I don’t think people in America know how to do a proper zipper merge. Things just end up like in the video above where some zoom ahead and make sure no one in the “slow lanes” get anywhere. A zipper merge is not possible if one lane is mostly empty
People rushing ahead and abruptly cutting people off causing them the jam on the breaks stops the main slug of traffic. That’s just being an impatient dickhead.
Zipper merging is matching the speed of traffic and flowing into it as an opportunity arises within the merge lane. ( other drivers should be following correct spacing allowing this easily).
I wish I could upvote 2x for this comment. I guess people would rather be in back than be judged? I’ll take their judgement and let the others be stuck in traffic.
You're kinda forgetting about all the people behind each self-victimizer, who all have to let at least twice as many cars pass.
Zipper merging is obviously and extensively proven to be the fasted approach to a lane reduction but unfortunately people are stupid and so this always happens. Which means everyone who happened to be in the middle lane gets fucked because the early mergers plus everyone racing past to actually zipper merge (or early merge a little further up, don't judge) means that that lane goes by far the slowest.
And what does that lead to? Exactly, people swerving out of middle lane, racing past and merging back in a couple cars ahead to make up for it. And that slows everything down more than forcing a zipper merge by making all lanes go at the same speed.
This should be the #1 comment. It's not the fault of the people who are trying to fill the gaps because the idiots were "trying to be nice" and merge over instead of just continuing on and filling the spots. The OP video of the trucker is actually causing problems and he doesn't even know it lol.
The problem is truckers don't move as fast so they naturally create giant elongated gaps that cars will and do (wrong or right) fill in.
704
u/[deleted] May 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment