Why Traffic Scientists Want You to Cut People Off

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Video written by Adam Chase
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[@A-eo6wu]

In Germany we learn this in driving school. Which absolutely doesn't mean people are doing it correctly here all the time...

[@Steamrick]

The slower traffic is, the more likely it is to work. On a free-flowing highway people are liable to merge early. In a traffic jam or that two-to-one-lane merge close to my house almost everyone does it perfectly.

[@patrickmartin3322]

I learned it in my driving school here in the US

[@josh8344]

Another reason I adore driving in Germany, it just works

[@RyanLucroy]

Just like the Rettungsgasse 😂

[@sarowie]

@@RyanLucroy yeah, but that is somewhat recent. But now that it set up in people minds, it suddenly happens like magic when the first few people start to form the Rettungsgasse, suddenly everyone starts slowly moving into position.

[@krazYFaic]

"The most efficient way to reduce traffic is for all cars to drive at a constant speed at a fixed distance from the car in front of them"... Like a train.

[@duailibi2]

I have a felling Adam Something will make a video about this.

[@jannetteberends8730]

@@duailibi2 🤣😂 Discovered that channel last week. At a certain moment I’m just waiting for the moment the train comes along as the most efficient way of transport.

[@duailibi2]

@@jannetteberends8730 i agree with everything that dude says. Dubai sucks, America fucked itself and Europe is the best place in the world.

[@dubious_potat4587]

The most efficient way to solve traffic is to not have any traffic

[@Angel24Marin]

@@duailibi2 It's already a quote from his video about self driving cars.

[@m__42]

The most important point about the zipper merge - and where it tends to break down - is that everyone on the destination line has to yield to EXACTLY 1 other car. In particular, it suffers from too scared drivers who either merge early or yield to more than 1 merging car. Btw, the complicated German term, Reissverschlussverfahren, is just the literal translation of "Zipper merge". Zipper = Reissverschluss.

[@Aznataku02]

It also breaks down because everyone is always have the mindset of ME FIRST ME FIRST. This is also the same reason when people are trying to exit out of places there also so much congestion, people on the road don't leave a space for cars to exit when traffic is at complete stop. Reason why signs are add to not block intersection and yet people still do it.

[@MannyBrum]

It more literally translates to "rip closure technique" lol.

[@m__42]

@@MannyBrum Well, A "zipper" is a "Reissverschluss" 😉. The thing on the clothes.

[@tharealmb]

In dutch it's "ritsen" which means "zip up". Which is exactly like shiwn

[@ck8466]

@@m__42 yeah, but "Verfahren" doesn't translate to "merge" but to "procedure" so the LITERAL translation is zipper procedure not zipper merge😉

[@joeym5243]

The problem with this is that it assumes people are good at merging lanes

[@GuestUser18]

EXACTLY

[@gtbkts]

Exactly.

[@ridingweeb4801]

it works fine in europe cause we have signs telling you to zippe rmerge

[@dxelson]

In Europe it isn't a big problem

[@norma8686]

@@ridingweeb4801 Don't know in what european country you live in where this works cause at least here in Italy every zipper merge is a disaster.

[@b34m270]

Honestly as a german, for the first port of the video I was "wtf, you abviously don't go into the left lane early, you have to do Reißverschluss, everyone knows that from driving school"

[@Jabberwockybird]

I like that word, it's a fun word. Reißverschluss

[@skyeplaysgames4598]

As a Dutchie I thought this too, though we didnt get mentioned because the word "ritsen" is far too short to be interesting

[@racecarrik]

While you guys have driving school we have a multiple choice test and once you pass then someone who's also bad at driving approves your technique on a simple 15 min drive. It's honestly hell on the road for anyone with half a brain, but there's no other form of transportation so we just have to deal with it.

[@Satvik_903]

@@skyeplaysgames4598 the word is though half as interesting and thus it would have been more apt to be mentioned here. Sam dropped the ball on this one

[@kleseus]

​@@racecarrik sounds like riding a bicycle.

[@Ariverfish]

Let's appreciate the fact the Sam actually got the domain, and set up the site with actual instructions providing information about the zipper merge. I highly encourage you guys to check it out, the page layout and especially the animation on the zipper merge is top-notch!

[@piethedye3948]

I really learnt a lot if I'm that page 10/10

[@c_01m26]

oh dang, very informative!

[@johnladuke6475]

Once I'm done throwing bricks at Sam, I'm gonna see if I have any left for you.

[@aryboss15]

I agree. It was very informative.

[@IchorX]

Super well put together!

[@eier5472]

In Germany, you get honked at and are considered "cutting off" when you are *not* zipper merging. Also, Reißverschlussverfahren is pronounced [ˌʁaɪsfɐʃlʊsfɐˈfaːrən], for the lads who don't think of IPA as a hipster beer

[@Tore_Lund]

Can confirm this, Germans know how to do this and also how to leave room for emergency vehicles!

[@sebastiandahle3386]

Plus, it's in the law that you must follow the zipper merge whenever two lanes come together like that.

[@RGC_animation]

Yeah, totally can pronounce that now, thanks!

[@sanderroglidis2737]

In Belgium too... There are even traffic lights. It took me some time to understand why other drivers were upset

[@julianorozco5201]

whats wrong with IPA?

[@shanechurilla]

3:16 Did we just get rickrolled? That was the most subtly genius thing ever.

[@mahnas92]

Yepp, seems like it, hillarious! 😂 I wonder if he is the one owning it!

[@andrewpearce5687]

@@mahnas92 seems like it, WHOIS data says it's a Hover domain and it was registered on the 18-08-2021. Good job Sam! haha

[@HarrisonBorbarrison]

Lol

[@CaptainZacYT]

Sam, round of applause. That may have been the best rickroll I’ve ever seen.

[@David-lr2vi]

Fucking gold! Sam’s a legend! 😂

[@bobbybobman3073]

I find that I merge as late as I feel I can get away with, without totally pissing people off, because personally nothing in everyday driving is more beautiful than a long series of perfectly executed zipper merges ... And it honestly angers me when people don't just default to the zipper.

[@calebwitts1232]

Same here. There seems to always be someone lacking to smoothly get in front of without causing a fuss

[@quikgold513]

And for a brief moment, it was as if we were fighter pilots. Completing the Kessel Run. With one cohesive move. Flawlessly.

[@bosfik4352]

That's the best rickroll I've ever seen. Well done Sam!

[@vencelwagner4014]

Glad I was too lazy to search for it.

[@th3s4lm0n]

I wasn't gg

[@maitrilazaroff138]

@@th3s4lm0n Yes. I went to the link.

[@yuvalne]

+

[@d3v-x64]

agree. I felt so stupid xD

[@brysonrhodes]

I passed that intersection everyday for years. Crazy to see your own city in an HAI video!

[@amistrophy]

Username is legal name Pfp is real picture Comments: this shit How to doxx yourself 101

[@amistrophy]

*unless thats a fake name and fakepfp

[@Washington715]

@@amistrophy that implies that someone actually gives enough of a shit to dox this person. Just not worth the effort. The world need not be such a scary place.

[@amistrophy]

@@Washington715 true I bet its easier than you'd think and someone would do it for the funny though

[@jackh3242]

I always got super salty at people in that intersection who used the inner turn lane

[@AaronErfman]

One thing nobody ever seems to mention is where you should be driving if you are in the lane that is about to have to merge. If you keep your car located at a gap in the cars in the next lane and maintain that spot, maintaining the same speed at the merge, then it sets up the most smooth merge. I'm a highway engineer, by the way.

[@yazmeliayzol2895]

Most of this occurs in stop and go traffic caused by sphincters who are too entitled to let anyone merge so the whole positioning and constant speed thing isn't exactly relevant.

[@AaronErfman]

@@yazmeliayzol2895 I'm sure as hell not going to let somebody fly up and cut me off. They might want to sit in the next lane and make eye contact and ask to merge. Otherwise, I think they are the entitled assholes that I'm not letting in.

[@shirknado7953]

4:30 actually the most efficient way to reduce traffic is to not drive cars

[@philipr.7893]

Important / underrated comment. The US needs better public transit.

[@ipadair7345]

agreed, Cars are space-ineffecient, every governments needs to better allocate and use the money on public transportation.

[@racewiththefalcons1]

*BINGO.* There is literally no other way to reduce traffic. None whatsoever.

[@thetimelapseguy8]

This is the most logical solution. But there is so much money involved with car dependency; car manufacturers, oil companies, big box retail stores, shopping centres/malls, not to mention all those living in sprawling suburbs. Countries like the Netherlands are a good example to the rest of the world, hopefully the UK will be like them soon.

[@Foolish188]

@@philipr.7893 Great idea! I definitely want other drivers to use public transportation.

[@iSchmidty13]

The thing is, it’s NOT cutting anybody off If you decide to merge ASAP and sit in a giant line while there is a completely open lane right next to you, that’s your prerogative. But you shouldn’t get mad at everyone else for using their brains and using the rest of the road. I’ve been the victim of road rage for zipper merging, and the aggressor was a commercial driver in an 18-wheeler! Here in America even high level commercial licenses holders have no idea how to drive a road-going vehicle.

[@anonymusperson6952]

That must have been terrifying, sorry you had to go through that.

[@iSchmidty13]

@@anonymusperson6952 it was pretty uneventful thankfully, he just blared his air horn for a couple minutes straight while tailgating me I didn’t help things by flipping him off after that through my sunroof lmao, but he definitely should’ve read the DMV handbook before getting a commercial driving job

[@The_oli4]

To be honest the best way to reduce traffic is by designing city's to reduce traffic. Making more and easier public transport or make stores walk able/cycle able.

[@dylan__dog]

You think Americans would walk?

[@josephcronin4209]

@@dylan__dog YES

[@falconJB]

@@dylan__dog Fewer younger Americans can afford to buy decent cars so yeah I bet a lot of people would rather walk and take public transportation, if it didn't suck.

[@Albirie]

@@dylan__dog I want nothing more than to be able to walk or bike. Driving sucks, my car is expensive and largely unused, and I need more casual exercise in my life. I will continue to drive though, because my

[@jasonreed7522]

Zipper merging is realistically only useful in highways or parking lots leaving major events like concerts anyway. Nobody is trusting that they can merge in 300ft of road when they could have just picked the correct lane in the first place. The actual solution to that intersection he showed would be to have the main road keep going and have a + not 2 Ts if you cared about throughput. As far as walkable cities, 100% and make it better by having high speed rail between cities with the stations served by good public transit like a subway or bus stop so you could not need a car to visit another city and shop and return safely.

[@user-fp6dt1os1l]

The dolphin joke absolutely rolled me for some reason. How has noone done that joke before?

[@MrNicoJac]

I think it was a missed chance for "those are flipper experts"

[@MyNameIsAdam7]

it's great that even 1 year after the video was posted you're keeping the website working

[@shiina_mahiru_9067]

For zipper merge to work, you might need the traffic, in the lane being merged to, to keep at a distance twice as their normal distance. Otherwise, every merge requires the driver in the merged lane to break, which cause every car behind him to break (and hence traffic jam, by the evident chain reaction)

[@cheesyriceo4]

Thats how its supposed to work. If the lane to our right is merging with ours, we're supposed to leave enough space for a car to get in. Fragile egos cause a lot of problems, including traffic

[@nunya___]

Brake.

[@jasonreed7522]

In other words people would need to stop tailgating, which would be safer and allow for better traffic flow in the first place. Also, school bus drivers are trained to stop such that you can see where the back tires of the car infront of you touch the ground, everyone should do this and recognize that this should be the absolute limit of approach to vehicles infront of themselves. It makes everything safer and give room to maneuver in an emergency (like if the car behind you loses control on blackice and you need to move are be rearended, my mom had this exact scenario happen to her and the other car stopped exactly where she had been)

[@KmChx_MX]

You should always be double the length from the car befor you and behind, that’s why people have so many sudden accidents because they never distanced themselves enough to stop in time 😂

[@ryaeon9793]

have you seen japan zipper merge line? i envy japan.

[@cndosrs]

The question is, why are those lanes closed if they're never actually doing any work on them?

[@kylerivera3470]

@@Avendesora And I'm guessing they are too lazy to open them up during the day.

[@junkgum]

Let the tar dry up gents.

[@henryzhang7873]

@@kylerivera3470 Yeah, because you have to put thick ass steel plate over the roadway, which you need a crane to properly lift. Those plates are also only rated for 30ish miles max if not recessed into the road, which means they would also have to pour temporary asphalt. Large sections are required to be welded together so they don't make a gap that your wheels can fall into. No way to do that every night for a large roadway.

[@kylerivera3470]

​@@henryzhang7873 So basically, since the road work is only partially done it isn't safe to drive on until they're finished? Still doesn't explain why they can't work on it during the day.

[@henryzhang7873]

@@kylerivera3470 You can't drive on wet cement or asphalt, and roads are built in layers. You don't want to work on it during the day because often they will have people stop traffic for large machinery like the compacting rollers, excavators, dumptrucks etc. When you see those people holding stop signs at construction sites, it is because they have heavy machinery on the main roadway. Often what they will do in that case is split the oncoming side (2 lanes to 1 in each direction), which gives them a buffer lane, but only leaves 1 lane each direction for traffic. Not an issue at night, but bad during the day.

[@kylebloms27]

I live in Fort Collins, Colorado and can actually say a lot of intersections coming off of the interstate onto smaller roads have zipper merge lanes and it’s so convenient. Most of the on ramps to the interstate now have this as well.

[@RuneSkimmy]

any amount of time i save by zipper merging isn't worth the stress of relying on other drivers to let me merge

[@moochoopr9551]

How is that too much stress? If you have a car beside you blocking your merge, simply accelerate or decelerate to switch your position.

[@0ffaI]

​@@moochoopr9551 Doesn't work in NYC or LA. That method relies on the next person deciding to let you merge and not a single person would ever let you do that. The best method is to drive like you failed elementary school twice so the guy you're merging in front of is too scared to try and mess with you.

[@ltrotskey6571]

ah yes, the stress of worrying your merge will turn into a game of chicken.

[@sleepydoodle]

As a commuter in LA, it's not so much counting on people to wave you through, and more like moving into a gap so that they're forced to let you through once you get a foothold (tirehold?). There's usually enough space to fit, even on the 405 in rush hour traffic. I like to imagine it's a social contract most natives sign on to--we're all stuck here anyway, why get angry? If someone wants to be an asshole and tailgate the guy in front so that you can't merge, the next gap comes in a few seconds, so no worries. The ones that cause me consternation are usually overly careful drivers, because they think they need gobs of space in front or behind them to merge. "I'm giving you progressively more space, why won't you merge!" Whereas Mr. speedy will gladly take the small gap I give, and we all move on.

[@CapnCrazy110]

You made the point yourself; 100% the reason I don't often zipper merge is that I fear being prevented from having a safe opportunity to merge. It may be slower but it's far safer to already be in the correct lane.

[@BrokenLifeCycle]

But what you can be is the guy who lets people safely merge once you're at the zone and a car is there before you. Just don't be like me, though, where I let a car merge and then fight the insolent buffoon behind that one who thinks I'm letting them in, too. I mean, what does this fool think this is?! A two-for-one sale?!?

[@alainduncan3756]

If your front bumper is ahead of their front bumper, it's their responsibility not to hit you. You just have to force your way in sometimes.

[@jubelet]

What If you don't know which lane is closed? You'd use both!

[@kasen9487]

Jesus loves you

[@yazmeliayzol2895]

Lmfao... 'correct' lane... GWB... you are the problem so you don't get to complain about traffic jams... just the notion of correct lane in this context shows how entitled you are...

[@ltlbuddha]

Zipper merges work when both lanes cooperate. A common problem, perhaps not in Germany, is that the people who merge late often form their own traffic jam, obviating the advantage.

[@gunsite45]

On the other hand, we have semi trucks in the US that are horrible at acceleration and often have large unused gaps in front that can be filled with merging traffic. Within reason, obviously. Don't "cut off" the truck like a jerk.

[@jakel8627]

You don't need to cooperate because no driver is deliibately going to crash into another driver. If someone merges in front of you, you adjust your speed.

[@ltlbuddha]

@@jakel8627 But there are different ways to do that. Drivers filling both lanes and cooperating makes the whole thing go faster than some cramming in at the last minute and other people fighting them

[@UltimateAzumanger]

3:19 Hmmm... I wonder who changed the link to a rickroll...

[@Alltoc]

4:29 The most efficient way to fix traffic is to build more public transit and safe cycling lanes and intersections while also making it possible to build more denser neighborhoods

[@yanDeriction]

A good way to do the zipper merge is to hang out in the ending lane, but maintain your position and don't pass. The road will lose some capacity but not as much as if you merged early, but the car on the priority lane is more likely to let you in, and cars behind you will follow your example and zipper merge as well

[@douglasshouganai2516]

and you still get to have the dopamine that the traffic vigilantes feel because you also get to spite people behind you by forcing them to not "cut" in front of the "line". win-win for everyone.

[@BrentTJo]

@@douglasshouganai2516 Yep this is me, read about this maybe 15 years ago and that has been my default. On highways as well if you do this along side a semi truck they will always let you in cause they know what you are doing.

[@dukeofurl01]

What is a priority lane? Nobody has priority over me.

[@hawkwind769]

It's funny like you do the right thing and then all the other people are like oh shit that's how we're supposed to do it 😂

[@rickc303]

People behind will just drive around on the shoulder when they see a big enough opening ahead

[@airplanewhat5316]

WOW In Italy we absolutely hate those that seem to be skipping the line, so it's like you're an asshole if you do the zip merger. Never though of it

[@Tore_Lund]

Interesting to know there are significant cultural differences within Europe. Rules should be hamonized, but as a motorist, I do notice there are subtle differences from country to country.

[@roelsvideosandstuffs1513]

The problem with: Constant speed is that it can not always be implemented. Zip Merge, you have to create some alert on how the zip merge will work.

[@yazmeliayzol2895]

Or people can just be an iota less entitled...

[@MikeO89]

This also applies to merging onto a congested highway. Go all the way to when the merge lane ends, then zipper in. Otherwise, the merge lane clogs up all the way to traffic lights. I live in an... aggressive... city, where most people know this and will honk and rage against early mergers.

[@cat3crazy]

In that case, one has to judge the speed of the cars on the freeway before they get to the end of the ramp. A lot of drivers will get into the left lane to allow merging traffic. I have a problem where the entrance ramp becomes an exit ramp for another road. Why do people have to get in front of you as you are trying to merge on the freeway, when they are using the same lane to exit the freeway. Let me get out of the lane then you have an empty space to get in the lane.

[@MikeDCWeld]

The problem with waiting to merge until the lane ends on congested highways is that the end of the merge lane typically coincides with the point where traffic flow is beginning to pick back up and people merging there just grinds it to a halt again.

[@busslayer4790]

@@MikeDCWeld yep. If there is an opening before the end, and you can match the speed and seemlessly merge, go ahead and do so. If you wait until the end, there may not be an opening, which will then require traffic to slow down at that point to make space. In theory zipper is a good idea, but it doesn't seem to work that well in the real world unless traffic has slowed to a crawl already.

[@cheesyriceo4]

Yup. In traffic, use the whole onramp to merge. Its not the asshole thing to do. That long ramp gives everyone enough time to match speeds and make a gap for you to move into, without having to slow down or speed up traffic too much. Constant speed is the goal.

[@the1exnay]

That sounds unsafe. Though i live in a city where on-ramps never get clogged. Here you match the speed of the highway and then find a space and merge as early as possible so you have more room in case there's issues. If you fail to merge then you have to stop, and then do the much more difficult and rare maneuver of merging with 60 mph traffic while you're stationary. That is the only way an on-ramp could get clogged here, someone falling to get on and then being stuck unable to get a big enough gap. Given the consequences of failure, you have to keep your chances of success as high as possible, merge early.

[@Riolupai]

5:06 "graphic design is my passion" -vinesauce joel

[@RobCabreraCh]

This always makes me so angry when there's traffic in my city. There is a section in my city where there is a big merging zone, and there is a merging lane to help. But everybody wants to merge so much sooner and traffic comes to a standstill because nobody wants to let anybody in, and the entire merging lane is just empty in front of them.

[@richardroberson9277]

good. put a metered entrance on and keep em on the city streets or BETTER YET in their stupid driveways. if the highway is full its full. slowing it down makes it even worse

[@damnsoda8286]

My problem is: There will be times where the entire left lane does not concede to the merging traffic, I've seen as many as 6 cars in a row speed up way above the speed limit to prevent the right lane from merging in. Leaving the right lane stopped waiting until its safe to merge.

[@JuiceBoxScott]

The car that passes everyone and then merges is slowing everyone down, not speeding them up. Everyone else already zipper merged (in most cases, not the weird intersection).

[@AnimeBeefRandoms]

They merged too early slowing down traffic overall, they're the one who's slowing everything down.

[@MercuryRain]

They zipper merged too early. Use all the available road, then merge.

[@ardwordcross5632]

However, zipper merge does not help with an existing traffic jam. That is because a late merge requires spacing out the already jammed up lane, that means a lot of braking and waiting and reacceleration. Thus it is sometimes better to merge early, when there is enough space between you and other drivers

[@wrob08]

That's the thing I've never understood about how the zipper merge is supposed to work so much better. You're supposed to have adequate space in front. With the zipper merge, you immediately have to slow down because you removed that adequate space so you need to create it again, which causes a back up regardless. Merging early, you can find somewhere that already has adequate space, or at least closer to adequate space. Though, in cases where there's no adequate space, I suppose the zipper merge could be more effective.

[@lordhosk]

Thats the whole point that this video skipped, Active Vrs Stopped. The cars in a traffic jam have already zipper merged before the red sports car forces its way in.

[@pedrogomez5835]

Then drivers need to start creating space between them and the car in front of them, before they get to the merging area. Basically start reducing speed (not pressing the brakes, just release gas) as you arrive to create space, and start letting the other drivers in who do the same thing, so that no one has to break, and everyone can merge. Of course it always works in theory, but it can be implemented. I always do it when in traffic.

[@MrFrexxia]

This is wrong. It only needs to be spread out right before the merge. As long as drivers cooperate it's really not a problem when you get used to it.

[@MrFrexxia]

@@lordhosk the entire point is that you don't want to "zipper merge" before you have to, as that leaves a lane empty. If that lane was full, the line of cars would be shorter. Everyone wins.

[@gwartard]

Best way to encourage a proper zipper merge is to match speed with the lane you'll be merging into when the merge is announced. That's where you're going to be when it happens. You get to know who's going to be in front and behind you. They know you're there and what's about to happen and it should be pretty smooth. You're also blocking the guy that would race to the front actually cut someone off and cause a brake chain.

[@swinde]

It is the people racing to the front of the blocked lane that cause the traffic jam.

[@gwartard]

@@swinde if there's an empty lane for them to race to the front of you're doing it wrong

[@swinde]

@@gwartard There is almost never an empty line to the front because of the cheaters. If the blocked lane was clear the open lane would be able to go through at the speed limit. A single lane going at the speed limit is more efficient than two lanes going 0.5 mph at the front and totally stopped just a few cars back while the ones at the front battle it out to go next.

[@gwartard]

@@swinde did you ignore the video and jump straight to the comment section?

[@swinde]

@@gwartard I watched the entire video but most of my opinion on 58 years of driving and noticing when these mergers work and when they don't. One example is from a US highway that had to close one lane for repairs. These closures were during the rush hour. The first couple of days there was a long traffic jam with people doing the slow zipper merge at the choke point. During the rush hour many of these people are on the road at the same times during weekdays. After a few days people began to get in the open lane earlier and traffic flowed smoothly at speed. I will conceded that if the traffic is already congested daily with both lanes open, the slow zipper at the end will occur no matter what you do. It is always slowed more by the people that are uncooperative at the merge spot.

[@VoivodApple_2629]

Me, from a left-driving country: 2:04 *confused screaming*

[@AeroGuy07]

Zipper merges only work when everyone knows how to do them. I've seen them work, not surprisingly in Minnesota.

[@junkgum]

You may always preempt the zipper merge by being assertive occupying the ending lane without passing the intuitive spot and then merging at merge point unless the car behind you in the lane that you're merging into is savage.

[@AeroGuy07]

@@junkgum I've found that a black Suburban with blacked out windows makes most people move out of the way.

[@MinnesotaExpat]

@@AeroGuy07 An old beat up pickup works even better. It shows the driver just doesn't care anymore and you'd best give it a wide berth. Sigh, I miss that old truck, my Buick just doesn't inspire the same fear.

[@lucas_geerts]

notice how it says length of traffic build up, not delay. the line may be shorter but the cars move faster when merging earlier

[@ahhaha5435]

wait… you guys don’t do this where you’re from? we literally have signs here on a lot of the freeway merging signs that say to merge like a zipper 🤔

[@User31129]

All merging is zipper merging though. The debate is where you do it. And the right answer is well ahead of the actual closed lane so as not to be a jerk who cuts the line.

[@JAYG6390]

@@User31129 Wrong - if everyone drove as far as they could before merging, it wouldn't be possible to be a jerk that cuts the line because they couldn't get ahead. You also reduce the tail backs of the side that you're merging onto, meaning potentially reducing congestion at previous junctions

[@User31129]

@@JAYG6390 I dunno man, either everyone has to follow the rules or no one will. It's like a roundabout. One fool turning left from the outside lane will cause chaos if you don't see it coming. Unless everyone is driving in the right lane until the last 100 feet or so, it's not going to work.

[@JAYG6390]

@@User31129 Right - the problem is that too many people don't do what they should which leads to them then complaining that people are abusing the fairness of it, when in reality what people are doing is making a big gap in the queue then complaining that people are filling it up. Its no different to queues in a supermarket. you pick a line, and wait your turn. the only difference is that at the end, they funnel to one person instead of two. Would you join the queue that has 100 people, or the one with two. If its 100, you'd complain about anyone going in the one with two abusing the fact that they've gone in the one with two, when if people had all queued in a more uniform manner, its not possible to abuse (or at least its far more difficult)

[@uwetheiss970]

@@User31129 The Rule is to merge as late as possible. That is how you avoid a bigger traffic jam.

[@BadDoodlr19]

I got rick rolled.

[@guywholovemaps1591]

Me too lol

[@THEH4RLEMSH8KERS]

the band Prairie Clamor from Minnesota has a song called Zipper Merge... written in spite of the people who don't know about it. great song, greater message

[@danieldekker7008]

Wait, aren't you reversing the terms "inner and outer" when talking about the double left in Fort Collins? The right lane is on the outside of the curve!

[@ianbelletti6241]

The problem with the zipper merge is that for a safe vehicle movement, you need time to move over safely and sufficient space between the cars such that you're not causing a tailgating issue when transferring lanes. This rarely happens in the real world.

[@DengMam]

It does work in places where people don’t behave like assholes. Like when merging on an Autobahn, you have the french try to force themselves (without right of way) immediately on the highway while all the others use the full length of the merging lane and at that point, traffic has already sped and adapted to a car with its blinker on to merge on the highway. The congestion happens in the beginning due to the french drivers.

[@ianbelletti6241]

@@DengMam part of the point I'm making is that even if people aren't acting like assholes, in most situations it's technically an unsafe movement because you're entering a space where you're too close to the vehicle in front of you and too close to the vehicle behind you because everyone in theory is already safely spaced for the current traffic in their lane. I could see cops watching the merge zone and ticketing huge numbers of people for unsafe movements.

[@w.o.jackson8432]

@@ianbelletti6241 This. Any merge by its nature will decrease the distance between cars, necessitating a slowdown. You can't magically increase the throughput of a merged lane by doing a zipper.

[@yazmeliayzol2895]

You must drive a BMW huh Ian? The person in front is entirely incapable of causing a tailgate incident. GWB

[@asci1732]

I think your argument actually supports the zipper merge. All vehicles should be slowing down at the pinch point and therefore safer.

[@JKtunes]

Well, as a driver I find it pretty stressful to do a lane change on a busy congested road especially so when other cars are not giving way, you can't just hog up the lane. That's why it's good to plan your route before you drive. However, I do agree that in these situations, roads are underutilized. It all drills down to we are all humans with our own thought processes and some selfish behavior. If we could all sync like computers, things will be perfect. This makes it more sound to have computers driving our cars, so we can accommodate more cars on a road and having a smooth flow. That's provided that all the driverless cars work together to make this happen, which might be a moon throw away.

[@2bfrank657]

​@@satunnainenkatselija4478 in the real life example shown, the problem was traffic flowing through the traffic lights in only one lane. This effectivity reduced the capacity of that intersection.

[@w.o.jackson8432]

@@satunnainenkatselija4478 This, exactly. Regardless of how well you merge, at the end of the day the throughput of the one final lane is the same. Merging early, merging late, it doesn't make a difference.

[@JKtunes]

​@@satunnainenkatselija4478 , using '720 vehicles' as you have quoted. This two lane road before merging should hold 1440 cars, but with all 1440 cars queuing in one line you need double the length of road, hence the under utilisation. Another concern is with long queue formed, this will in turn affect the other intersections and cause unnecessary jams at other parts of the road.

[@yazmeliayzol2895]

Props on being the only other comment I've seen addressing the real issue, entitlement...

[@w.o.jackson8432]

@@JKtunes Not my problem, it doesn't affect how fast the cars in front of me move so I don't care.

[@ILikeWafflz]

This just delays the inevitable. Get in the through lane when you have an opportunity and just stay; trying to go around people to do a last second zipper merge and putting your safety on a naive trust of basic decency is not only inviting an accident, but it's just kicking the can down the road. There's no getting around the math of merging down a lane. This is a microcosm of one of the myriad of issues with how laws are made; people sit at desks and look at math and find what looks good on paper, not considering the prevalence of destructively selfish, impatient, self-righteous, and self-entitled human nature.

[@111111222223]

3:39 I always get a laugh out of english people trying to pronounce german words xD

[@bienemaja4007]

sameee

[@rarerobloxmomenteverewigt.5780]

haha so true xD

[@mltghr]

"rice-fair-sh-lose-fair-far-ran" rice as in the food fair as in playing fair sh as in sh*t lose as in to lose a game far as in far away ran as in ran away Get's you pretty close to Reißverschlussverfahren.

[@ichanmich]

no

[@ebentually]

i'd say it's not perfect but gets really very close to it, and this at least seems very inutivtive for english speaking people so i i'd say this guide/hint is quite for good for that

[@krimhorn]

What I really appreciate about this video is the recognition that zipper merging might be optimal in theory but in practice they often don't work and just end up with n lanes backed up.

[@jakel8627]

What do you mean? You think using a single lane is somehow better than using two lanes? The zipper merge is all there is. There is no alternative except causing more congestion. It's not an abstract theory. It's proven most efficient every single day. What the hell are you talking about? If you don't zipper merge, you are causing congestion.

[@cncmilljunkie]

In the Horsetooth sample (2:07) I can see where the zipper merge is very useful. But if you have a long enough stretch of road where everyone can queue up in a single lane, then the most important thing is how many car can get through the choke point per minute.

[@richardroberson9277]

yes. of course. but then you have idiots who want to save 1 second at the cost of the publics minute. :/

[@obabikaa1721]

By increasing its he length of the choke point you reduce the number of cars per minute that pass through it. That’s why zipper merge works. It’s the same as resistance in a wire.

[@emdivine]

@@obabikaa1721 Took me a second for my brain to get that - a choke point is a point and has no length. But yes agreed, the length of the queue causes lower throughput because every start and stop propagates slower and slower down the line because independent human drivers just can't

[@obabikaa1721]

@@emdivine That’s correct, your explanation is better worded than mine haha.

[@Felixphaeton]

@@obabikaa1721 Zipper merge just reduces the rate at which cars pass through the chokepoint cause people are just constantly trying to figure out who goes when, instead of using the earlier road to handle all that beforehand. Real life is not a perfect model like the video shows. Zipper merge just makes things worse.

[@huntingrunner]

It's think its amazing whenever americans (re)discover the Reißverschlussverfahren and think that it is something absolutely revolutionary while it's standard practice in pretty much every western european country.

[@anotidachitando9220]

Laughs in NZ where merging like a zip is a mandatory part of driving

[@Roflmao0001]

I dont remember being taught to wait until the lane ends tho

[@Zakerath]

if traffic is stalled beyond the merge, this makes more sense. but because humans are so terrible at zipper merging smoothly last moment, an early merger keeps traffic flowing at a fast pace (and then it's the one person who refuses to merge until the last moment, after braking at the cones, that forces traffic to slow)

[@yazmeliayzol2895]

No... no it doesn't... you're completely wrong... it seems that way from the individual perspective but in actuality merging early always, I say again, ALWAYS slows traffic... you can't see the miles of traffic further back being increased because it's BEHIND YOU... GWB

[@baylinkdashyt]

The *proper* solution here is a 2-lane right turn back on to SB LeMay, so no one would have to merge at all. Traffic Engineering. It's *engineering*. Not guess work.

[@belg4mit]

That or make the middle lane straight/right turn.

[@mikelward]

You wouldn't get a job anywhere in California.

[@naturally_rob]

Zipper merges are my favorite car phenomena. elegant and beautiful when done right. you feel a sense of "dope, saved 10 seconds" but also the greater sense of "highway vibing"

[@jackbates7467]

I'm a big proponent of zipper merging when the lane ends, but I fear people use it as an excuse to ride exit lanes until the very last second, and force exiting traffic to slow down while they try and merge in front of people who probably hate their guts.

[@Androctonus84]

This. There’s a particularly bad example of it on my commute home, where signs indicate that a particular lane will become an exit-only lane a full two miles before the exit. And yet, every 4th or 5th car in that lane is merging back onto the interstate AFTER the ramp splits, which causes the rightmost continuing lane to back up horribly, simply encouraging even more people to use the exit lane to pass.

[@hadhamalnam]

​@Androctonus84 There's also a bad case of the reverse on the Eisenhower in Chicago, where 80% of cars exit at a certain point, and there are 2 clearly marked exit only lanes for this, but so many people just force their way into the exit lanes right before they split off, causing a permanent back up for like half a mile

[@mytimetravellingdog]

also zipper merging only works at slower busier times. The most infuriating thing is in motorways where you are travelling too fast for a zipper merge and have clear instructions to merge lanes earlier so cars can go into gaps etc and they speed ahead at 70 instead of the 40 or so everyone else is doing then swing in at the last moment often forcing the car behind them to hit the brakes etc etc.

[@richardroberson9277]

thats....zipper merging...how else would you do it lol. merging in 10 feet vs over 1 mile is always going to be worse. you can merge at higher speeds with more distance. simple logic. yes some poor people who dont know the road etc wont be able to but then every asshole uses that excuse to cut

[@hadhamalnam]

@richard roberson There's a reason why those lanes are exit only lanes, you're not allowed to cross after a certain point. The difference here is that I assume there are 2-4 open lanes, in which case the added benefit of adding the exit lane for a stretch is minimal and almost certainly outweighed by the inefficiency of zipper merging at the last second. That's in contrast to when there are only 2 lanes and 1 is closed, where the benefit of using both outweighs the fact people will have to slow down to zipper merge.

[@Xathon]

Wait, that's not normal? In Germany, we get taught this in driver's ed, and most of the time, it works.

[@Marenks]

Same thing here in Canada.

[@DuskHorizon]

There are quite a few more things you get taught though. Offsetting your cars position in the lane when there are delays, so drivers behind can "see around you". Using your hazards to show traffic ahead is stopped, and holding them on until the car behind "takes over". Not taught here, and it seems to cause a lot of unnecessary angst (and crashes at times).

[@decus9544]

It should be, but in North America it really isn't. About 1 week into driving in Canada I rapidly became aware of the fact that zip-merging is, to most people here, an entirely strange and foreign concept. This occurred whilst I slowed down to allow a car coming up the ramp to merge, they just acted puzzled and kept slowing down to the point that they almost just kind of stopped on the ramp (which of course puzzled me greatly as I'd never seen a person just almost stop on a ramp like that, particularly with loads of space being deliberately left for them to merge into). At some point (far too late) they realised I was letting them in, and merged, after which I, as you do, accelerated up behind them... except that the person behind that person also didn't understand the concept of zip merging and accelerated just behind the car that I'd let in, also merging in front of me and very nearly crashing into me - missing my car by perhaps 2-3 centimeters. Yeah, that was when I learned that zip-merging in a country where people don't know what it is is legitimately not only futile but actively dangerous.

[@Justin_Leone]

Here's the problem, though: The example given, about that series of intersections with the traffic light, only applies to places where there's a series of intersections, where one intersection can get fowled up because of a backed up merge further down the road. In situations like that, the importance of "using the whole road" makes sense. You want the first intersection to have 2 lanes going through it simultaneously because intersecting traffic has to be stopped while you let cars through. It has nothing to do with the efficiency of the cars that have to merge, and everything to do with the unrelated cars that have to stop while they go through. This example doesn't apply to a highway without regular intersections where opposing traffic has to wait. When you simply have 2 lanes reducing to 1, regardless of whether the cars merge at the last moment, or a mile before it, the same number of cars must go through the same bottleneck. And so long as all the cars merge into one lane at roughly the same place, then as soon as the merge is completed, traffic should be able to speed back up. The only thing that matters is that everyone merges at more or less the same place. If that is at the last moment, then that's fine. If it's a mile early, that's fine too. The problem is when you have a bunch of people merging a mile early, and a few people merging at the last minute. That's when you get a situation where even after everyone merges, they still have to go slow because you've got a few selfish people who skipped the line merging up ahead, slowing everyone down. If not for the people zipping up to the head of the line and cutting in, the entire line would be moving faster. And again, if everyone did it, there'd be no problem. And if no one did it, there'd be no problem. But in a situation where almost everyone is merging early, then choosing to be different does make you an asshole, despite what this video says.

[@danielomalley3505]

i can’t believe i just got rick rolled by sam

[@minion0470]

Same

[@stevenjlovelace]

I wish I had gotten rickrolled. I accidentally typed ".com" instead of ".org". 😲

[@aguyontheinternet1]

@@stevenjlovelace same

[@rhabbit4161]

@@stevenjlovelace me aswell

[@bahamutbbob]

Going north on 270 and you don't want to deal with someone not letting you in, so you go to the middle lane waaaaay before Clarksburg where it goes down to 2 lanes before the weigh station.

[@carlospcpro]

I prefer the other approach: The most efficient way to reduce traffic are, better public transport + walkable cities.

[@Holland1994D]

Even with excellent (superb) public transport, walk ability and a lot of bicycles you still have a lot of congestion. But many people get by quicker and you have more options instead of a car. Welcome to most cities in the Netherlands

[@eier5472]

Still, for the remaining car traffic, taking humans out of the equation is the most efficient

[@JPFighter93]

As a German driver I can assure you that this is indeed very efficient. 😁 But we also don't let amateurs train our new drivers. If you want to get a drivers licence in Germany, you have to go to a driving school, take theory and practice lessons by a professional driving teacher and then get tested in theory and practice by another professional instructor. This whole process is a little expensive, but our streets are very save, even on the speed limit free Autobahn ;)

[@Alan_Mac]

They're not that safe compared to countries such as Norway and the UK which have better drivers.

[@sm0nk420]

It's funny how the same concept can fail miserably if you just add some little twists. We have this process in hungary as well, but the twist is that it's almost impossible to succeed the tests on first try because they have a failing quota to get more money from retries. This caused people to start bribing, which got to a level where almost everyone passes by bribing, and that results in really bad drivers :DDD

[@JPFighter93]

@@sm0nk420 This might sound mean or racist, but hear me out. I think that bribing and corruption within the whole society is a problem within all of eastern europe. I think that this is a long lasting effect of the UDSSR. I come from east germany and i have seen this myself, this mentality: One person "helps" the other in some illegal way and everyone looks away. I live now in west germany and the people here are way more strickt and by the rules. What I heard was that this mentality is way worse in east europe? I guess the longer the system of oppression lasts, the worse it gets 🤔 What do you think? My dirvers licence was very expensive 😅 i had to take these tests several times as well. but i guess im a better driver for that now 😄

[@sm0nk420]

@@JPFighter93 I agree, and I don't think your statement was mean or racist at all (but I understand why you'd be careful, because I'm pretty sure not everyone understands that current Germany is not WW2 Germany :D). Although I agree that corruption is a general issue, I think it's especially severe in Hungary because most of our politicians are incredibly corrupt... how nice it is that we get internal opression when there's no external oppression, right? :D My views are probably pretty liberal in regards to illegal actions, because I generally despise actions that are harmful to others, so for example I don't have a problem with people smoking weed at home despite it being illegal, because it hurts nobody. But our government thinks it's okay that you might get more jail for drugs than for murder :DDD. My license was pretty expensive at the time (2009) too because my teacher was really strict, but I turned out to be a really good driver too, so I guess I received some value out of it at least :D

[@ladiddas]

Where I live, I’ve already perfected this move, in my head I always remind myself “Like a zipper” and I wish there was signage like that before the lane merge lane appears for the other drivers on the highway

[@titanm1980]

When two lanes in the same direction I'm always helping others to merge and try to utilize zipper. However when one lane is straight, the other is to exit for example I call them jerks, because they slow everyone other down for their (not big) advancement.

[@PhiltheMoko]

Yep 100%

[@yazmeliayzol2895]

Yeah... cuz an exit lane isn't a merge lane and you also aren't supposed to pass on the right if your country drives on the right and or the left if it drives on the left... so they are actually breaking the law in doing so and are thus more than jerks... they are criminals... sure it's a misdemeanor or w/e but they still would have to pay or go to court to dispute a ticket if they got caught... hence criminals...

[@grandinosour]

Zipper merging is a dream of traffic engineers that need to come down to reality. Every scenario I have seen never involves a big truck...you know...a vehicle that requires 3 car lengths in front of it to remain safe and can have up to 5 cars beside it ready to merge all in front of that truck, creating a mess. Arkansas actually disdains the zipper merge by having many electronic signs placed for miles before the construction zone. Those signs will suggest to.merge long before the lanes ends and will also since traffic speeds detecting a slow down. The last sign before a speed slowdown will read STATE LAW MERGE NOW. don't get caught passing anyone after passing that sign.... This works really well. Edit...I am tired of fighting auto correct...all Improper spellings word usage is Google's fault

[@BrokenLifeCycle]

You can turn off auto correct in your phone settings. Auto correct isn't correct... ever.

[@swinde]

I never thought I wound say it , but Arkansas has got this right.

[@DoingitWrongDG]

I do this daily and boy do I make a lot of enemies. Like my momma always said, take the high road it's never crowded.

[@kenbrown2808]

short answer: merges happen smoother when jerks and a-holes aren't jockeying for position.

[@paulbenedict1289]

Actually the opposite is true. You're supposed to use all lanes to the end and take turns at the merge point. You're not supposed to just line up in one lane and leave the ending lane empty.

[@andersonklein3587]

@@paulbenedict1289, zipper merge is only ever beneficial if you don't have to stop. You don't have to stop if drivers keep 2 cars worth of distance between themselves so merges can happen seamlessly. Otherwise, the only benefits to zipper merges is in traffic lights and in some cases helping prevent gridlock. Note how in his functional example there is space for mergers and cars don't stop, and in his "bad example" cars are tailgating and there is no space for merging. Tailgating is the typical behavior of someone actively jockeying for position.

[@paulbenedict1289]

@@andersonklein3587 Most people behave alright at the merge point and allow to take turns from both lanes. It's much slower when everybody tries to only use one lane and everyone trying to use the other lane is seen as jockeying for position.

[@ethans6539]

Real ones watched the first upload

[@debannas4567]

Sure, zipper merge would be ideal, but truthfully, WHO IS GONNA DO THIS?!?! People are too selfish and “entitled “ to wait their turn or allow others to “ cut in front “of them. One such “jerk” caused us to be involved in a 3 car pile up because he felt entitled to pull up and cut in front of us. Two times on I-40 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in only one month’s time this happened to us. The “entitled driver kept driving leaving 3 totaled cars blocking the highway😡🤬

[@aapjeaaron]

It's actually mandatory in Belgium when there is a jam. Blocking others and early merging is against the law for the last 6 years already

[@Tore_Lund]

It is in most European countries, but glad to hear that it is enforced in Belgium.

[@brannanfix]

I see that Sam has driven through Glenwood Canyon recently.

[@mrshiftd]

In Minnesota not only do they not zipper merge but they will do a full stop in the lane that will be merging hundreds of yards before the merge point just to try to merge early. I never understood that.

[@roalvarez]

One possible solution is to force the one-and-one spacing of cars from both lanes by merging partially slowly as you get to the merge point. That way, the cars in the lane that continues _have_ to make space for cars (because they're partially merging early) and the merge happens in an orderly fashion, with nobody "cutting in front".

[@yazmeliayzol2895]

If I understand your idea correctly I think it's brilliant... force both lanes to half merge before diverting traffic into the chosen lane... there is no one lane that continues... and if people are still being entitled sphincters just add quick cycle traffic signals...

[@roboticdreamer]

While I would like adopt zipper merging, I don’t know if other drivers would realize what I’m doing, or if I’ll get stuck waiting for an opening. Because of this, it feels best to merge right away so I don’t risk getting stuck

[@yazmeliayzol2895]

If it's stop and go traffic as is usually the case how tf would you get stuck? If they hit you they are at fault so f them.

[@bullettomy7thheart]

If you actually knew how to drive you would NEVER get stuck zipper merging. There will ALWAYS be an opening.

[@Henry-hr9ze]

They need to start teaching the Zipper Merge concept in schools. You'd think everyone would get it. You'd think it's a simple concept.

[@tamius-han]

For that, USA would need to decide to have drivers' ed beyond "ok you know how to back out of a parking spot, here's your driver's licence."

[@patrickmartin3322]

They did teach it in the driving school I went to

[@josephcronin4209]

Problem a lot of schools have cut drivers ed

[@Bob_Smith19]

I was taught it and I’ve been driving for over thirty years. The state I live in has signage saying to use both lanes to the merge point. It’s the people, especially truckers, that block a lane that cause the problems.

[@CanCobb]

I like how the "traffic vigilantes," are the ones in the wrong - not the people in this closing right lane who hug the car in front of them and cut off the car with the right of way at the front. Here's something the programmers haven't thought of yet: you know the self driving vehicle is going to yield to you. It's programmed to do so. So as soon as you get slightly in front of it, you can cut it off. People will learn this quickly, and humans will be cutting off self driving vehicles left and right.

[@yazmeliayzol2895]

Says a Tesla driver who likes to be an entitled sphincter and not let people merge by the sounds of things... GWB...

[@dr.austinmelendez8743]

One time I saw an electronic sign before the merge point that read "Take turns to merge and use both lanes." It was beautiful. Everyone was literally taking turns and neither lane was terribly backed up. I wish everyone would take turns so we could all get through it faster!

[@gabrielduerr4409]

Sam these jokes are getting out of hand

[@jtgd]

Would you say that if it was Dr King writing the jokes ?

[@TheChristopherJack]

No idea how I ended up here but the issue with late merging is that people refuse to create gaps, many states in many countries in fact encourage that by stating that you have to give way to everyone in the lane you want to enter where others give priority to whoever is in front. The latter actually makes sense for improved flow of traffic but people are too spiteful to allow others in when they feel they're in the 'right', regardless of whether the law agrees with them. My philosophy is, if they're already travelling at a similar speed, or faster, I will always let them in. The only time I won't is if it's a slip lane & letting them would force me to brake, potentially causing the always present tailgator behind me to crash into me.

[@WoodByWright]

This should be required watching for every driving student!

[@caryrodda]

This will work much better when more cities use the signage like the one example saying "Use both lanes to merge point." That's the best way to communicate zipper merging that I have seen. Most other signs just send the message that you better get over cuz we're going to cut off this lane up ahead.

[@yazmeliayzol2895]

Yeah there is an issue with how the traffic is being controlled often... best solution I've seen is separating the lanes with cones prior to the merge signage leaving a gap at the intended merge point...

[@patrickwhitt77]

The zipper would work if the cars in the closing lane didn’t pass the cars in the open lane. When someone flies by everyone, they are not reducing the wait for everyone, they are reducing the wait for themselves and adding to the wait for everyone else. They are rude. What happens on your jacket when one zipper tries to sneak in above its allotted spot? The zipper gets stuck, just like traffic.

[@happytwolaffs6454]

no one would be waiting in line with the early merge. Traffic keeps flowing. The late mergers are the reason there is congestion the first place + the line skippers using the right lane to get ahead of as many cars as possible before merging last second are the reason the congestion stays. The late merge only works if the 2 lanes are moving at the same speed, and that no one is using one lane as a passing lane. Late merge only works with enforced no passing laws. But nuance is too difficult for some to understand.

[@DBGMLV]

The amount of people who either don't know about the zipper merge or see the people in the less used lane as cheating the system and don't let you in, is astounding. Had a situation, where there was kilometer or even more of traffic in one lane and maybe 2-3 cars in the other one. I, of course, went in the less used lane and tried to merge. One dude almost crashed into me in order not to let me in.

[@annabuggy]

That Fort Collins example was so specific, I almost feel like it was personal. And as a FoCo resident, I agree

[@Mehwhatevr]

the reason very few people do this is because of the vigilantes. I've tried waiting riding the empty lane until the merge point and it's stressful to sit there in the empty lane desperately trying to get over. Much less stressful to merge the moment you have an opportunity.

[@jubelet]

In a zipper merge there is no empty lane, everybody is moving at roughly the same speed.

[@BambooTime]

3:33 "In Germany, the zipper merge has been common practice for years" I wish

[@MineTrain]

On paper... I am heavily surprise every time i See it working 😢

[@kernelpickle]

I did this to a bunch of Canadians that were backed up for at least a couple miles (I don’t know how many kilometers it was). The Canadians may act polite on foot, but in their cars it’s a different story. It was just miles of Canadians flipping me the bird as I drove by them howling with laughter as I saved a ton of time in traffic.

[@Jabberwockybird]

Someone should have told them that zipper merging is not what Americans do, and they are acting like Americans. Suddenly a huge efficient zipper would form as all the Canadians would try to avoid being like the americans.

[@scottibugatti7122]

And when I merge correctly, the driver behind of me goes in for the PIT maneuver, and the driver in front of me swerves and brakes checks me for “cutting”

[@zalancsosza6163]

The fact that you bought the domain just for that one joke is exactly the kind of thing that has made me stick around for 3 years now. Keep up the good work!

[@ryanbeatbox8274]

He didn't buy the domain for one joke :) he bought the domain and created a beautiful website explaining the zippermerge.

[@86sbsatter]

Yeah, I was in the "use both lanes y'all" on I-40 in North Carolina. It was bumper to bumper in both lanes miles away from the merge point. The zipper merge sounds great in theory but never works out in reality.

[@A-FELIX]

The zipper merge has been common for drivers in southern California at least for as long as I've been driving.

[@GediMini]

Well, it may be more efficient, but it's also more stressful. I'd rather merge early when there's an opening and not wait for the last minute. Even if I know it's slower I may prefer to just wait a little longer.

[@bikebudha01]

you are part of the problem

[@yazmeliayzol2895]

Go ahead and merge early... the problem is you then become entitled and begrudge those who can actually drive without having a panic attack when driving over 50km/h and having to change lanes in a dynamic situation... FYI all driving is a dynamic situation...

[@testname4464]

I remember seeing some channel say that zipper merging was the "future of transportation and it had no flaws whatsoever" and all I could think was 'what if someone didn't play nice?'

[@Velvydian]

Preface: In general if the lane you merge into is sleeping and starting slow go merge. If all cars go on both lanes for the merge it's fine, if there are 2-6 cars(without blocking other lanes or access to other lanes for the length of another 6) waiting to pass the merge point on ONE lane and the other is free, I'm not even thinking about letting some jackass cut in front. Everyone's already waiting, the zipper doesn't work in ALL situations. If the situation is "6 cars wait and it's blocking the turn left lane" then yes the zipper should be used and the people waiting on one lane are making it worse. It ALL depends on the distance from the merge point to the nearest intersection/turn lane/etc. The traffic light thing with 2 left lanes is also ridiculous. I YEARN for an empty lane so I could floor the gas and merge in front of the other lane unless it's a sports car or some expensive new car since those drivers will usually feel challenged when they see some1 come on the free lane flooring it.

[@benjaminfraeyman]

1 question: what about when theres 2 lanes and 1 goes left and the other straight. Do we then merge as soon as possible? Or do we drive on the straight lane till we wanna go right and hold up traffic behind us?

[@josecamacho5522]

That's a question I've asked my self, if it was correct to early merge but not use a section of the Road probably causing more traffic behind ir beeing "Bad driver" and make more space for Cars behind Obviously when no traffic and if safe early merge is the best

[@crashoverride6413]

as a german, i just can say, that the most who will ne that "rude" and don't let anyone in are often the assholes with big cars, 'cause they think they're important. i mean, in the last years it's gone from "bad" to "acceptable, but could be done better" - even when we had the "Reissverschlussverfahren" (what means "zipper merge") even long ago told in driving schools, but not practied there every day - so, there's always people who do it wrong. Just a thing to be said: if you're getting stuck in a traffic jam - stay in your line unless you want to go away from the actual streets (if you need to), orherwise it will be way more frustrating you - and you won't get that much time saving, even when it looks that others do. these few secounds what you might save won't make enough time.

[@CaptNSquared]

All these animations just make zipper merging look like a incredibly stressful and dangerous way of handling merging that really should be handled by computers alone. I already avoid driving, especially on busy roads, because I hate it. But if this was how the road worked I think I would genuinely just never drive anywhere. It also just seems like something that would work in theory in ideal conditions but the real world would make it almost never work. Like what if both lanes are completely full of cars so there isn't space to zipper? Not just completely full but anything more then 50% full? Or what if more then 2 lanes are merging into one. It just feels like it would cause so many problems trying to practically implement it. I am curious when a self driving car today decides to merge though

[@jeremystanger1711]

I think you're taking the animations from the video waaay too literally. Usually when zip merging the traffic isn't free-flowing, so at the merge point the car in one lane stops and the car in the other lane goes when space opens up in front. This is how merging in stop-start traffic already works, it's just a lot more efficient to do it at a single merge point.

[@CaptNSquared]

@@jeremystanger1711 Ok I see. It still kind of feels like a choke point in my head, but that makes a lot more sense as a feasible option that could work

[@jeremystanger1711]

@@CaptNSquared of course it's the choke point, but there is always going to be a choke point (unless the traffic is very light) because you're bringing 2 lanes down to one.

[@CaptNSquared]

@@jeremystanger1711 I mean doing it in one place one car at a time feels like the slowest way intuitively. In theory what feels like the fastest way (other then what those amimations show) would be to have every car merge into the one lane sultaniously at multiple positions so the slowdown happens in as little lotal time as possible. Obviously this is infeasible in practace but the more merge points you have the closer you are to that scenerio. All this seems to do is mimimize the length of the backup, not the speed at which it clears

[@jeremystanger1711]

@@CaptNSquared this would be true if the traffic was free flowing.

[@RedWingsninetyone]

What if, and here's a thought, on the highway you merged 3 miles ago with everyone else when there was room and now traffic doesn't have to slow down unnecessarily to allow for people to merge in. Sure the line may seem longer but the time to get through wouldn't change since traffic would still be moving.

[@warman1944]

My town introduced a zipper merge a few years ago, and it seems to work great. The reason is probably that, after leaving the two turn lanes, you have no choice but to all ride together in a single lane for a few hundred feet. Since the inside turn lane is on the outside of the curve, it usually works out pretty well--if you take the outside turn lane, you reach that lane faster, so there are naturally bigger gaps in the lane that you need to merge into. In general, people seem to just pick whichever turn lane has a shorter line when they show up, so there's no preference that makes one line longer than the other.