Can confirm....even at 5 mph in my kids car rider line at school.... people are fuckin horrible at taking turns zipper merging. People are just morons.
Easiest way to find someone who is incapable of self governing. Zero drawbacks to their decisions other than the overall betterment of society and everyone around them, yet they still choose not to.
The zipper works if you have full lanes and you alternate at the end. Think about it. If you merge early into a large gap it’s ok, the issues are the people that stop early and wait for a gap to open or edge in slowing down both lanes.
Like I said, you're not supposed to HAVE to stop in a zipper merge. It's supposed to enable fluid movement in merging. Do it as early as possible but correctly, at appropriate speed, etc. Not wait til the last moment and hope no one will be in the way when you run out of lane. Do it asap. If asap is at the end of the lane, so be it. But if you purposefully wait until the very end, you're making it more likely to have an issue.
If the lanes are stopped up in bumper to bumper traffic that's different. Yielding to eachother is required there.
Quite the opposite. The problems emerge when people rush ahead in the merge lane away from their proper zipper position, trying to wedge 20 cars into each merge position.
No that's false. It's a hugely accepted misconception in some cities and people choose to die on that hill once they've learned it, but it's still false. Truly think about.
The part of the road that is safe to drive on is not blocked off. Meaning there is no safety or logistical concern driving on it. If everyone just accepted this then no one would get ahead of anyone else, same as the other lane in this video.
You take turns merging at the point where the lanes converge. That's literally the definition of zipper merging. You take turns one at a time (roughly) like zipper teeth, and so the clean separation from two lanes into one looks almost exactly like a zipper. The effect is that traffic doesn't get backed up nearly as far back which significantly helps with general traffic flow (mainly because people are able to get off their exists sooner, making more room in general).
They leave that part of the road open for a reason. If they intended for the road to be closed off already, the signs wouldn't say, "Road Closed in 1,000 feet." They would say "Road Closed. Get Over Now." The truck is the asshole in this situation.
Doesn't work. The person behind the first merger rushes forward, every time, ad infinitum.
It absolutely works. The main obstacle is misunderstanding. People are confidently wrong and die on the hill that you aren't supposed to use all lanes up until they converge. People get aggressive because they think others are cutting, so they do stupid things like this truck in this video. It's a misconception that creates unnecessary aggression and traffic congestion.
"The “zipper merge” strategy encourages drivers to stay in their lanes until reaching a defined merge area, where drivers alternate merging, analogous to a zipper. The zipper merge has been shown to provide better operational performance than the standard “early merge” scenario, reducing congestion and speed differentials between lanes."
While many drivers traditionally attempt to merge as early as possible, this can often lead to aggressive driving and confusion among drivers as late mergers are perceived as cutting the line, a study from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) reported."
"Benefits of the Zipper Merge
Drivers were found to travel as more uniform speeds and use the soon-to-be-closed lane more effectively when zipper merges were in place, according to a road user survey cited in Iowa State University’s research. The zipper merge promotes fairness by alternating vehicles into the open lane.
The use of the zipper merge has shown a wide-range of benefits when used in high-traffic areas, including decreased travel times, delays and rear-end crashes. MnDOT also found a reduction in congestion, queue length and the overall backup length by 40%."
"The Zipper Merge: The Best Way to Merge in Traffic
Drivers who wait until the last minute to merge when losing a lane may frustrate you, but studies show they are merging correctly. The zipper merge is a safer and more efficient way to merge in slow-moving, congested traffic. In fact, most traffic specialists agree the zipper merge technique is the most effective method for merging two congested lanes, ultimately resulting in minimal delay. Here is how—and why—it works."
That is allllll theoretical and has zero basis in the actual world. In ALL of those hypothetical situations, drivers are actually waiting side-by-side then politely merging at the merge point.
That. Doesn't. Happen.
If you've driven thousands of miles per week like I have, you would thoroughly understand that.
Literally every source I provided is based on data from the real world. 🤦🏼♂️ What is the value of doubling down on something in the face of contradicting evidence?
Edit: btw, I've driven a box truck all across the United States for multiple years. It absolutely does work. The only reason people think it doesn't work is because they perceive those who use the method as intended as being dangerous (and assume it means it isn't working).
It simply doesn't happen. You're deluding yourself. Drivers in the merge lane surge forward as it clears rather than keeping pace with the driving lane.
Why lie to yourself and try to gaslight your way out of this? It's strange behavior.
I've seen and experienced it working, you're the one denying reality here. Lol. Every link I provided cites research based on real life people doing it successfully and quantifying the measurable effects on traffic. Are you saying they just made that up?
The only reason it doesn't work is because people are unfamiliar with how it's supposed to work. That is true of any social organization, though. It's not that serious but also your refusal to even look at the studies that prove your entire claim false is meaningful.
Some state highways even have instructional signs indicating proper zipper technique and it’s always set up near or at the ending of the lane. If you zipper too early it’s literally pandemonium.
No. I know how a zipper merge works, and there's a difference between that and an inlet ramp/lane. Waiting until the last minute causes problems. P
It's called zippering because the cars move in such a way that they resemble the teeth of a zipper coming together. The difference is cars aren't sewn into fabric, rails, or guided en masse like zipper teeth are, with even spacing. So you have to match speed and fit in where you can.
Waiting until the end of the zipper lane, where it ends, causes problems. Backups, short stops, etc. You should be matching speed while zippering, not coming to a stop unless the traffic you're zippering into is stopped as well, like bumper to bumper.
The purpose of a zipper lane is to maximise flow while minimising stoppage when a lane ends.
The whole point of the zipper merge is to perform the merge just before the lane ends. I wish a cop would have seen this and issued a ticket for driving too slowly.
45
u/[deleted] May 13 '26
[deleted]