Guy Dies in Merging Accident [Rant]

  • Thread starter Thread starter tehFAO
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tehFAO

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What the hell is the world coming to, when you can't even merge into traffic these days without it possibly killing you. Evidently that happened to some guy in Colorado yesterday in a story I just so happened to hear on the 9 o'clock news.

I see this happening all the time. People just relying on the limits of other people so they can get away with stupid bull**** like this, and when someone doesn't have it together quite enough for someone who is already pushing their luck... travesty occurs!

I don't know how many people here are from Colorado, but I take I-25 Northbound for 30 miles every morning, and back again every afternoon. Not to mention I'm in delivery, so I'm on the road at about 50% of my day, so I see a lot of **** happen... just the most crazy, insane, absurdly perplexing acts of stupidity that I can't even begin to realize the point of...

It's annoying to think, or better yet to know, that we've all got enough patience to deal with life as it is, but when it comes to highway travel... oh no! That's when we don't have to be patient. We can just do whatever we want! Right? Lets ride people's asses at 100mph, cut unsuspecting people off, and drive like a crazy monkey on speed through bumper-to-bumper, rush hour traffic.

Where the hell do people's brains go when they get into their car and drive? Why don't they realize the mistakes of other people and just learn from them so that they don't kill someone who just wants to merge into traffic? God damn... it's like are you serious? Is this what we've come to now? I can't even depend on people to act appropriately when I want to merge?

You know why they don't allow children to drive? Because it's obvious when 30 year olds act like children people pointlessly ****ing die.

That's what I see every day going to work. I'd take public transportation, but I can't even do that with a pure sense of my own personal safety.

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It's not complicated. It's drive forwards to your destination. Why can't people just do that? God dammit. :grumpy:
 
Because people on the highway are either in a hurry, or don't realize this is a highway, pick it up. But people being killed merging onto a highway doesn't surprise me. I was taught merging onto a highway is the most difficult part. And it can get really bad, esp. when you have the ass-hats who decide, "I'm gonna floor it and race this guy next to me where the road merges!" I've had a few close calls and I absolutely hate driving next to those lanes because people just feel the need to force their way in.
 
Okay let's review. Where I'm from, in Ontario, Canada, the law is simple. It is BOTH the drivers already on the highway in the right lane AND the drivers merging onto the highway who are responsible for allowing for merging. The problem is that no one already on the highway wants to let anyone in front of them because for some people (I used to be one, when I myself was a delivery driver in downtown Toronto), each car getting in front of them symbolizes a delay, more time added to their trip, and ultimately, frustration.

Also, I NEVER drive in the right-most lane on the highway. As SOON as I merge on, I move to the center lane (or the left lane, 'cause here in Ontario there ain't no such thing as a passing lane; the left lane is the "go 120 km/h lane" (the limit on most highways here is 100km/h, roughly 55 mph). And I only re-enter the right lane when I need to get off the highway. AND SO SHOULD YOU ALL. Period.

I agree with you tehFAO, highways can be deathtraps. But you must have received at least some training in how to be a defensive driver (a term most people groan upon hearing, but one which, if universally practiced, would most likely drastically reduce traffic "accidents" [also, a driving instructor once told me, there are no such things as traffic accidents; nothing is accidental; it's all due to driver error, even the weather is not a laudable defence...]).

Let it slide, tehFAO. When people cut you off, dance a little jig in your driver's seat or sing the chorus from your favourite "**** you" rock song at the top of your lungs. Whatever gets you through that initial burst of rage. Revenge has no place on the road.

I used to drive a school bus, and the more experienced drivers would always tell me, in response to my rants about how many people just cannot wait for a school bus to accelerate and how no one wants a school bus in front of them on the highway, that when someone intrudes on the safety gap you've left between yourself and the vehicle in front of you, just take your foot off the gas for a moment and LET IT RIDE, thus re-establishing the safe zone.

Since all that really matters when you drive is that you arrive at your destination safely and without harming anyone or anything, everyone who gets behind the wheel HAS to learn how to let it ride. It takes a big man to work hard, make the moolah, go out and buy an M3, and drive like a flipping submoron on the highway, but it takes an even bigger man to watch the imbecile whizz by and do NOTHING. Not even get mad. Not even shake his head. That's your goal, tehFAO. Become that man (or woman if you happen to be a femenina).

Wow that was a lot of writing; I think I'll go play some GT4 and go really really fast...
 
When merging you either need to slow down or speed up while paying attention to traffic. There is nothing difficult about getting on or off the freeway, just be aware of your surrounding and you'll be able to catch any asshat that might cause you issues. Also when you are merging you do not have the right away and thinking that you do causes accidents. I'm willing to bet the accident was the merger's fault in all of this.
 
Colorado? You think you have it bad? Haha.

BTW what exactly happened in the news story you're talking about?
 
Joey D
When merging you either need to slow down or speed up while paying attention to traffic. There is nothing difficult about getting on or off the freeway, just be aware of your surrounding and you'll be able to catch any asshat that might cause you issues. Also when you are merging you do not have the right away and thinking that you do causes accidents. I'm willing to bet the accident was the merger's fault in all of this.
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Preferably slow down. When I reach the top of an entrance ramp I'm usually going about 80, but always faster than the highway traffic. It's easy then to pick a spot and slow down a bit to fit into it.

Other than that, I'm happy to oblige and let someone in front of me when we're merging at the same time because, of course, they refuse to be one car further back. But when people aren't paying attention and are lollygagging around when they need to be on top of their game, I'm not opposed to shutting them out from an opportunity that I'd let them have if they weren't idiots. I'll be glad to let them in front of me as long as they're watching and going faster than me. If they're 1 mph off, then you can just find a way to fit back behind me, bub.
 
In the UK, traffic on the major road always has priority over traffic joining it. If you're "merging" onto a motor/high/freeway, you must give way to others already on it.
 
Anderton Prime
Let it slide, tehFAO.
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It's amazing how much of a difference it makes when you stop getting angry at every angry driver on the road. I used to get miffed all the time, but now I always, as you say, just let it slide, and I pretty much never get angry at all anymore. Makes for a much more peaceful drive, and a much more safe drive - the dangerous things you do just because you're annoyed is amazing.
 
Famine
In the UK, traffic on the major road always has priority over traffic joining it. If you're "merging" onto a motor/high/freeway, you must give way to others already on it.
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That's the law here, too. And though the law has no provisions for politeness, if a person merges the way they're supposed to then I don't have to worry about it. I'll do what I can to be nice and move over a lane to give them room. But if I'm stuck in the far lane because of traffic and their merging ability is interfering with my ability to stay in my own lane, then they're just gonna have to cross some lines and throw up some dust. I've seen it happen before, and I'm appalled that there's actually people who operate that slowly out there driving.
 
The rant in the first post implies that somebody got mowed down, but nothing he writes actually states that. Maybe the merging driver messed up, maybe somebody refused to let him in. Was it even a car, or maybe a motorcycle? Maybe the merging driver didn't look. We have nothing to say who was at fault, or even what happened, just a rant that somebody was killed on the highway.
I wish people would rant so heavily for each one of the thousands that happens every month.
As far as how to merge, you can't do it slowly and carefully. You have to zip up the on-ramp briskly, 'cause you can't merge if you're not going the same speed. Nevertheless, the merging traffic is required to yield. If some jerk forces his way alongside to not give you room, then drop in behind. If it's repeated by the next driver, then you may need to pull over onto the shoulder and wait for a break.
Never, ever, ever stop on the on-ramp. Whoever's coming behind is looking in his mirror or over his shoulder, not straight ahead; you're gonna get rammed and shoved into traffic.
 
Giancarlo
Colorado? You think you have it bad? Haha.

BTW what exactly happened in the news story you're talking about?
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Well, I think either a truck behind the people merging sped up and tried to cut them off, or someone in the merge lane directly behind them tried to speed up around them and cut them off that way... I'll try to dig up the story, I tried earlier so everyone could read it but nothing turned up.
 
Honestly, why do we have to drive 100km/h on the highway? Whats the rush? If you need to get to work fast, leave earlier. More people will die if we keep having speed limits so fast. Alot of people die on the highway.
 
legendary724
Honestly, why do we have to drive 100km/h on the highway? Whats the rush? If you need to get to work fast, leave earlier. More people will die if we keep having speed limits so fast. Alot of people die on the highway.
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High speed limits aren't dangerous. At all.
 
Agreed.

Whether you've got higher speed limits or not, you're still going to have incompetents on the road. You've just got to work around them.

All too often around here I see absolute retards coming to a dead stop in the merge lane. It takes alot of effort to not lay on the horn and go around them on the shoulder whilst simultaneously flipping them off.
 
Are you an impatient driver? But i must admit, if someone stops in the merging lane, they teach you at driving school to never slow down because you'll cause an accident. I would be pretty ****** if someone was stopped in the merging lane.
 
legendary724
Honestly, why do we have to drive 100km/h on the highway? Whats the rush? If you need to get to work fast, leave earlier. More people will die if we keep having speed limits so fast. Alot of people die on the highway.
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I agree that people need to leave their homes on time, or just deal with the fact that they're late, rather than trying to make up for it by wrecklessly driving through traffic like they have an F1 car. It's mindless... people really go crazy when they're late.

Ever see that crazy woman driver who steers with her knees while her hands and 80% of her mind is preoccupied with perfecting the makeup on over her eyes? LOL Can't beat that... you know someone is going to pay for that person's incompetence.

I'm not a patient person. I don't like to linger around people, and I'll action, when possible, to get away from wolfpacks simply because I don't trust anyone around me. I'm not giving anyone the chance to suddenly think they're the only persons on the road and involve me in their wrecks. So I kind of treat everyone like they're the walking dead.

Seems to work out okay, haven't had a wreck in 6 years.
 
I actually find ti quite enjoyable at times to just sit back and watch as idiots do their thing and piss people off. And in the end, it usually is just as fast to just do that than weave through traffic.

And then there is the jerk side of me. I always get pissed when people fly up an empty lane and cut in at the last second to avoid the big long line. That's how traffic jams are made. People cutting other people off so that person has to slam on the brakes. In the areas where people usually do fly up the lane and merge at the last second, I usually ride the bumper of the car in front of me to try and force those people to use the lane as it was intended or wait in line like a sensible person. Doing that is something I will never do. I always get as far away from the merging lanes as possible, and when I need to move over because my lane is ending, I take the first safe spot I find instead of pushing my luck flying up the lane and cutting somebody off.

Also when I'm having fun weaving through traffic, I always make sure I am both going faster than the car I'm cutting in front of and on the gas. And, when you're on the attack, you are more aware of what people in front of you are doing. I remember on one drive home, I had three close calls but there is always a way out that I can take if the other person doesn't see you. However, from what I've seen, the most dangerous thing is to try and shoot a gap when the lane in front of you is braking and you're trying to get in front of a car in another lane. Those kinds of things are always very scary.

I've never really had trouble merging though. Around here, people almost always will either get left when a lane is merging or move to make for easy merging for everybody. There are just some things that you should do even if you are the most aggressive driver on the road...
 
legendary724
Honestly, why do we have to drive 100km/h on the highway? Whats the rush? If you need to get to work fast, leave earlier. More people will die if we keep having speed limits so fast. Alot of people die on the highway.
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Joey D
High speed limits aren't dangerous. At all.
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Quoted for truth.

In the UK, the road you're least likely to have a fatal accident - and indeed an accident of any kind - is a 70mph limit (112km/h) motorway. And that's not because there's less of them than any other kind of road, as the statistics are calculated per vehiclemile.
 
I was taught (many years ago now ;) ) That when merging onto a highway, especially from an on ramp, to be doing the posted speed when you hit the highway, makes life so much more easier. I'm sure you've seen this also, people that only look for a gap in the traffic when the lane they are in has finished instead of planning their move a couple hundred meters earlier. Makes me want to give them a smack

Bottom line it comes down to commen sense :) Driving after all isn't rocket science
 
Pretty simple, actually.

If your personal safety depends, in any large part, on the driving skills of the people around you, you just aren't a safe driver.

Unfortunately, I see way too many people doing just that... depending on others to avoid them, give way or perform miraculous acts of idiot avoidance. That just doesn't cut it.

Simple rule: Drive like everyone else on the road is an idiot. Avoid them like the plague.
 
Great, i got owned by Famine...never mind.

Thats what the "Lane ends in 500m" sign is for. If you reach the end of the closing lane your more than likely going annoy people or have an accident.
 
tehFAO
I don't know how many people here are from Colorado, but I take I-25 Northbound for 30 miles every morning, and back again every afternoon.
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I live in northglenn and work in Dacono. I've been driving that same stretch of road for 15 years and yeah I've seen a few strange things.

Just this weekend I saw a saturn somehow end up about 150 yards into a wheat field. Strangest looking thing :crazy:
 
Joey D
High speed limits aren't dangerous. At all.
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Famine
Quoted for truth.
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It depends on what you consider "high". The speed doesn't kill...the hitting of other objects at higher speeds tends to cause problems.

80-90 miles per hour is a reasonable limit on limited access highways with few exits, few curves, and a not-excessive amount of traffic. But in if a highway rams through the guts of a city, with several exits and turns, then 90 mph is not acceptable for traffic.

Not everyone is paying 100% attention to the road and the car, and it's foolish to believe that everyone else is. Not everyone is interested in going 100 mph, either. Some people want or can only go 60 mph. That's a big reason the limits are in place; my local interstate highway would not be safe if everyone drove at 100 mph.

Yes, if you had strict enforcement of passing on the left, weavers, people who cut off others, aggressive drivers, lack of signal use, and speed limits for each lane or sets of lanes (in LHD countries, slower traffic on the right, faster traffic on the left)...then you could begin to have 100 mph limits.

Is everyone going to keep to 100? Doubtful...some people will then go 110 and even 120 mph. It is also not a speed that can be kept all day long, so to speak. Only for short bursts, as a person's attention level tends to relax after any repetitive activity.

Not every car is a sports-car, and not every driver puts the pedal down to the floor, so you can't expect every car to be able to merge onto the highway with the flow of high speed traffic. I feel the mix of varying speeds is a very dangerous factor for highways. But prevent right-lane passing would go a long way to prevent dangerous accidents; a car going 80-100 mph is far more likely to crash into slower traffic that way. And to be honest, it's one of the most dangerous things people do on the roads here; it's one thing if it is totally clear, and all the traffic is going at the speed limit (or slower...I'm looking at you, Harley-riders and old folks :indiff:), and you move over one lane at a time (with a signal!), then fine...go pass on the right.

As for open roads, or roads with little traffic at certain hours, this is not an issue. But there's a time and place for speed limits on the highway.
 
This is why the German Autobahns are such a great example, they are unrestricted in the parts that aren't near cities but as you get closer to urban areas limits are put into place. I agree that people are morons on the freeway a just cruise in the left lane (which is illegal and should be enforced, along with the indicators), really speed is the last thing we need to be concerned about overly enforcing on the freeways and concentrate more on enforcing those who driver dangerously.
 

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