 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Driving / April 2008Merge failure twice
I had a problem of MSMD with two Sloths on an acceleration lane today. I was going 100 as I approached a merge point. There was room behind me and lots of room for mergers to accelerate and move in front of me. A batch of five drivers were approaching the start of the acceleration lane. The first two drivers entered the acceleration lane, while the third driver waited for me to pass. The first merger failed to accelerate, and instead drifted onto the roadway at a speed of less than 80. I was trying to pass normally and ignore the merge-impaired driver when my pass was interrupted by the second merger drifting in front of me at a slower speed. It was like the second Sloth assumed that it was acceptable to drift onto the roadway because the first Sloth did it too. Not planning to slam on the brakes, I passed both Sloths on the remainder of the acceleration lane, and not really accelerating much, had enough room to cut off the first Sloth without forcing any sudden braking. Why do they expect that I should slam on the brakes instead of using the acceleration lane to accelerate to the speed of traffic? On the trip back, I had another driver of a small car drift down the acceleration lane while I was going 120. The Sloth was about 10 m from the end of the lane when it flicked on its turn signal and drifted very slowly in front of me, maybe expecting that I would "accommodate" its improper merge. The Sloth pulled back into the acceleration lane and stopped when it noticed that I was not braking or swerving into the passing lane. These problems with merge-impaired drivers rarely happen when I'm coming down the lane at 150-200. Almost nobody is stupid enough to drift onto the roadway at those speeds of traffic. >I had a problem of MSMD with two Sloths on an acceleration lane today. >I was going 100 as I approached a merge point. There was room behind me >and lots of room for mergers to accelerate and move in front of me. A >batch of five drivers were approaching the start of the acceleration >lane. This, BTW, is why on-ramp signals were invented. They break up the Phalanx of Sloth, preventing it from moving *en masse* onto the freeway. >The first two drivers entered the acceleration lane, while the >third driver waited for me to pass. The first merger failed to [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >a slower speed. It was like the second Sloth assumed that it was >acceptable to drift onto the roadway because the first Sloth did it too. MFFY See, MFFY Do. > Not planning to slam on the brakes, I passed both Sloths on the >remainder of the acceleration lane, and not really accelerating much, >had enough room to cut off the first Sloth without forcing any sudden >braking. Why do they expect that I should slam on the brakes instead of >using the acceleration lane to accelerate to the speed of traffic? What I would have done in that scenario: blipped the throttle slightly, making sure I was WELL ahead of the first car in the Phalanx, and allowing them all to safely merge in behind me. It's always easier for a car moving 100 to blip it up to 110 or 120 than it is for a car already struggling to accelerate to 80 to accelerate even more. >On the trip back, I had another driver of a small car drift down the >acceleration lane while I was going 120. The Sloth was about 10 m from [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >stopped when it noticed that I was not braking or swerving into the >passing lane. You're a braver man than I am, Gunga Din. >These problems with merge-impaired drivers rarely happen when I'm coming >down the lane at 150-200. Almost nobody is stupid enough to drift onto >the roadway at those speeds of traffic. All the more reason to blip the throttle when you see Sloth merging.  Signature"Dave's not here, man!" - Tommy Chong I had another merge-impaired incident tonight. I was behind the driver of a small Toyota as it left a neighbourhood street and turned very slowly onto the connecting street. The first warning was that the Sloth was very slow to accelerate when it had a green light, but I ignored the problem. I was behind the Sloth for a few minutes and noticed that it had some sort of LCD monitor attached above the steering wheel, maybe on the frame of the door. The monitor was bright and seemed to be obstructing the driver's view of the road. I was still behind the Sloth as it entered the acceleration lane and tried to enter the traffic flow. I immediately noticed that the Sloth wasn't accelerating on the acceleration lane, still going about 60 and drifting down to the end of the lane. I stopped and waited, watching the Sloth drift down the lane, seemingly-oblivious that the traffic was approaching. One car passed me, and then a pickup truck that was going slightly-slower. As the car was starting to pass the Toyota, the Sloth flicked on its turn signal and merged into the side of the car and then into the truck. The truck driver slammed on the brakes, and the Sloth Slothfully drifted in front of it, oblivious that it was almost crushed. The Sloth was still going about 70 when I caught up to it. After pacing the Sloth for about 4 km, I couldn't understand what was the problem. It wasn't drifting into other lanes, didn't appear to be a drink-driver, and was maintaining a speed between 75 and 80 in the right lane. What was wrong with this Sloth? MFFY stupidity? Watching the TV instead of driving? Using some new drug that makes drivers very slow and oblivious, but still able to stay in the right lane and maintain speed? >One car passed me, and then a pickup truck that was going >slightly-slower. As the car was starting to pass the Toyota, the Sloth >flicked on its turn signal and merged into the side of the car and then >into the truck. The truck driver slammed on the brakes, and the Sloth >Slothfully drifted in front of it, oblivious that it was almost crushed. Are ytou saying that this Sloth had physical contact with two vehicles and was totally oblivious? Signature"Dave's not here, man!" - Tommy Chong >> The truck driver slammed on the brakes, and the Sloth >> Slothfully drifted in front of it, oblivious that it was almost crushed. > > Are ytou saying that this Sloth had physical contact with two vehicles > and was totally oblivious? It looked like it could've been a collision, but it was hard to see around to the front of the truck. The truck driver waited about a minute and then passed quickly. The Sloth didn't seem to have any obvious damage where the collision would've occurred, but it was still driving very skittishly. > I had a problem of MSMD with two Sloths on an acceleration lane today. > I was going 100 as I approached a merge point. There was room behind me [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > down the lane at 150-200. Almost nobody is stupid enough to drift onto > the roadway at those speeds of traffic. _________________________ Jest wanted to clear something up - are we talking Kmh here? That said, I feel your pain. Here along the Northeast corridor in the U.S.(Philly > Boston) esp along Interstate 95, I think we've got a bunch of scaredy cats pulling onto the venerable 6 laner. The legal speed limit is either 55(88) or 65(105). I tend to "sloth" along at 5-6mph(8-10k) above either zone, while everyone else is exceeding those limits by 10-20mph! Therefore, NOBODEEEE should have trouble merging in front of me. I think it's all a matter of good depth of vision and ability to judge the closing distance of another vehicle/truck from the p.o.v. of the on-ramp. Instead, they crawl onto the on-ramp, and, either in front of me or not, wait till the END of the damn ramp decide to jerk over to the RH travel lane and finally accelerate up to speed! That's right, the majority of drivers here actually believe they need to use up the ENTIRE on-ramp before entering the lanes of travel! Now the law usually prohibits breaching a SOLID white line when transitioning from on-ramp to first travel lane, but once that solid line turns to morse code, your own judgement/discretion should take over. Not me, I'm pretty much up to speed well before I run out of on- ramp(depending on how I-95 is doing!) and can make the jump just after the solid line ends. -CC >Jest wanted to clear something up - are we talking Kmh here? I assumed that we were. The OP measured distances in meters, as well, which is another strong indication. >That said, I feel your pain. Here along the Northeast corridor in the >U.S.(Philly > Boston) esp along Interstate 95, I think we've got a >bunch of scaredy cats pulling onto the venerable 6 laner. Some guy in a Honda Fit pulled that sort of move today. He was in the merge lane that was about to end, and he just sat there putzing slowly along. Just as I was convinced he was going to take the exit, he merged in behind me. >Therefore, NOBODEEEE should have trouble merging in front of me. I >think it's all a matter of good depth of vision and ability to judge >the closing distance of another vehicle/truck from the p.o.v. of the >on-ramp. BINGO. Lots of drivers simply cannot judge the speed of other another vehicle. This causes all sorts of problems, needless to say. Signature"Dave's not here, man!" - Tommy Chong |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.