I don't understand the advantage of merging early. In New Jersey and
New York, drivers always merge at the last minute. And they do it
seamlessly. One from this land, one from that. Bing, bang, bing, bang.
By merging two miles ahead of time, you're not using all the available
road. Doesn't make sense to me. I was shocked when I first came to
Michigan and found that everyone got all religious about merging as
soon as possible and leaving the other lane empty!! Weird.
I think New Jersey and New York driver learn how to merge at the
tunnels. Entering the Lincoln or Holland tunnel, you have a dozen
lanes that eventually merge to one. The last merge takes place within
twenty yards of the tunnel entrance. And if traffic isn't all bottled
up, the merge happens at moderate speed. That's good driving, and it's
the way it should be done.
Paul
On May 6, 2009, at 8:43 PM, Ken Waller wrote:
Kenneth Waller
http://www.tinyurl.com/272u2f
----- Original Message ----- From: "Joseph McAllister" <[email protected]
>
Subject: Re: New Jersey Drivers (Was nutty Norwegians)
Reminds me of when I moved to Seattle in 1988. The drivers here
were so polite that if there was a road construction sign stating
the road narrowed to 1 lane two miles ahead, they would all start
lining up in that lane immediately. Traffic would flow smoothly
through the constriction at reasonable speeds.
Now that I and a million others have arrived here from other parts
of the world, it has become a contest to see who can get the
furthest down the road before having to merge, resulting in the
traditional glut of cars trying to occupy the same space, leaving
the locals (and me, 'cause I'm nice and can see the advantage if
it were to work) strung out in their single lane, unmoving, for a
long long time, and cursing the damn impolite asshole newcomers.
FWIW, in Michigan it became illegal, a few years back, to wait for
the last few car lengths before you merged down to the directed
lane. I believe its worth a few points agaist your driving license
which could result in higher insurance costs and in extreme, your
driver's liscense. Seems to have helped.
On May 6, 2009, at 16:25 , Ken Waller wrote:
When I came to Michigan, in the mid 60's I couldn't believe how
polite the drivers were. They would sit & wait at a light for the
traffic to clear, while in New Jersey it was 'he who hesitates is
lost'/every man for himself - it took me awhile to undo my Jersey
habits.
I think some of Paul's observation about New Jersey drivers must
be tempered by the fact that for the most part, the better roads
there are toll roads, getting the attention of the faster (maybe
better) drivers. The rest of the schmucks stayed to the slower
non toll roads.
Joseph McAllister
[email protected]
http://gallery.me.com/jomac
http://web.me.com/jomac/show.me/Blog/Blog.html
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