Lane Merging: Chances are You’re Doing it Wrong

mergingWhile the RMS wastes tens of thousands of dollars educating drivers how to pass a grown man, clad in lycra riding a bicycle at fifteen kilometres an hour down the Wakehust Parkway, they have failed to educate most drivers in a basic driving skill, that majority of Northern Beaches drivers seem to lack.
The inability to merge lanes correctly is almost single handedly the number one cause for Northen Beaches traffic congestion. Have you ever sat in bumper to bumper traffic and as you passed a certain point in the road the traffic just suddenly flows? No explanation for the traffic issues, no accident, no b
3476-MergeSign&Tab
roken down car or hot air balloon in the middle of the road? My money is on the point at which the traffic just seemed to disappear was at the end of a merging lane.
The issue is peoples basic inability to merge lanes, either lost skills along the way or never taught how to do it correctly, the reasons are irrelevant, but the cause is nearly always the same thing. The vehicle in the lane that ends either slows down or comes to a stop.
Either you’re not paying attention and don’t realise that the signs for the last six kilometres told you that your lanes ends and the result is a sudden slamming of the brakes as you realise your rapidly approaching a guard rail or just complete lack of the skill required and you come to a stop anyway.
Forest Way onto Warrringah Road, Mona Vale Road at Powderworks Road or entering bad-drivers-3the Wakehurst Parkway at Narrabeen nearly always results in a complete stop in traffic. Why? There should be no need for anyone to stop.
The idea my friends, is that if your lane ends, you don’t slow down. Maintain your speed or adjust it slightly and slide into the feeder lane like a zipper.
Admittedly this does require all parties to play the game. Those in the lane that does not end also need to pay attention to the situation and adjust the speed to allow for the vehicles in the merging lane to slide into the flow of traffic.
If executed correctly nobody should come to a stop, the average speed should be maintained and no traffic congestion should occur.
The reality is most people who have driver licences, shouldn’t and there really is no real solution to this as the human race seems to be on average rather dense. But this may have answered one question for some.
When you come to a stop at the end of the feeder lane where Forest Way meets Warringah Road and the car behind you is blasting their horn at you and you think “what’s his problem?” the answer is, you’re the person the blog is about. You have all, by your self ruined Sydney traffic.

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