What Would You Do

Merging should be a required 9 week class before getting a driver's license. It's annoying enough in my truck but gets really bad with the 5th wheel attached. It just blows my mind how many people roll down the on-ramp completely oblivious to their speed and the conditions they must merge into. There's always that moment of panic when they finally look up and realize where they need to be. I can only imagine the frustration the big rig drivers face.

Mile High wrote:
Just some info about "rules of the road" out of the Colorado Drivers Handbook.

Merging: You must yield to all vehicles on that roadway. Do not merge if another vehicle must slow down for you.

Entering the Freeway: When entering a freeway from an on-ramp try to increase your speed to match that of the freeway traffic. Remember, you must yield the right of way to the traffic already on the freeway.

Freeway Driving: .....To be courteous to vehicles entering the freeway, you should change to the left (or center) lane, if you can do safely without slowing the traffic flow.

Following Too Closely (C.R.S. 42-4-1008(1)) "The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicles and the traffic upon and the condition of the highway"

Out of the above, only the "Following Too Closely" is an actual law cited in the manual, the rest are rules. As I read it, the guy in the back gets the ticket, but unfortunately it very well could be a combination of fault between the two guys in front of him. The Motorhome may not have yielded forcing the freeway car to slow, or the freeway car may have voluntarily slowed to be courteous rather than changing lanes or doing nothing as suggested above. Without additional facts its hard to tell, but root cause could be very different than what we all think it is.

On a side note - I know following too close is inexcusable in any case, but how do you maintain enough distance in front of you driving a MH when any gap you create is filled within seconds by cars maneuvering through lanes to get ahead? I find it impossible sometimes.

Thanks for putting that out there. For me, I find it's easier to maintain the distance if I already have distance between me and the vehicle in front of me. If someone moves in, I can easily open the space back up by cruising for a few seconds without any use of the brakes. If I'm already too close to the vehicle in front of me, then another vehicle simply moving in between us forces me to put my brakes on.

With that extra room, someone merging has a place to go - they just have to reach the appropriate speed. And if I'm in the slow lane, I am not doing over 55. And if the vehicle behind me would maintain a safe distance, then someone could choose whether it was safer to merge in front of me or behind me without anyone having to "be nice" and slow down.

I will move over a lane if it's safe.

Nothing non-courteous about any of it. If folks followed the rules of the road, then others wouldn't have to guess whether they should try to merge or not. They wouldn't be subject to "friendly folks" who slow down to unsafe speeds or "jerks" who cut them off because how dare a motorhome get in front of me.

I slow and flash my lights to yield space and give courtesy to drivers all the time. It removes the uncertainty so the other driver knows if he should slow down just in case, or do his best to gain speed for merging- knowing he has the room to merge.

This is even more important with larger vehicles that have limited acceleration and stopping capabilities.

Someone hitting you from behind is presumed at fault with the possible exception if the front driver actually SKIDS his tires or is "brake checking"

Courtesy and safe operation is always the right answer, as opposed to "I am driving whatever way I want and everyone else has to maneuver around me."

Just some info about "rules of the road" out of the Colorado Drivers Handbook.

Merging: You must yield to all vehicles on that roadway. Do not merge if another vehicle must slow down for you.

Entering the Freeway: When entering a freeway from an on-ramp try to increase your speed to match that of the freeway traffic. Remember, you must yield the right of way to the traffic already on the freeway.

Freeway Driving: .....To be courteous to vehicles entering the freeway, you should change to the left (or center) lane, if you can do safely without slowing the traffic flow.

Following Too Closely (C.R.S. 42-4-1008(1)) "The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicles and the traffic upon and the condition of the highway"

Out of the above, only the "Following Too Closely" is an actual law cited in the manual, the rest are rules. As I read it, the guy in the back gets the ticket, but unfortunately it very well could be a combination of fault between the two guys in front of him. The Motorhome may not have yielded forcing the freeway car to slow, or the freeway car may have voluntarily slowed to be courteous rather than changing lanes or doing nothing as suggested above. Without additional facts its hard to tell, but root cause could be very different than what we all think it is.

On a side note - I know following too close is inexcusable in any case, but how do you maintain enough distance in front of you driving a MH when any gap you create is filled within seconds by cars maneuvering through lanes to get ahead? I find it impossible sometimes.

3oaks wrote:


And ok, I'll say it. That driver on the interstate should have never slowed down. Should have just maintained their speed. It the responsibility of the traffic entering from on ramp to adjust their speed to safely merge with the flow of traffic on the interstate.

Incorrect. This exactly the problem. There are two pedals in your vehicle. Learn to use them and use some better judgement. If you do, driving would be much easier for all. Exit and entry ramps are all different. Short and long with long merge and short forced quick merge areas.

If you would be paying attention, slowing down and/or speeding up to help facilitate a merge spot for the vehicle trying to enter will make things much safer for all involved.

If there is no place for that vehicle to enter the roadway and is forced to stop, you have just taken away their ability to gain speed and enter safely at some point. Then, when they give up and decide to gas it and force a way onto the road, more danger is created as they have no speed at all and someone is going to have to give, or wreck.

If people would just get back to being a little more thoughtful about their driving, it would be a much more pleasurable and safer experience.

There are many reasons why a vehicle might slow down on a freeway, which is why you have to be vigilant of what is going on in front of you. It might be something laying in the highway, an emergency vehicle, a pedestrian, or someone changing a tire of a vehicle that has pulled off in to the grass, etc. Coming up to an interchange, you should always be more aware of what is going on because of the possibility that someone will be merging and that someone will either slow down or speed up to let this happen. In my opinion, the vehicle that struck the other vehicle in the rear was not using due care when driving on the freeway and hit a vehicle that had slowed down to allow the MH to merge.

toedtoes wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

toedtoes wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

toedtoes wrote:
Being in a large RV in front of what was going on would provide very limited help in reporting the accident.

As for the details, the vehicle at the back was at fault, but the vehicle who slowed down to let the RV in should have been paying attention to what was going on behind him/her. Had they been paying attention they might have realized that slowing down was more dangerous than not letting the RV in because of the proximity of the other vehicle. Being nice is good, but it's amazing how often it actually makes things worse than just following the rules of the road.

So you think the guy that slowed was not following the rules of the road? Slowing to permit traffic to merge is legal.

Slowing down should not be necessary. When on a freeway, one should maintain a proper speed and a proper distance from the cars around you. Slowing down when there is a vehicle close behind you is creating a potential for an accident (which is exact!y what happened).

You realize we're talking about Class A motorhomes don't you? Too bad all freeway off ramps aren't down hill and a half mile long otherwise I'd be happy to agree with you. Otherwise, if people did not allow motorhomes and trucks to merge onto freeways then there would be lots more crashes than there are.

There is a big difference between allowing someone to merge and slowing down on the freeway. I always leave enough room from the car in front of me for someone to merge in. I also don't go so fast that another vehicle can't safely merge in front of me.

I am not saying the front car was at fault, but their actions did have an impact of the outcome.

A lot of assumptions are being made here. Driving on the freeway is never a perfect scenario. And if you think your actions are always the right one or the best one is your opinion.

Understanding you likely don't have much time knowing what's coming down the ramp from a ways back. I'd wager a bet that many drivers either ... Move to the next lane over ... Slow down to allow merging ... Speed up to allow merging ... Stay in lane at steady speed ( and that's probably the least done). It's never cut and dry. Personally I move over a lane if possible. Does that make me wrong?

The driver that hit the car was the "only one at fault" and should have been paying attention. Put the blame where it belongs. They were too close, distracted, nobody knows. The person that was hit did nothing wrong and didn't cause the accident nor partly to blame.

These thread always get dragged sideways with opinions. The question was "what would you do"? Would you stop?

msmith1199 wrote:

toedtoes wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

toedtoes wrote:
Being in a large RV in front of what was going on would provide very limited help in reporting the accident.

As for the details, the vehicle at the back was at fault, but the vehicle who slowed down to let the RV in should have been paying attention to what was going on behind him/her. Had they been paying attention they might have realized that slowing down was more dangerous than not letting the RV in because of the proximity of the other vehicle. Being nice is good, but it's amazing how often it actually makes things worse than just following the rules of the road.

So you think the guy that slowed was not following the rules of the road? Slowing to permit traffic to merge is legal.

Slowing down should not be necessary. When on a freeway, one should maintain a proper speed and a proper distance from the cars around you. Slowing down when there is a vehicle close behind you is creating a potential for an accident (which is exact!y what happened).

You realize we're talking about Class A motorhomes don't you? Too bad all freeway off ramps aren't down hill and a half mile long otherwise I'd be happy to agree with you. Otherwise, if people did not allow motorhomes and trucks to merge onto freeways then there would be lots more crashes than there are.

There is a big difference between allowing someone to merge and slowing down on the freeway. I always leave enough room from the car in front of me for someone to merge in. I also don't go so fast that another vehicle can't safely merge in front of me.

I am not saying the front car was at fault, but their actions did have an impact of the outcome.

When I am entering an Interstate from an on ramp I try to get my speed up to merge in smoothly. When another vehicle slows down to let me in is dangerous for both of us. I would rather have him maintain their speed and I will merge in behind. I don't like it when I am in the right lane, traffic left of me and the guy comes down the on ramp slow and goes right in front of me continuing to go slow!

toedtoes wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

toedtoes wrote:
Being in a large RV in front of what was going on would provide very limited help in reporting the accident.

As for the details, the vehicle at the back was at fault, but the vehicle who slowed down to let the RV in should have been paying attention to what was going on behind him/her. Had they been paying attention they might have realized that slowing down was more dangerous than not letting the RV in because of the proximity of the other vehicle. Being nice is good, but it's amazing how often it actually makes things worse than just following the rules of the road.

So you think the guy that slowed was not following the rules of the road? Slowing to permit traffic to merge is legal.

Slowing down should not be necessary. When on a freeway, one should maintain a proper speed and a proper distance from the cars around you. Slowing down when there is a vehicle close behind you is creating a potential for an accident (which is exact!y what happened).

You realize we're talking about Class A motorhomes don't you? Too bad all freeway off ramps aren't down hill and a half mile long otherwise I'd be happy to agree with you. Otherwise, if people did not allow motorhomes and trucks to merge onto freeways then there would be lots more crashes than there are.