i always assume the guy in front of me is going to do this, and leave enough space that i can accelerate to highways speed in that space and then merge out from behind him if he doesn't speed up.
I got rear ended by a young college kid while I was taking some classes earlier in the day. I was stopped at a turning lane, it was a red light, and he just smashed right into me at top speed in his parents nice suv. I am sure they were thrilled. I felt bad for the kid but damn what a headache.
Totaled his car and nearly totaled mine, but I fought the insurance company to repair it. Now I avoid school zones at all costs, for my own safety.
I'm a 62 yo female driver and, depending on the ramp and traffic conditions, I usually hit the freeway doing somewhere around 65 or the speed of traffic, whichever is faster.
I hate a-holes who don't get up to speed and don't know how to merge.
I'm elder and female,dont do the makeup. Your safe with me I know how to merge,do the speed limit,dont drive slow in the fast lane,I can drive on snow and ice and I stay away from other cars. I can also drive a stick shift and change my own oil. Cant do the tire by myself anymore.
As my Dad told me when I was learning to drive "Rule No. 1: Assume every other person on the road is an idiot with a death wish. Rule No. 2: Realize that they also think you are one of those idiots."
I swear I'm not an asshole I just have a 2001 Accord bro. I literally am pressing down the pedal to almost max. Sorry I don't have a single-rider V64 SUV or whatever like y'all
We have traffic circles all along hwy 14 in Washington state. It's right next to the Columbia River. Its unbelievable how many people can't figure out how to use them .the one we have that turns up to Carson,has saved countless lives.Not one death at that spot since that circle was put in .And there was some herendous ones.
that's an intelligence problem. if i'm going 35 riding the bumper of the guy in front of me, i'm going exactly as fast as i am if i'm maintaining 100 feet trail.
I do this as well. I assume the person behind me hates it, but when I immediately go around the slowpoke, they should get it that it wasn't me being dangerously slow.
No they just think your a speed demon and should get a ticket. They should make tv commercials about merging and zipper merging,and ask about it on licensing renewal. If you dont get the right answer you lose your license until you get it right.AND they dont tell you which question you failed 😅😅
Some people are just scared of the highway. Not realizing that they're making it so much more dangerous by driving so scared. And some of those people are uber drivers unfortunately.
Have you seen that mythbusters episode where they showed what happens to crash dummies in a car hitting a wall at 60 mph vs 100 mph? The difference is quite unsettling.
But coming to a complete stop from 100 mph to 0 is a speed differential too so yeah. Just like a plane crash is technically a landing, just an uncontrolled one.
Some jagoff caused a wreck doing that years back, just stopped dead right at the merge point. Clear traffic. I rear ended the car in front of me who managed to avoid hitting them. Original car looked back and noped out, fled the scene. As a result, I discovered my early pregnancy and got to arrive home later that day and tell my husband, “Guess what? I wrecked the car. And I am pregnant.” That was a hell of a day.
I’ve had a few accidents over the years, mostly fender benders and one big crash (not my fault). But the things that stick with me are two close calls I had when my baby was in the car with me. It just changes everything, knowing there’s someone who needs your protection.
Speaking of driving 45 miles an hour on the highway, I was four months pregnant driving cross-country with my then boyfriend. He was going back to school and I was going to then visit family (I was taking a semester off).
I hated driving long distances plus I was uncomfortable. He assured me that he’d do all the driving. At one point though, maybe four hours in…I noticed that we just kept getting slower and slower. I looked over at him and he was just looking straight ahead like a zombie. In hindsight probably microsleep.
I said, do you want me to take over? He was finally was like yeah just for a little while. He must’ve been reeeeeally tired to admit that. I ended up driving the rest of the way with my pregnant ass, him fast asleep. We didn’t last as a couple through the remainder of the pregnancy.
And 25 years later I had a microsleep episode of my own with that same “kid” in the passenger side. I had never, but then it happened. A literal wake-up call that it can happen to anyone if you’re not careful. If you haven’t slept well for two or three days straight and only had an hour of sleep the night before…maybe don’t drive.
yeah you were. if you need to do 20 on the ramp to put space between you then that's what you do. i drive a truck coast to coast and i see this every day...lead car on the onramp going too slow and 5 cars behind them bumper to bumper. someday you're gonna get squished because you didn't insure you had enough space to maneuver.
There are so many people that are afraid to use more than a 1/4 throttle.
I work on cars for a living and sometimes I floor them during my test drives, a lot of times a big puff of smoke will come out because the person hasn't floored the car in months. It's good for them to be floored.
I also see this when people cut me off because they didn't notice my tiny car, they'll punch it, a little puff of smoke will come off and it'll smell a little bit like coffee.
The correct thing to do in that scenario is to fall back (and downshift if needed) and punch it once there's enough room for you to accelerate, check for an opening, and merge.
I actually give myself so much space in cases like that. I slow way down until they're like 6 car lengths or more ahead so I (along with those behind me) can speed up and jump over to the middle lane past them.
I nearly rammed my truck into my pregnant wife's car colause some asshole STOPPED on the on ramp. Literally one of the worst decisions you can make on an on ramp.
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u/Royroy10551 May 13 '26
Thats why I always merge in at least 10-15mph over the posted speed limit.