efficient method to keep traffic flowing.
Alberta Motor Association, Published on May 4, 2017
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Funny, watching the video demonstration of "zipper merging" it shows slower traffic in the passing lane, and faster traffic in the traveling lane.....just like in real life.
From my personal experience driving 400 series highways every day, any concept that depends on drivers knowing how to properly utilize the lanes present is doomed to fail. I drive religiously in the traveling lane, and only move to the passing lane to, you know....actually pass vehicles. I end up passing a shit ton of idiots who camp in the passing lane, as if its their own personal travel lane. I'm sure these same drivers will move to whatever lane is the one that is unobstructed, and not move for anyone, thereby defeating the dreaded "zipper merge" monster with their valiant pig headedness !
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The Alberta Motor Association recommends zippering at the obstruction because they’re admitting that cutters will always mess up the make-a-line-early strategy and that law enforcement will never be engaged to correct cutters’ failure-to-cooperate. Hence, zippering at the obstruction does appear to be the best alternative for all even in my opinion. What you end up realizing when you understand this is that formation of a single line does not cause slow downs; after all, the obstruction ahead will make us all single file, and we’ll move faster as a single file after the obstruction is passed. It’s the cutters who slow us down, and since they refuse to play by the rules, we might as well all take advantage of that right lane a bit more, and zipper it up at the obstruction.
In terms of the definition and concept of the word “zipper” as applied to driving, the location it occurs is irrelevant to its meaning, which is a one-at-a-time entry of one line into another. A zipper does not have to occur at the obstruction to be a zipper.
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In terms of the definition and concept of the word “zipper” as applied to driving, the location it occurs is irrelevant to its meaning, which is a one-at-a-time entry of one line into another. A zipper does not have to occur at the obstruction to be a zipper.
Wrong. Early merging and zipper merging are distinct concepts. If you merge before the lane ends you’re, by definition, early merging not zipper merging.
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You don’t see how a zipper is a group activity and how a merge is an individual’s action. You don’t seem to want to even consider you might be wrong on this. Furthermore your definitions come from people; not basic ideas that come together to form what is called a “syllogism”. I see no building blocks in your thinking - just the declaration of what you think this is. It’s like saying a “loogie” is a hunk of snot because that’s what it has always been known to be.
In that example, you’d be right because “loogie” came from kids who just made a funny sound and told everybody else what it signified. However, zipper clearly comes from the clothing device - not some people somewhere declaring that it must occur at a bottleneck.
Please just think I’m wrong if you want. I’m ok with that. Let’s agree to disagree.
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Here you can see the perfect example of the correlation of the use of caps lock and the authors intelligence.
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Just buy a box of tic-tacs, and observe closely. People like you ITT keep glorifying the brainless little candies as the example humans should follow when we must all get through a little hole, but we can do better than that. Think about it. It’s only when people exit the line that it makes sense for others to do likewise. If nobody did that, the line would approach the speed it takes after the bottleneck, and we all agree people go faster there; right? Why? It’s because nobody can cut in there!
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So, what you propose is to stick a straw into the hole, which does not change the throughput of the hole at all but lowers the capacity of the construct dramatically, plus the increased complexity.
Your logic is completely flawed. But from the rest of the comments it seems discussing with you is as futile as trying to talk sense into an anti-vaxxer.
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The capacity is a constant; thus, it can’t be lowered. That’s why tic-tacs are a valuable analogy (unlike an hourglass). If you’re gonna try to weaken my position, don’t waste our time with these arguments based on things that aren’t true to begin with.
Your advice is that we increase contention at a single point of entry, which is like saying a building should have only one exit door, and all staircases and hallways should direct people to only it. Chew on that, you who accuse me of lacking logic.
Thirdly, the throughput of the hole is irrelevant because we know that once we’re past the bottleneck, speeds increase because there is no more contention or competition for a space.
By logical conclusion, the problem is the people causing that competition, which would be the drivers looking for a way to cut in late. Just stop with the crap about vaccinations. I am not responding to you anymore. This felt like too much effort for someone clearly not making his/her own.
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I hate staying in the left lane in a merge like this. It's so unfair because people always let the idiots merge way to early and now you have to deal with cars merging way way too early + zipper merge. I can't believe people are this stupid. By "being nice" They are making it take longer for cars attempting to exit the highway too. Look at that long line of traffic blocking exits because of people "being nice." Good job OP.
Insane. Worst display of collective stupidity I've ever seen.
Doug!
Tic-tacs are in the same situation. Their solution is for all to rush at the hole, which you obviously think is smart. They end up not getting through the hole faster, but filling up the space before it, which you obviously consider to be an accomplishment. If the bottleneck on that highway is our final destination, it does make sense to me to rush at it if a lane is open like that. Maybe the rush-at-the-hole strategy works with sand in an hourglass because many can slip through at once; however, like tic-tacs, we don’t have that luxury. The zipper merge at the bottleneck is a concession strategy recommended by experts because they are admitting there will always be somebody like the cammer and the crew probably cruising behind him who will sabotage others’ efforts to organize into a line. None of that strategy to get in a line is about trying to be polite. Think about the speed of traffic after the bottleneck. IT’S MUCH FASTER. As people smarter than tic-tacs, we can achieve this speed before the bottleneck. If people like the cammer mess up that effort, I recommend we all get out of the line so we can get a little closer to the bottleneck and start waiting again. You could say the people in this video’s long line are already waiting, but I’d say that is evidence that the line strategy has already been compromised OR that we haven’t had enough time to see its benefits develop.
Staying in the long line is “stupid” only AFTER seeing it has been sabotaged (people have gone into the right lane to charge at the bottleneck). It is not stupid at all if that sabotage never occurs because they can build speed and even continue to let people in the widening gaps. It’s discouraging to see so many people failing to be smarter than a box of candies and being so bleeping proud of it.
The problem is you're going on the assumption that every road has infinite length with no intersections, entrances, or exits. As we can clearly see in this video, that isn't always (ever?) the case, and longer backups lead to blocked intersections, blocked entrances, and blocked exits. It's best for everyone if the backup is shortest in distance to avoid this problem.
I don't think the "zipper merge" strategy has much to do with speed, but rather avoiding backup length, which can cause many other problems behind the backup.
So. our concern should be the intersections, entrances, and exits behind us somewhere existing theoretically? Nevertheless, I think I understand what you’re saying. You’re saying you believe that early merge makes the line grow backwards. and might even force people to use reverse. This seems to assume everyone is stopped. Even so, I think you are illuminating a crucial element that neither I nor anybody else appear to have mentioned until now: the role played by Pre-Bottleneck Gaps.
We all agree that the one goal we all share is to keep moving. We seem to differ in our approaches to achieving this goal. Let’s consider conditions prior to our encounter with the bottleneck.
It appears there are two schools of thought. The first says, “Gas = Go!” According to them, we should always travel at maxspeed (a nebulous idea even they haven’t agreed upon). These people close all gaps. It should be no surprise that they are opposed to early merging. It seems counterproductive! How can we close gaps if people choose to open them?” That must be why they think other behaviors are related to politeness.
The second school of thought would rather slow down A LOT in order to maintain any movement at all rather than fly forward only to stop with everybody else up there. Thus, “gap advocaters” (or whatever else we might call this 2nd group) always have this currency of real estate they can use to manage a variety of situations, currency that the Maxspeed camp has much less of. In bottleneck situations, gap advocaters never have to travel backwards; if they’re really good, they can keep moving, and as I have suggested before, accelerate before the bottleneck as opposed to only after.
So, maybe it all comes down to what we think before we even get into our cars.
A downvote without a reply means that someone disagrees.... without the ability to provide a better answer. Rock on with what’s working 4u.
And sometimes the downvotes are because the comment is such trash that it doesn't deserve a response.
Whats worse is when drivers block both lanes and let nobody by
That's Canadia for you.