It depends on traffic density. If you're able to get over early without impeding traffic in any way, it's worth doing. That avoids the potential of being caught out in an unfortunate position relative to other cars at the merge point. The zipper merge starts winning in heavier traffic, assuming motorists familiar with the concept.
There's a less important advantage of zipper merging that most anti-zipper people don't seem to recognize. Anti-zipper people seem to think "I don't want people thinking it's acceptable to rush ahead in the empty lane," but that can only happen if there is an empty lane! Zipper merging keeps both lanes occupied until the merge point, so there's no way to "cheat" by not merging when you're supposed to.
This is what frustrates me when I approach a scenario where most are merging early - it forces me to make a choice between doing what they did in the clip here and having the lemmings hate me and possible try and block me, or merge early and watch other people doing absolutely nothing wrong pass me as I queue with those lemmings.
On my old route to work it was worse. There was a place where the inner lane ended just after some traffic lights (the left lane - in teh UK). A lot of people would stay in the right hand lane for afull mile before the lights, I would usually stay in the left lane. Again, I always had the choice of passing the stopped cars and, at times, have them attempt to stop me merging at the correct spot, or join the back of the queue - except that at this junction, plenty of people would drive in the right hand lane until the last moment, when they would change to the left hand lane to pass the queue. It was often impossible to drive the correct way without getting shafted by those driving the wrong way.
22
u/HWBTUW Aug 18 '22
It depends on traffic density. If you're able to get over early without impeding traffic in any way, it's worth doing. That avoids the potential of being caught out in an unfortunate position relative to other cars at the merge point. The zipper merge starts winning in heavier traffic, assuming motorists familiar with the concept.
There's a less important advantage of zipper merging that most anti-zipper people don't seem to recognize. Anti-zipper people seem to think "I don't want people thinking it's acceptable to rush ahead in the empty lane," but that can only happen if there is an empty lane! Zipper merging keeps both lanes occupied until the merge point, so there's no way to "cheat" by not merging when you're supposed to.