On 9/5/09, John Sessoms, discombobulated, unleashed: >... and all the argument about when to merge came home yesterday. > >As I came home from work yesterday, there was a traffic accident in >street ahead. Fire truck and several police cars blocking the center >left turn lane and the left lane; traffic had to merge right to clear >the accident. > >Everyone seemed to be doing a good job, the people already IN the right >lane were making room for the people in the left lane and the people in >the left lane were going ahead and merging to keep traffic flowing. > >Then when the left lane was clear ahead to the point of the accident, >some *ASSHOLE* in a big black SUV, tinted windows, vanity license plate >BUNCO-something or other, pulls out and passes everybody, forces a merge >at the last instant before slamming into the stopped fire truck - the >rest of the traffic in the right lane has to slam on brakes to avoid a >chain collision ... > >S.O.B. should be shot.
As the driver of a large SUV I agree. In the UK we tend to line up like sheep unless told by signs to 'merge in turn'. But to be honest, it's a poor use of the road and creates problems further back, including dangerous situations like blocked exits etc. I think that using all lanes available until the blockage is sensible, as long as people take turns. If drivers could hear the voices and speak to the other drivers in cars around them, say within a 50 foot radius (similar to hearing voices as you walk down the street in say a 10 foot radius) then there would be a fraction of the lunacy. Of course here in England we wouldn't get anywhere, lines forming as this happens: "After you." "No no, after you" "Absolutely not, after you dear chap" "I wouldn't hear of it....." (ad nauseum) I tend to walk softly but carry a big stick. I sit in traffic jams too, but when the phone goes and I have to be elsewhere then I can often be seen simply turning left or right from the jam. If there's a road, it helps, but not much. -- Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| http://www.cottysnaps.com _____________________________ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
