Traffic challenge

valhalla360 wrote:

I'd have to dig it up but unless your state makes an exception to the uniform vehicle code, you are required to hold a steady speed when someone is merging in.

As I've said in previous posts, if you can move to the left, that's fine and probably better (though not a requirment) BUT that wasn't available to the OP because there was a semi in that lane and while it's nice to say you would never get in that position, sooner or later it will happen.

Also, if you are going to hang in the middle lane, make sure you are keeping up with the faster traffic. Yeah, you will burn some extra gas but if you run a 55 in the middle lane and they want to go 70 you are creating a new safety problem.

You can dig if you want, but I do not know of any rule that "requires" you to maintain a speed in this case. The vehicle that is already on the freeway has the right of way over the vehicle trying to get onto the freeway, that much is true. But I defy any officer or anyone else to cite someone who slows down to allow a person to merge ahead of them. Stubbornly keeping a speed when it is all too obvious that someone will be hitting you can actually end up having you at least partially at fault for an accident for failing to take available evasive action.

You may be confusing a case where someone is passing you on the left (on a smaller, 2 lane type of road where you go onto the wrong side of the road to pass). In that case you are required to maintain your speed (not speed up) so that the passing vehicle can get back onto the correct side of the road. Even then, there is no prohibition as far as slowing down and letting that vehicle in sooner.

I agree with the rest of your post. Obviously, if you can move over and allow a vehicle to merge from an on-ramp that works well, but it is just as valid to slow down and let them get ahead of you if it looks "doable". It is a bad idea to slam on the brakes or brake sharply to let the vehicle ahead (unless you are avoiding a collision) but since all of us in this thread are paying attention we can usually anticipate merging traffic fairly well and respond accordingly.

I only travel in the lane to the left of the far right lane when in the city and basically all lanes are traveling the same speed. I am allowed to be in that lane as long as I follow the rule of slower traffic keeping right. In the boonies, I only go into that lane (if there is slow traffic in the far right lane). Most of the time, I am the slow traffic.

PS The Uniform Traffic Code is not law. It is privately written code that serves as a guideline for state vehicle codes. The vehicle code of the state you are driving in is the definitive law. There is really no Federal Vehicle Code, but most states are consistent with the Uniform Vehicle Code guidelines.

The situation described by the OP can be really frustrating. I personally would, and do, slow down to let the idiot in because I don't want to complicate my life. A wreck will certainly do that.

Heymon wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
If you can't get over you are legally required to hold a steady speed, so merging traffic can find a gap and merge...so it sounds like you did the right thing.

Shrug and move on.

I'm not sure where the law says you are “required to maintain a steady speed”. Generally, it is a good idea to do so, so others can predict traffic flow, but if others aren’t bothering to do such a prediction then what? There is nothing in “the book” that says you can’t check your speed to allow the entering vehicle to get in front of you, which usually just requires a lift of the throttle while towing. When I am driving my car, I often speed up to get a gap ahead of the merging vehicle and make it clear they can get behind me.

I think there is a certain amount of “screw you” in all of us. So if some nimrod is not paying attention, we have to resist a certain urge to make things as difficult as possible for them. If I am in a big rig, then I have the advantage of mass and intimidation, so maybe I don’t have to resist that urge as much because the little car will just bounce off me. But towing my trailer, I have to consider the “satisfaction” gained from thwarting the efforts of the entering vehicle against the possibility that I will be in a collision with my family and rig at risk.

For me, if I am towing on 3 lanes or more (like in the city), I try to stay out of the right lane to avoid this very thing. However, my speed is often slower than traffic out of the city, which restricts me to the right lane. So when this comes up I try to see if the merging driver seems to be aware, and if not I adjust accordingly. I have no problem letting people ahead of me, since they will eventually pass me anyway. Besides, when I am just driving my car I don’t really want to be behind a trailer either, so why fight it?

I'd have to dig it up but unless your state makes an exception to the uniform vehicle code, you are required to hold a steady speed when someone is merging in.

As I've said in previous posts, if you can move to the left, that's fine and probably better (though not a requirment) BUT that wasn't available to the OP because there was a semi in that lane and while it's nice to say you would never get in that position, sooner or later it will happen.

Also, if you are going to hang in the middle lane, make sure you are keeping up with the faster traffic. Yeah, you will burn some extra gas but if you run a 55 in the middle lane and they want to go 70 you are creating a new safety problem.

eichacsj wrote:
"Sounds like you would be constantly be speeding up or slowing down or changing lanes." Isn't this always the case in the city? I have never been able to set my cruise and never change speeds or lanes while in the city. If you hold your speed "because the book tells you you can" aren't you one of the self centered people?

Drive defensively, adjust your speed and change lanes as needed for the scenario for those that are merging and for you when you are merging. "The rule book" is a guideline, not a hard, never to deviate, carved in cement driving technique.

Actually no, it's not always the case in the city. Quite often there is a steady flow of heavy traffic. The best thing for all concerned is to "stay with the flow". Vehicles entering the flow would optimally adjust themselves to that flow and merge in seamlessly. Changing lanes as a defensive move is rarely an option in heavier traffic.
Several dozen vehicles could pass any particular entrance ramp merge point in the amount of time it takes for one vehicle to enter the lane of traffic. It comes down to a numbers game. Should 20 vehicles adjust to the one vehicle (good luck making that work BTW)? Or should one vehicle adjust to the 20 vehicles? It's not about sticking to the rule book.

What constitutes defensive driving on a very lightly traveled interstate could be downright dangerous on a very heavily traveled interstate. There is often a "fast" lane, a "medium" lane and a "slow" lane in heavily traveled areas. It's not written anywhere. That's just how it is. Slowing down and moving to your left, and into a lane that's actually traveling faster than the lane you're leaving, every time you see a car on an entrance ramp does not constitute defensive driving. Especially for long cumbersome trailer combos.

ECones wrote:
We were headed into Memphis this week, pulling the TT in the right lane on I-55 with a semi next to us in the left lane. As we approached an entrance ramp at about 60 mph, I watched an SUV coming up the ramp pacing us. She could have speeded up a tad and gotten safely in front of us. Or she could have slowed down a tad and gotten safely behind us. But no. She continued to match our pace until we both arrived at the entrance ramp at the same time. She wound up driving in the entrance ramp right next to our pickup, looked over at us, and started honking. What the ..... ? :?

I guess we were supposed to get out of her way somehow, but running over the semi didn't seem a good option.

Had the same thing happen to me in eastern Oregon on the interstate. A car load of young girls not paying attention, but expecting that we would just get out of their way so she could merge into the traffic flow. No concept at all about how to yield and merge. Semi on my left. Someone tailgating me in the rear. I just laid on the horn, which surprised the female driver, she slammed on the brakes and veered left with a young girl in the back seat giving us the finger as if we did something wrong. You just have to drive now expecting everyone to be self-absorbed, stupid, inattentive, distracted, or under the influence of self-centeredness.

"Sounds like you would be constantly be speeding up or slowing down or changing lanes." Isn't this always the case in the city? I have never been able to set my cruise and never change speeds or lanes while in the city. If you hold your speed "because the book tells you you can" aren't you one of the self centered people?

Drive defensively, adjust your speed and change lanes as needed for the scenario for those that are merging and for you when you are merging. "The rule book" is a guideline, not a hard, never to deviate, carved in cement driving technique.

I like the term "traffic challenge". What an understatement for describing too many drivers :B

2012Coleman wrote:
The people on this thread advocating Offensive driving are just contributing to the provlem. I can't believe some of the stuff I'm reading espically when your pulling your TT. Just another day on RV.net where you get 3 pages of a thread asking for help and 6 plus pages for a rant.

If you're referring to the opening post as a "rant", your idea of a rant and my idea of a rant are nowhere near the same. ;) I saw it as a humorous / curious event and chose to share it with my new friends on the forum.

I didn't even rant when it happened. My wife and I looked at each other and laughed and pretty much simultaneously said "What the heck was that all about?" OK. We didn't say "heck", but you know what I mean.

You are correct, though, that my many appeals for help here have been generously answered and usually settled in a couple of pages. Question asked and answered, thanks offered, move on.

But start sharing stories of dingbat drivers, and on this and other forums I visit, it can go on for days.

I bet you've even got a few yourself ;)

These situations are almost to be expected when you think about how easy it is to get and maintain a license in this country. I maintain my speed in most of these situations. The person entering needs to decide what they want to do, speed up or slow down. They are the ones joining the party. The truth is you don't know what this person is going to do. You can slow down then the person starts slowing down with you. Now you've just drastically increased your speed differential between you and the rest of the highway which puts you in a heck of a lot more danger for a collision. I would never speed up to prevent someone from getting over. That's just plain idiotic. So is matching speeds and expecting a safe merger.

When I'm the one merging onto the freeway in my car or unloaded then I'll yield to most combos as a courtesy and for safety. A guy hauling shouldn't have to slow down then waste fuel to get back up to speed so I can save a couple of seconds. In a match-up between me and a 10-40 ton combo there's a good chance that it's not going to work out in my favor so why even chance it.

Last week we were driving on I-12 in Louisiana close to New Orleans, lots of traffic. There was a slow mover in the right lane and a long line of vehicles in the left lane passing him. When traffic cleared a bit, I pulled Phaeton Place over in the left lane, and just then the traffic in the left lane checked up a bit for some unknown reason. I braked and slowed and then I started back on the pedal. I was too close to the slow mover to pull back over behind him. Pretty much bottlenecked. Just then a driver flies by on my right, then swerves in front of me in the left lane snaking between me and the slow mover and promptly exhibits the third finger for me to know that I was number "1" in his book. I just laughed. Then he motions with his hand that I was to get in the right lane. Hmmmmm. Well, I will do that sir as soon as I clear this slow mover, which I did shortly. Wonder if all the truckers in front of me were number "1" with him as well.

It always amazes me that people are in such a hurry and then you always see them at the next exit ramp when you pull up behind them. :-)

Dale