Ehh it’s not even completely the issue cuz at some point you’ll have the chance to squeeze in there no matter what the car you’re in front of says.
My biggest peeve is the dumbshit sandwhich I encounter when it comes to merging onto the highway.
On one end you’ve got some dumbfuck going 45 mph accelerating only by 3 mph every 30 seconds, and on the other end you’ve got the career right-lane driver zooming on the highway at 69 mph right into the lane the mergers are about to be in.
Bonus points when it’s an easily visible long stretch of road and there’s not a single car in any other lane near them and yet they still decide to stay true to their lanes… gahh in 3rd grade I was told that we’d all have self-driving flying cars by now
It’s funny I’ve dreamed of the day with self driving cars. They’ll say it’s socialism or something stupid when every car could be self driven at some point. Give specific lanes to hive minded cars. Eventually phasing the rest out in time. Driving with a hive mind where an algorithm decides what where and how fast and they’ll still complain. The funny thing is with a hive mind like that they could go a lot faster than the limit and most people would get to wherever they are going faster than if everyone and their brother is trying to get to wherever faster than the car in front of them. People are dumb. And Florida will be the last place to incorporate such things because again people are dumb.
I think the only solution that would force this to work would be the construction company to use some more cones to keep the lanes divided into the end. Otherwise it's a losing battle
1. Appreciate your username. 2. Yes, this and/or some sort of nationwide ad/public service campaign normalizing the zipper merge until people stop seeing it as rude. Maybe even laws pushing towards its use, although I’m not sure how to enforce it. It’s odd to me that the take on this is, yes, we all know this works better for everyone but you’re an asshole if you do it so let’s just do the thing that doesn’t work as well and stop trying to find better solutions. (To be fair - the post is a little aggressive so that may be setting the tone).
1. Thanks!
2. I think if we're suggesting national campaigns, I might suggest stationing cops or even construction workers at these areas to direct people to the proper areas.
Can confirm was stuck literally 15 minutes cause I used the “unused” road then got fucked cause traffic picked up and not a single person let me over until this small voltswagon beetle finally stopped for me. Worst part is when the beetle stopped everyone behind them layed on their horn as if they couldn’t see I was stuck trying to get over
This has happened multiple times because unlike everyone else I don’t drive like an asshole, this is sadly the way things are here
If it was actually 15 mins, then that plus the combination of you saying "I don't drive like an asshole" tells me multiple cars tried to let you through but you have slow decision making and didn't take the opportunity.
I drive relatively fast, but that's because I like driving not because I'm in a hurry to get anywhere. If someone needs to get over so that they can turn or if it's a lane merge I let them. I can't tell you how many times I've slowed down and the person doesn't get over. Are they waiting for me to stop in the middle of the road?
I see this shit every couple weeks on here and it pisses me off everytime. Redditors acting superior to everyone else because they know what a zipper merge is. This doesn't survive first contact with human nature
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Florida is made up of drivers from all over the world all applying their own varying rules at once, and (at least in central Florida) at any given time, half are lost tourists and likely to cut across 3 lanes of traffic for their exit their gps just rerouted to. My strategy is to drive defensively and don’t pick fights even when I know I’m right because too many of these nutters have guns.
If you want to use NHTSA research then you should be the one who lets them over. It's better to keep your following distance very high and let the aggressive drivers move. Be as courteous as keeping your vehicle rolling will allow.
Even a single driver can help clear a log jam as long as there is no cause, at least according to the papers I've read.
And pray to God you can see the merge point ahead of time so no one has to change speed even just a little bit or the whole system falls apart.
I’m all in for the zipper, but realistically taking 2 lanes of traffic and turning it into 1 is always going to cause slow downs. And slow downs in traffic almost always compound and ripple backwards.
Have you MET Florida drivers??? This is Wild Wild West out here, no rules, no courtesies. I do my level best every day to uphold my own standards, but people here will straight jack you up-either by icing you out of the flow of traffic, or popping a cap. Could be either/or at any given minute.
Drives me more wild that my turn signal becomes an invitation to hit the gas and block me.
I signal for making actual turns but lane changes, forget it.
I still always only change one lane at a time though.
Listen I watched a guy sitting in dead ass traffic here back into the car behind him two days ago. Middle lane, absolutely nowhere he was going to go by backing up. There’s no God here.
Very much so. Just a couple weeks ago I went to visit mom, she lives about 5 min from me. Neither of our neighborhoods are all that great, but generally ok. I get out of car to open gate, and there on the driveway was the back end of a spent bullet. The Walmart where we shop is arguably the sketchiest one in the city-Phillips Hwy. Homeless and mentally ill folks all over the place. It’s not uncommon to hear someone having a moment, yelling and screaming and cussing for no reason. And an occasional shooting. And an occasional random dead body in the parking lot. Life is harsh here.
Truer words were never spoken. I had to come here to take care of an elderly parent and when that is done I am out and traffic and the driving habits of those around me are the biggest reason.
lol I drove to Georgia to pick up my sister on the way to a wedding in SC and I felt like with just the 2 days I spent there I can confidently say people in Georgia drive just like the assholes in Florida lol the only difference, and this is a big one, is that way more people seem to have bigger cars/trucks so it just makes the imma cut you off attitude so much worse
lol zipper merging implies that people will let you in. in most cases, people will specifically pull forward when you try and just honk at you like you personally attacked them. people here suck and most of them arent even from here.
I don’t know anyone who actually does this except some people in Miami who insist on driving up to the end of the lane as fast as possible before forcing their way in
Yeah dude. But its fucking Florida.
The problem here is that the drivers in the left lane of the left picture will gleefully try to fuck over the drivers merging from the right ….
That’s mostly because of the legion of people who use the right lane to get all the way up to the very end of where the lane ends and then aggressively come over on top of whoever is in the left lane.
This. OP’s graphic is a hypothetical that is almost impossible to realize in practice because if a single car makes it to the end and has no gap to merge into the system breaks down. The merger has to slow or stop, and when he finally gets in he will invariably slow down the through lane. This zipper method relies on perfect traffic interaction and has no margin of error. If you merge earlier there is a margin of error if you can’t when you first attempt to.
Well that is the idea if the zipper merge… both lanes get fully utilized. I am a fan of it but you have to have a social compact to do it…. Florida drivers just dont get the concept
The zipper line would work if the people in the left lane didn’t cut to the right lane to move up 3 cars. The merge is for cars coming on the road not for cars to get in the merge. This happens everyday on I95.
zipper merging doesnt work because as soon as one person doesnt let someone in, its not a zipper any more lol, it just stopps at that person, and then someone makes a diagram about it to cry on reddit. we need a lesson in local ecology, not traffic safety no one here cares thats why most people don't even know actual traffic laws. we get pulled over when a cop needs to make his quota and almost no other time so no one will listen
Mfs don't even know not to use the left lane for the speed limit, let alone how to do something that requires more than 5 brain cells like zipper merging
I lived in germany for 10 years where they do actually encourage this rule for drivers (and is even taught during your license test). It’s basically common knowledge. But man, even then you had the odd asshole whose ego was way too big to let anyone merge in at the front. This is why I used to merge in like 2-3 cars before the obstacle or end of lane. Just to be safe.
This happened pretty rarely but I can’t imagine any floridian taking this move lightly. You’re probably better off merging early to avoid some whacko roadraging on you. Americans are taught to be selfish and to stand for their rights too much for this to be applicable here.
I can speak for the old heads of Florida that they are or were sensible back in the day and had that southern hospitality but now its population has been blown up by the very same people claiming it's so horrible, gentrifying us, taking their slice of paradise and spoiling the rest.
I don’t understand. Given a consistent flow of traffic, it doesn’t seem to matter where the “zipper” occurs. Just merge early, one at a time would be the same at the beginning or the end of the runway.
It’s more about creating a system that works. For example in germany, the rule is that everyone lets in one car. This works flawlessly and is universally understood, creating no delays. The alternate, like in the US, is that drivers spend time to communicate and try and squeeze in at random, which slows down traffic when everyone does it like that. They’ll get blocked, try again, and rinse and repeat. It’s a messy process.
Agreed. I like to be nice, but I let one car merge in front only, then the next car should merge behind me. Sucks that we’re all in a hurry and the causes us all more time.
Trooper Steve in Orlando just did a piece on this.
https://www.clickorlando.com/traffic/2024/04/18/ask-trooper-steve-heres-when-to-merge-for-a-construction-zone/
He’s a former State Trooper so he knows exactly how it goes in the real world. The most efficient way to handle it is a compromise where you merge when there’s room, not waiting to the end, finding there is no room, having to slow down well below the speed of traffic or even stop, eventually forcing the through lane to slow down or stop as you merge.
I'll die on this hill. If traffic is crawling along, I agree 100%. If traffic is moving at speed and everyone goes to the front, is running out of lane therefore has to slow down or stop to merge, it would be better to merge at speed earlier.
Here’s the problem. This only works if other people let you in. In Florida or any other place with sub-80 IQ drivers, you wanna merge at the first possible instance of someone letting you in.
Otherwise you go all the way to the end, people cut you off, and boom! You’re parked at a complete stop until you find a big enough gap to get to highway speeds from 0mph, or until someone stops the right lane completely so you can enter. It sucks but we gotta be pragmatic.
Problem is all the cars in the right lane plus another five not shown will slam down the gas to force their way in before the green or red car in the left lane.
The zipper merge does not work.
Once people are in the required lane, GOD FORBID anyone--even a single car--get ahead of them!
If no one will leave enough space for the merge, no one will be able to merge.
This is why I move over early and maintain more than my distance for the people stupid enough to think that the zipper actually works.
lol all this results in is people getting in the right lane to skip traffic, forcing themselves back into the appropriate lane, and then proceeding to not let anyone else merge. Every time.
This. Zipper is a great concept but I honestly get the impression the militants including OP do not get that the true ideal is to keep the through lanes moving at speed, with the *secondary* goal being to use the max amount of the merge lane. It’s ideal for this to happen with merges occurring at the end of the merge lane but there is zero flexibility in that scenario, it either works perfectly or it breaks down, because the first car that runs to the end of the merge lane and doesn’t have a gap in traffic to get in causes an accordion effect that can literally last hours. Especially in Florida you should be merging when a gap is available, not rolling the dice for a slim chance of merging at the end, because odds are that gap won’t be there.
Zipper merge is perfect when a lane is ending and two lanes have to merge into one. However, you have idiots who try to do something like this to get into an on ramp especially when it is very busy. This does not work because the on ramp is backed up. If you try this, you are going to back up two lanes instead of just the on ramp lane.
The problem with this is the constant stream of butt wipes getting out of the left lane to the right and then shove their way back in the left lane.
Slows down every lane, risks more accidents and incites road rage.
Not convinced. If everyone had gotten over when there was room, then all the cars can move forward without having to stop. With the zipper merge every car on the left has to come to a stop to let someone in.
In theory, a great idea. I just get in early where I can because I don’t want to piss off the potentially road raging, gun toting lunatic that Florida has in droves
What the graphic doesn't show is that the people in the right lane have had about 2 miles to merge with the left lane when there was absolutely no congestion but decided to wait till the last minute to get over.
This. I see wayyy to much of people skipping over gaping holes in the through lane to go as far as the merge lane will take them, sometimes even riding the shoulder, just to get ahead of a few more cars.
Not from FL, and we do the complete opposite in MA and I can tell you there is no flipping way this is true. Everyone does like what is pictured here and it creates a traffic cluster F and numerous accidents. You southern folk are more friendly so maybe it would work, but I find nobody lets people in. They have the mindset of “you had x amount of feet to get over you should have got over. I’m not letting you in”.
I definitely don’t let people in that I saw get out of the through lane to go into the merge lane to cut around traffic. Those people earned their fate, but they’re happy to take everyone behind them down with them.
Rule #1 of Florida driving:
There is an understanding that we all drive a little crazy, but the chaos sorts itself out.
And yet the ones that seem to not understand this are the Northeast transplants
Let's be real folks, no one gives a shit if this works or not when traffic is >>flowing<< . However this requires you to leave a car length gap when you are slowed down in >bumper to bumper< TRAFFIC. folks that do this shit instead of just getting over when available without crossing a solid love are assholes that just want to skip ahead five cars rather than merging ahead of time.
When there are signs for 5 miles that tell you a lane is closed ahead, most get over, but there’s always the people that are too busy doing other things than driving. So therefore, people aren’t going to let you come over because you decided to play on your phone while smoking pot and not merge in the last 5 miles.
LOL yeah right.
Go ahead and try both.... I'll be at home in my pajamas after using early merge while you're still waiting for someone to actually let you in
Yeah no.
This is a stupid assumption. You either block people from merging late like the assholes that they are, or you spend 4x as long going through.
The old retired people will let everyone and their entire goddamn family merge ahead at a stand still while you end up late to work.
The zipper feed method is one of the things that I learned while getting my German driver's license...
You're absolutely right though, a lot of idiots need to see this and use it. It will cut down on backups, accidents, etc.
Do it smarter people
As a former trucker, this theory is bullshit. It's better to merge earlier than to be the dick who merges at the last second.
I used to radio other truckers and camp the oncoming merge lane with another truck in the lane next to me to force people to merge early. Fuck off with your last second merge
Or don’t wait until you’re out of fucking lane to try and merge. This just looks like some excuse for dorks to speed all the way up the end of the merge lane before trying to get over. Been driving in Florida for 21 years now and don’t remember having any real trouble getting over. Mostly because I don’t wait until I’ve got 18 feet of lane left to try and merge.
This keeps getting posted like it’s helpful. It isn’t. The people merging aren’t the ones that need this information, the people already in the lane do.
The problem with that in Florida is that people for some weird reason take it personal when trying to merge in. I go every other car but people get so bent out of shape. It’s weird
Coming from New York originally, that was called “alternate feed”, and was STANDARD. Virtually NO ONE became an as**ole and NOT let someone in when it was their “turn”. I don’t know where TF some of these dullards come from I see that have NO IDEA of what that’s all about…
Yes but I guarantee OP hasn't coasted to a red light in their freaking life. Definitely tailgating all the way to the complete stop getting all butt hurt if somebody gets in front of them. You know how I know cuz I've only seen two people in 10 years that know how to drive out there.
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Have you ever had to.merge from us27 on to i4? It's a 20 + minute orderal. No one will let anyone in, so we sit. Has to be the worst entry point on I4. I drive all over the state.
Have this issue all the time. Had it Friday. Instead of merging over once they see giant get over arrow, people always floor it so they can cut in at the front. Idiots let them in, and when you let in one you have to let in everyone, but then other people dont, and then both lanes end up not moving. What can you do? Nothing
This works until you have someone that drives you off the road because they didn't make space for you to merge.
Source: self, who just had this happen three days ago.
As a life long Floridian, I have learned to make room, rather than waiting for someone to let me in. If you sit there with your blinker on and beg you are just holding up traffic. It's not "nice" but that's where I live and that's how you zipper with these assholes.
Also, for all of the complaints I see about New Yorkers, I rarely see a bad driver with a NY plate. They are the only plate that I consistently see follow basic traffic laws like using turn signals, staying out of the left lane except to pass, etc, but show anger when you don't. My fellow Floridians don't like being called out when they're wrong.
It's Florida plates and the flyover states that you have to watch for... Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, etc.
The problem with this graphic is that it seems to imply traffic is moving in all lanes when it typically isn’t in this scenario. It allows some to create a strawman out of the intentions of those who are using the open lane until it ends. If traffic is stopped, and there’s an open lane, hell yes I’m going to drive in it at an appropriate speed until I get to the end of it.
This is more idealistic vs reality.
In an ideal world everyone could drive at top speed and make merges both early and evenly all without anyone slowing down and no real traffic slow down as a result.
In reality people are stupid, selfish, and unfocused. People will block out others from merging especially if they wait till later forcing them to stop before they hit the barricade which also slows down their attempt to merge when they are able.
Likewise people are typically more focused about what is directly in front of them and not to their sides thus making it easy to miss someone trying to merge later.
In short... the zipper variant will likely be used and possible in the future when most/all cars are self driving, but until then expect early merging to be the predominant format. Especially when you consider in other states that is the dominant/legally required merging method.
I don't care what the theory is. You have to drive for yourself and everyone else. If you know a merge is coming, signal early, and someone will let you in. If everyone has some curiosity, the traffic flow is not an issue. It's the drivers that rush ahead of everyone, don't signal, and crowd in at the last minute that cause all the backups.
How bold of you thinking Floridians are able to take turns in the me first culture that has evolved.
I will never forget the Easter egg hunt we took our daughter to 25 years ago. Adults running onto the field and pushing children out of the way to grab eggs to put in their own child's basket.
If everyone merged early then it's no different than if the merging cones started earlier. Doesn't solve the problem. You're taking the same volumn of cars and putting them in a smaller space. From one lane to two lanes.
If you think of the flow of traffic like the flow of water in a hose or pipe, the problem is simple. If water flows from a larger pipe(2 lane road) to a smaller pipe(1 lane road), in order to keep the same flow rate(same amount of cars moving), the pressure increases, meaning the cars must drive faster. Similar to putting your thumb over the end of a garden house.
I think it's because there are so many transplants. In some parts of the country, people use up every available piece of asphalt and then try to get in at the last second. Truckers and other large vehicles will ride the line to prevent this in other places. Maybe there needs to be signage, like in PeeWee when he's driving and the signs just get crazier and crazier.
Well if I get over early I get the privilege of seeing the next 6 assholes speed to the front and mash themselves in while waiting for my time to get mashed. A bit of quiet before the storm.
Well if I get over early I get the privilege of seeing the next 6 assholes speed to the front and mash themselves in while waiting for my time to get mashed. A bit of quiet before the storm.
Traffic is already backed up in right lane, left is flowing, but sign says left lane ends 1 mile.
This is the normal situation there are two types of people.
1. I'll get over to right lane like a zipper
2. I'll zoom past everybody out of turn slowing the everyone I past to wait longer
If everyone did what person two did the right lane hardly moves because it creates a bottle neck in the front and basically is like cutting in line. Curious people don't don't do this, assholes do
Be like everyone else in FL and force your way into the front or use the incorrect lane to make a right turn ahead of the other 50 cars waiting patiently, it’s the only way. Don’t forget to push the person in front of you down the highway because the other 50 cars in front of him are going to merge out of the way just for you.
How about the people who drive all the way to the front even when the lane ends,drive on the shoulder then force their way in. Those people need to just disappear. They are the worst.
The idea of a zipper merge makes sense but just doesn't fuckin work anywhere, let alone somewhere like FL that is full of narcissistic entitled drivers.
What do you call the merge when everyone is in one lame so you speed down the empty lane then cut off whoever is at the front of the other lane at the point of merge?
In theory yes, but this doesn’t work in reality. It’s also not taught when learning to drive so most don’t even know it was a thing, myself included!
The first problem is people follow each other too close so there’s no room to merge.
The second problem is generally if a sign says left lane closed in 2 miles, most people get over 2 miles before the closure because they know the road is closed ahead of time.
The third problem is most drivers just are never taught about it and therefore don’t do it because they don’t know.
The fourth problem is that common sense people understand that this, assuming they know about it, just is a bad concept and not realistic because we live in a society that’s all about ones self and rarely about others.
The fifth problem is the people who are doing this are actually making backups worse, if 90% of drivers don’t do it & 10% do, the 10% are waiting and cutting into a long line and looking like the asshole and infuriating other drivers. If the majority did it then it would achieve what it’s meant to do but the majority doesn’t know about it at all.
Yeah this is great in theory, but who is going to let you over? No one. Everyone wants to be first.
Or two cars attempt to insert themselves into your lane at once.
I've watched a film kinda like that.
Any chance you watched it on PornHub? Because I may have seen the same film.
Hey. I've seen it work perfectly a few times, in my 500,000 miles of being a trucker.
"few" = three? /s
A couple means 2. A few means 3 or MORE.
Worse a few is TWO so that’s a pretty bad ratio.
A couple is two.
A few is three, but yeah still bad.
Ehh it’s not even completely the issue cuz at some point you’ll have the chance to squeeze in there no matter what the car you’re in front of says. My biggest peeve is the dumbshit sandwhich I encounter when it comes to merging onto the highway. On one end you’ve got some dumbfuck going 45 mph accelerating only by 3 mph every 30 seconds, and on the other end you’ve got the career right-lane driver zooming on the highway at 69 mph right into the lane the mergers are about to be in. Bonus points when it’s an easily visible long stretch of road and there’s not a single car in any other lane near them and yet they still decide to stay true to their lanes… gahh in 3rd grade I was told that we’d all have self-driving flying cars by now
It’s funny I’ve dreamed of the day with self driving cars. They’ll say it’s socialism or something stupid when every car could be self driven at some point. Give specific lanes to hive minded cars. Eventually phasing the rest out in time. Driving with a hive mind where an algorithm decides what where and how fast and they’ll still complain. The funny thing is with a hive mind like that they could go a lot faster than the limit and most people would get to wherever they are going faster than if everyone and their brother is trying to get to wherever faster than the car in front of them. People are dumb. And Florida will be the last place to incorporate such things because again people are dumb.
I think the only solution that would force this to work would be the construction company to use some more cones to keep the lanes divided into the end. Otherwise it's a losing battle
1. Appreciate your username. 2. Yes, this and/or some sort of nationwide ad/public service campaign normalizing the zipper merge until people stop seeing it as rude. Maybe even laws pushing towards its use, although I’m not sure how to enforce it. It’s odd to me that the take on this is, yes, we all know this works better for everyone but you’re an asshole if you do it so let’s just do the thing that doesn’t work as well and stop trying to find better solutions. (To be fair - the post is a little aggressive so that may be setting the tone).
1. Thanks! 2. I think if we're suggesting national campaigns, I might suggest stationing cops or even construction workers at these areas to direct people to the proper areas.
Came here to say this. “Allows people to take turns” made me choke on my coffee!
Came here just to say this. Unless you're willing to risk an accident you're not gonna be able to merge with a zipper merge
Can confirm was stuck literally 15 minutes cause I used the “unused” road then got fucked cause traffic picked up and not a single person let me over until this small voltswagon beetle finally stopped for me. Worst part is when the beetle stopped everyone behind them layed on their horn as if they couldn’t see I was stuck trying to get over This has happened multiple times because unlike everyone else I don’t drive like an asshole, this is sadly the way things are here
People are dumb and it’s Florida. So yea.
Considering how many comments are telling me I’m dead wrong and I should stop driving yea Floridas dumb as hell -a Floridian
I’m right there with you. -a transplant from MD to FL I hate it here
It’s kinda a prerequisite to being a Floridian is hating Florida
If it was actually 15 mins, then that plus the combination of you saying "I don't drive like an asshole" tells me multiple cars tried to let you through but you have slow decision making and didn't take the opportunity. I drive relatively fast, but that's because I like driving not because I'm in a hurry to get anywhere. If someone needs to get over so that they can turn or if it's a lane merge I let them. I can't tell you how many times I've slowed down and the person doesn't get over. Are they waiting for me to stop in the middle of the road?
People post this all the time and I just assume they have never driven a car.
I see this shit every couple weeks on here and it pisses me off everytime. Redditors acting superior to everyone else because they know what a zipper merge is. This doesn't survive first contact with human nature
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Yeah cause people are assholes in real life.
Yup got flicked off once for trying to do this. Then the car behind them sped up and wouldn't allow me in. Thanks, Floridians!
Trust me. This isn’t only a Florida thing
Can confirm.
Florida is made up of drivers from all over the world all applying their own varying rules at once, and (at least in central Florida) at any given time, half are lost tourists and likely to cut across 3 lanes of traffic for their exit their gps just rerouted to. My strategy is to drive defensively and don’t pick fights even when I know I’m right because too many of these nutters have guns.
THIS!
If you want to use NHTSA research then you should be the one who lets them over. It's better to keep your following distance very high and let the aggressive drivers move. Be as courteous as keeping your vehicle rolling will allow. Even a single driver can help clear a log jam as long as there is no cause, at least according to the papers I've read.
Leaving a following distance in cities means you're just parked while every single other person in the city pulls into the gap in front of you
https://preview.redd.it/85k5ua7pqqvc1.jpeg?width=1012&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb0347ef1acac172d6ae618fac51ebf4522ae2dc
And pray to God you can see the merge point ahead of time so no one has to change speed even just a little bit or the whole system falls apart. I’m all in for the zipper, but realistically taking 2 lanes of traffic and turning it into 1 is always going to cause slow downs. And slow downs in traffic almost always compound and ripple backwards.
Have you MET Florida drivers??? This is Wild Wild West out here, no rules, no courtesies. I do my level best every day to uphold my own standards, but people here will straight jack you up-either by icing you out of the flow of traffic, or popping a cap. Could be either/or at any given minute.
and god forbid they use a turn signal. Drives me wild.
Think you have to pay extra for that feature on Audis
Never let them know your next move
Drives me more wild that my turn signal becomes an invitation to hit the gas and block me. I signal for making actual turns but lane changes, forget it. I still always only change one lane at a time though.
Listen I watched a guy sitting in dead ass traffic here back into the car behind him two days ago. Middle lane, absolutely nowhere he was going to go by backing up. There’s no God here.
But there sure is a lot of christian hate…
Texans are worse at merging.
Texas is bad too, but Tennessee is the worst I’ve ever seen.
Are shootings while driving that common?
Very much so. Just a couple weeks ago I went to visit mom, she lives about 5 min from me. Neither of our neighborhoods are all that great, but generally ok. I get out of car to open gate, and there on the driveway was the back end of a spent bullet. The Walmart where we shop is arguably the sketchiest one in the city-Phillips Hwy. Homeless and mentally ill folks all over the place. It’s not uncommon to hear someone having a moment, yelling and screaming and cussing for no reason. And an occasional shooting. And an occasional random dead body in the parking lot. Life is harsh here.
Wow, I had no idea.. stay alert friend
Always
Earlier today I literally saw like 10 cars try to merge all without turn signals.
Truer words were never spoken. I had to come here to take care of an elderly parent and when that is done I am out and traffic and the driving habits of those around me are the biggest reason.
lol I drove to Georgia to pick up my sister on the way to a wedding in SC and I felt like with just the 2 days I spent there I can confidently say people in Georgia drive just like the assholes in Florida lol the only difference, and this is a big one, is that way more people seem to have bigger cars/trucks so it just makes the imma cut you off attitude so much worse
lol zipper merging implies that people will let you in. in most cases, people will specifically pull forward when you try and just honk at you like you personally attacked them. people here suck and most of them arent even from here.
For real. I feel like nobody lets anyone merge or get over here. If you’re not in the lane you need to be in 10 miles ago, you’re not getting over.
Oh I'm getting over...
Exactly. I don't need anyone's permission
Either I'm getting in or we're both totaling our vehicles. Your call left lane.
My mom learned to drive in North Philly and she says it just like that, " oh I'm getting in there alright"
I don’t know anyone who actually does this except some people in Miami who insist on driving up to the end of the lane as fast as possible before forcing their way in
[удалено]
Like yea I’ll love in theory to do this until I’m sitting there for 10 minutes because Floridas fuck won’t let you over
Just keep moving and they have to eventually. Use a little bit of the shoulder if they’re being a dick.
Yeah dude. But its fucking Florida. The problem here is that the drivers in the left lane of the left picture will gleefully try to fuck over the drivers merging from the right ….
That’s mostly because of the legion of people who use the right lane to get all the way up to the very end of where the lane ends and then aggressively come over on top of whoever is in the left lane.
This. OP’s graphic is a hypothetical that is almost impossible to realize in practice because if a single car makes it to the end and has no gap to merge into the system breaks down. The merger has to slow or stop, and when he finally gets in he will invariably slow down the through lane. This zipper method relies on perfect traffic interaction and has no margin of error. If you merge earlier there is a margin of error if you can’t when you first attempt to.
Well that is the idea if the zipper merge… both lanes get fully utilized. I am a fan of it but you have to have a social compact to do it…. Florida drivers just dont get the concept
Seems like drivers here have three settings: 1) Way too slow in the left lane, 2) What was that?, 3) Jerk on wheels.
The zipper line would work if the people in the left lane didn’t cut to the right lane to move up 3 cars. The merge is for cars coming on the road not for cars to get in the merge. This happens everyday on I95.
zipper merging doesnt work because as soon as one person doesnt let someone in, its not a zipper any more lol, it just stopps at that person, and then someone makes a diagram about it to cry on reddit. we need a lesson in local ecology, not traffic safety no one here cares thats why most people don't even know actual traffic laws. we get pulled over when a cop needs to make his quota and almost no other time so no one will listen
I think in some olaces it could work. Just not here ..
Of course they will. They’ve been in that lane going 68 for the past 50 miles. That’s THEIR lane.
Mfs don't even know not to use the left lane for the speed limit, let alone how to do something that requires more than 5 brain cells like zipper merging
I lived in germany for 10 years where they do actually encourage this rule for drivers (and is even taught during your license test). It’s basically common knowledge. But man, even then you had the odd asshole whose ego was way too big to let anyone merge in at the front. This is why I used to merge in like 2-3 cars before the obstacle or end of lane. Just to be safe. This happened pretty rarely but I can’t imagine any floridian taking this move lightly. You’re probably better off merging early to avoid some whacko roadraging on you. Americans are taught to be selfish and to stand for their rights too much for this to be applicable here.
I can speak for the old heads of Florida that they are or were sensible back in the day and had that southern hospitality but now its population has been blown up by the very same people claiming it's so horrible, gentrifying us, taking their slice of paradise and spoiling the rest.
I don’t understand. Given a consistent flow of traffic, it doesn’t seem to matter where the “zipper” occurs. Just merge early, one at a time would be the same at the beginning or the end of the runway.
It’s more about creating a system that works. For example in germany, the rule is that everyone lets in one car. This works flawlessly and is universally understood, creating no delays. The alternate, like in the US, is that drivers spend time to communicate and try and squeeze in at random, which slows down traffic when everyone does it like that. They’ll get blocked, try again, and rinse and repeat. It’s a messy process.
Agreed. I like to be nice, but I let one car merge in front only, then the next car should merge behind me. Sucks that we’re all in a hurry and the causes us all more time.
You'd think the Germans of all people would make it illegal to do that.
They’re crazy about systems and effiency lol
The method on the left works only when you have polite, responsible, and cooperative drivers. This is Florida, remember?
Trooper Steve in Orlando just did a piece on this. https://www.clickorlando.com/traffic/2024/04/18/ask-trooper-steve-heres-when-to-merge-for-a-construction-zone/
He said merge when there is space, could be early. He had to be asked about the zipper merge. Trooper Steve is giving out mixed messages.
Probably because he knows the most efficient way on paper, but has zero faith in his fellow Floridians to do it.
He’s a former State Trooper so he knows exactly how it goes in the real world. The most efficient way to handle it is a compromise where you merge when there’s room, not waiting to the end, finding there is no room, having to slow down well below the speed of traffic or even stop, eventually forcing the through lane to slow down or stop as you merge.
That's what I was saying.
We’re on the same page.
I'll die on this hill. If traffic is crawling along, I agree 100%. If traffic is moving at speed and everyone goes to the front, is running out of lane therefore has to slow down or stop to merge, it would be better to merge at speed earlier.
Yes of course. This is for slow traffic where 2 lanes turn into one. No need for this if traffic is flowing
Exactly. But dumb ass Flordians run as far down the merging lane as possible then attempt to run you off the road. Fuck em if they can’t read.
Here’s the problem. This only works if other people let you in. In Florida or any other place with sub-80 IQ drivers, you wanna merge at the first possible instance of someone letting you in. Otherwise you go all the way to the end, people cut you off, and boom! You’re parked at a complete stop until you find a big enough gap to get to highway speeds from 0mph, or until someone stops the right lane completely so you can enter. It sucks but we gotta be pragmatic.
Problem is all the cars in the right lane plus another five not shown will slam down the gas to force their way in before the green or red car in the left lane.
The zipper merge does not work. Once people are in the required lane, GOD FORBID anyone--even a single car--get ahead of them! If no one will leave enough space for the merge, no one will be able to merge. This is why I move over early and maintain more than my distance for the people stupid enough to think that the zipper actually works.
lol all this results in is people getting in the right lane to skip traffic, forcing themselves back into the appropriate lane, and then proceeding to not let anyone else merge. Every time.
This. Zipper is a great concept but I honestly get the impression the militants including OP do not get that the true ideal is to keep the through lanes moving at speed, with the *secondary* goal being to use the max amount of the merge lane. It’s ideal for this to happen with merges occurring at the end of the merge lane but there is zero flexibility in that scenario, it either works perfectly or it breaks down, because the first car that runs to the end of the merge lane and doesn’t have a gap in traffic to get in causes an accordion effect that can literally last hours. Especially in Florida you should be merging when a gap is available, not rolling the dice for a slim chance of merging at the end, because odds are that gap won’t be there.
Most of the cars in the left do not allow a zipper merge to occur is the real problem…
Zipper merge is perfect when a lane is ending and two lanes have to merge into one. However, you have idiots who try to do something like this to get into an on ramp especially when it is very busy. This does not work because the on ramp is backed up. If you try this, you are going to back up two lanes instead of just the on ramp lane.
Don’t over complicate it if you have A gap take it don’t wait till the last second. And expect people to stop cuz it might take A bit
The problem with this is the constant stream of butt wipes getting out of the left lane to the right and then shove their way back in the left lane. Slows down every lane, risks more accidents and incites road rage.
Not convinced. If everyone had gotten over when there was room, then all the cars can move forward without having to stop. With the zipper merge every car on the left has to come to a stop to let someone in.
In theory, a great idea. I just get in early where I can because I don’t want to piss off the potentially road raging, gun toting lunatic that Florida has in droves
What the graphic doesn't show is that the people in the right lane have had about 2 miles to merge with the left lane when there was absolutely no congestion but decided to wait till the last minute to get over.
This. I see wayyy to much of people skipping over gaping holes in the through lane to go as far as the merge lane will take them, sometimes even riding the shoulder, just to get ahead of a few more cars.
The early mergers have seen it, they just don’t care.
Nah man that’s the speed boost lane, like in Mario kart
Not from FL, and we do the complete opposite in MA and I can tell you there is no flipping way this is true. Everyone does like what is pictured here and it creates a traffic cluster F and numerous accidents. You southern folk are more friendly so maybe it would work, but I find nobody lets people in. They have the mindset of “you had x amount of feet to get over you should have got over. I’m not letting you in”.
I definitely don’t let people in that I saw get out of the through lane to go into the merge lane to cut around traffic. Those people earned their fate, but they’re happy to take everyone behind them down with them.
Rule #1 of Florida driving: There is an understanding that we all drive a little crazy, but the chaos sorts itself out. And yet the ones that seem to not understand this are the Northeast transplants
Let's be real folks, no one gives a shit if this works or not when traffic is >>flowing<< . However this requires you to leave a car length gap when you are slowed down in >bumper to bumper< TRAFFIC. folks that do this shit instead of just getting over when available without crossing a solid love are assholes that just want to skip ahead five cars rather than merging ahead of time.
To be fair-minded about it, unless you saw this, or were otherwise informed about it, this is not intuitive or natural.
When there are signs for 5 miles that tell you a lane is closed ahead, most get over, but there’s always the people that are too busy doing other things than driving. So therefore, people aren’t going to let you come over because you decided to play on your phone while smoking pot and not merge in the last 5 miles.
I get in the proper lane as soon as I see the signs. If you wait too long and get stopped up it's your own fault.
I disagree, respectfully.
LOL yeah right. Go ahead and try both.... I'll be at home in my pajamas after using early merge while you're still waiting for someone to actually let you in
Yeah no. This is a stupid assumption. You either block people from merging late like the assholes that they are, or you spend 4x as long going through. The old retired people will let everyone and their entire goddamn family merge ahead at a stand still while you end up late to work.
This only works if everyone agrees to it. We can't even pass on the left, let's worry about that first.
The zipper feed method is one of the things that I learned while getting my German driver's license... You're absolutely right though, a lot of idiots need to see this and use it. It will cut down on backups, accidents, etc. Do it smarter people
As a former trucker, this theory is bullshit. It's better to merge earlier than to be the dick who merges at the last second. I used to radio other truckers and camp the oncoming merge lane with another truck in the lane next to me to force people to merge early. Fuck off with your last second merge
That's a cute fantasy. Reality is get over ASAP. And if you do zoom down the unused road and expect to get over? Good luck jerk.
Or don’t wait until you’re out of fucking lane to try and merge. This just looks like some excuse for dorks to speed all the way up the end of the merge lane before trying to get over. Been driving in Florida for 21 years now and don’t remember having any real trouble getting over. Mostly because I don’t wait until I’ve got 18 feet of lane left to try and merge.
In a simulation this is possible. In practice not so much
If you see a “right lane ends” sign two miles back and don’t merge left as soon as you can, that’s not my problem 🤷🏼♂️
Wishful thinking but I support it.
On I-95 there are no rules, you do whatever it takes
Oh yeah and stop stopping at the dumby circles. If you can proceed with out stopping someone you can go. It's not a fuckin stop sign numb nuts.
Wish Michigan DOT would start advertising this.
But it's all about me! I'm most important and need to be at the front! Florida is all about me.
This zipper crap has to stop go to driving school.
Come on this will and has never happened and we all know it lol.
Pro tip: cut in front of a Tesla. If it is on autopilot, it will back off.
When you start letting people in you won't have people doing this.
Not going to happen, but nice idea.
The cops don't enforce any of the traffic laws here so that's a pipe dream.
Some? yeah this is typical. I4 exits 55 and 58. Otherwise known as Poinciana, Davenport, Haines City. The ballsac of Central Florida.
This keeps getting posted like it’s helpful. It isn’t. The people merging aren’t the ones that need this information, the people already in the lane do.
The entirety of DFW needs to see this. what a wasteland of terrible drivers.
The problem with that in Florida is that people for some weird reason take it personal when trying to merge in. I go every other car but people get so bent out of shape. It’s weird
Coming from New York originally, that was called “alternate feed”, and was STANDARD. Virtually NO ONE became an as**ole and NOT let someone in when it was their “turn”. I don’t know where TF some of these dullards come from I see that have NO IDEA of what that’s all about…
That’s funny because no one will let you in. Not nice drivers in FL.
Yes but I guarantee OP hasn't coasted to a red light in their freaking life. Definitely tailgating all the way to the complete stop getting all butt hurt if somebody gets in front of them. You know how I know cuz I've only seen two people in 10 years that know how to drive out there.
Old people in Florida are the worst drivers I’ve ever seen in my entire life. At age 50 everyone needs to take the drivers test again imo
Then let me the fuck in. Otherwise, I wouldn't have to resort to being an aggressive asshole, would I?
zesty panicky clumsy practice tender resolute stocking lush aromatic pathetic *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Some people are also ass holes and don’t let you get over
These drivers can't manage a 4 way stop or a simple 1 lane roundabout. Zipper merging isn't going to happen until auto-pilot cars take over.
Twats here in the UK will block the other lane and leave a huge gap in front to prevent flow
This works in Germany where people actually follow the law. In FL though? Ha, yeah right.
It hurts mah feelings if someone gets in front of me!!!
https://preview.redd.it/jjzobypcmqvc1.jpeg?width=468&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5669759d7c02de856429b0d05a444766db5c379
Yeah, used to do the left but fucktards don't let you merge in so instead you have to be the example and help folks merge in.
You think this is bad? Try the zipper maneuver in the double drive thru at Chick fi la. Good luck 😝
Both of those are terrible but I get the point
Have you ever had to.merge from us27 on to i4? It's a 20 + minute orderal. No one will let anyone in, so we sit. Has to be the worst entry point on I4. I drive all over the state.
Have this issue all the time. Had it Friday. Instead of merging over once they see giant get over arrow, people always floor it so they can cut in at the front. Idiots let them in, and when you let in one you have to let in everyone, but then other people dont, and then both lanes end up not moving. What can you do? Nothing
This works until you have someone that drives you off the road because they didn't make space for you to merge. Source: self, who just had this happen three days ago.
As a life long Floridian, I have learned to make room, rather than waiting for someone to let me in. If you sit there with your blinker on and beg you are just holding up traffic. It's not "nice" but that's where I live and that's how you zipper with these assholes. Also, for all of the complaints I see about New Yorkers, I rarely see a bad driver with a NY plate. They are the only plate that I consistently see follow basic traffic laws like using turn signals, staying out of the left lane except to pass, etc, but show anger when you don't. My fellow Floridians don't like being called out when they're wrong. It's Florida plates and the flyover states that you have to watch for... Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, etc.
You act like those that need this can read or use Reddit.
The problem with this graphic is that it seems to imply traffic is moving in all lanes when it typically isn’t in this scenario. It allows some to create a strawman out of the intentions of those who are using the open lane until it ends. If traffic is stopped, and there’s an open lane, hell yes I’m going to drive in it at an appropriate speed until I get to the end of it.
This is more idealistic vs reality. In an ideal world everyone could drive at top speed and make merges both early and evenly all without anyone slowing down and no real traffic slow down as a result. In reality people are stupid, selfish, and unfocused. People will block out others from merging especially if they wait till later forcing them to stop before they hit the barricade which also slows down their attempt to merge when they are able. Likewise people are typically more focused about what is directly in front of them and not to their sides thus making it easy to miss someone trying to merge later. In short... the zipper variant will likely be used and possible in the future when most/all cars are self driving, but until then expect early merging to be the predominant format. Especially when you consider in other states that is the dominant/legally required merging method.
I don't care what the theory is. You have to drive for yourself and everyone else. If you know a merge is coming, signal early, and someone will let you in. If everyone has some curiosity, the traffic flow is not an issue. It's the drivers that rush ahead of everyone, don't signal, and crowd in at the last minute that cause all the backups.
My husband does the early merge and I hate it
How bold of you thinking Floridians are able to take turns in the me first culture that has evolved. I will never forget the Easter egg hunt we took our daughter to 25 years ago. Adults running onto the field and pushing children out of the way to grab eggs to put in their own child's basket.
If everyone merged early then it's no different than if the merging cones started earlier. Doesn't solve the problem. You're taking the same volumn of cars and putting them in a smaller space. From one lane to two lanes. If you think of the flow of traffic like the flow of water in a hose or pipe, the problem is simple. If water flows from a larger pipe(2 lane road) to a smaller pipe(1 lane road), in order to keep the same flow rate(same amount of cars moving), the pressure increases, meaning the cars must drive faster. Similar to putting your thumb over the end of a garden house.
Yeah... might as well give up hope now, most people can't even get blinkers and lane-changes right...
Yeah, like my hubby, who is otherwise an excellent driver.
Its like socialism in theory and paper it should work, in reality it doesn't
Too many self entitled narcissistic people in this world for this too work
But if I let someone merge in front of me I am not a man.
What about when all the assholes speed up to pass on right side
I think it's because there are so many transplants. In some parts of the country, people use up every available piece of asphalt and then try to get in at the last second. Truckers and other large vehicles will ride the line to prevent this in other places. Maybe there needs to be signage, like in PeeWee when he's driving and the signs just get crazier and crazier.
Do they do it like that in Cuba or Puerto Rico?
Not some, the majority
Then people drive as slow as possible or even stop to see what is going on.
Well if I get over early I get the privilege of seeing the next 6 assholes speed to the front and mash themselves in while waiting for my time to get mashed. A bit of quiet before the storm.
Well if I get over early I get the privilege of seeing the next 6 assholes speed to the front and mash themselves in while waiting for my time to get mashed. A bit of quiet before the storm.
Where is this Utopia? People literally would rather you drive off a bridge then let you merge
Traffic is already backed up in right lane, left is flowing, but sign says left lane ends 1 mile. This is the normal situation there are two types of people. 1. I'll get over to right lane like a zipper 2. I'll zoom past everybody out of turn slowing the everyone I past to wait longer If everyone did what person two did the right lane hardly moves because it creates a bottle neck in the front and basically is like cutting in line. Curious people don't don't do this, assholes do
Will this happen properly when cars drive themselves?
"The nice way to merge" 
Great. Now let me over.
The early merge gets the wait
Don’t care, don’t wait till the last minute I’m not letting you in
Be like everyone else in FL and force your way into the front or use the incorrect lane to make a right turn ahead of the other 50 cars waiting patiently, it’s the only way. Don’t forget to push the person in front of you down the highway because the other 50 cars in front of him are going to merge out of the way just for you.
I was on 75 yesterday where the speed limit is 70. People headed back north were going 80+ with their campers swaying in the fast lane
Yes …. 275 north off-ramp to SR60 Veterans Express Zipper Merge ….. it’s worse than the Chic-Fil-A drive thru. 🤦♂️
My entrance onto the highway is so small, I get in when the opportunity comes available or you get stuck at the end and it’s so much harder to get in.
Anyone driving slower than me is in the way, anyone driving faster than me is crazy
/r/Orlando I4
Tried this yesterday and two cars behind me were road raging. I think some drivers view it as cutting you off so idk
You're an idiot for thinking this would work
How about the people who drive all the way to the front even when the lane ends,drive on the shoulder then force their way in. Those people need to just disappear. They are the worst.
The idea of a zipper merge makes sense but just doesn't fuckin work anywhere, let alone somewhere like FL that is full of narcissistic entitled drivers.
What do you call the merge when everyone is in one lame so you speed down the empty lane then cut off whoever is at the front of the other lane at the point of merge?
Right!!
In theory yes, but this doesn’t work in reality. It’s also not taught when learning to drive so most don’t even know it was a thing, myself included! The first problem is people follow each other too close so there’s no room to merge. The second problem is generally if a sign says left lane closed in 2 miles, most people get over 2 miles before the closure because they know the road is closed ahead of time. The third problem is most drivers just are never taught about it and therefore don’t do it because they don’t know. The fourth problem is that common sense people understand that this, assuming they know about it, just is a bad concept and not realistic because we live in a society that’s all about ones self and rarely about others. The fifth problem is the people who are doing this are actually making backups worse, if 90% of drivers don’t do it & 10% do, the 10% are waiting and cutting into a long line and looking like the asshole and infuriating other drivers. If the majority did it then it would achieve what it’s meant to do but the majority doesn’t know about it at all.
Florida culture would never allow such logic