Merging onto an Interstate

[sidney]

What method do you use to enter an interstate from the on ramp to merge with traffic when towing?

[silvercorvette]

I absolutely love it when the car in front of me slowly drives the full length of the merge / acceleration ramp then come to a full stop to wait for an opening in traffic.

[EPenney]

sidney wrote:
What method do you use to enter an interstate from the on ramp to merge with traffic when towing?

I use the turbo-diesel method.:B. Brisk acceleration, liberal use of mirrors, and indentifying the slot in traffic I want to merge into. I try to get up to 65 mph when I merge, and then slowly back-off to 55-60 mph (CA towing speed limit is 55 mph).

That wasn't always the norm. My first TV was an 82 Ford Granada station wagon with an inline 6 towing a 3000 lbs TT, which sometimes could take up to 1/4 mile to get up to freeway speed.:E

[gypsygirl]

tgreening wrote:
Drive like an Asian woman. Get up to your comfortable speed, turn on blinker (that portion optional), forego use of any mirror, say to the universe in general...."I need to merge. I go now. Good luck everyone else!". Merge. Done.

So Funny! OMG, that is SO true in my native area- SF bay area. Even tho I moved up to the mountains last year I am a born and bred SF girl and that is exactly how it is to drive in the bay area and honestly, in my travels in a MH and TT sometimes you gotta just take your space - lot's of distracted and/or lousy drivers on the road!

Btw, you know your in the SF burbs when an asian women in a mini van wearing a full dark sun visor over her face completely ignores all traffic laws in her haste to pick up her child from school...crosswalks be damned!

[tgreening]

Drive like an Asian woman. Get up to your comfortable speed, turn on blinker (that portion optional), forego use of any mirror, say to the universe in general...."I need to merge. I go now. Good luck everyone else!". Merge. Done.

[deleted-2]

I am of the "GET-OUT-DA-WAY" mindset... lol

Not really...signal, mirrors, match speeds, be ready to relent if necessary.
Above all don't blame other drivers for not wanting to be behind something long that blocks their view.

I'm a totally different driver when towing so much weight behind.
So busy paying attention I have to set any irritations aside.

[hotpepperkid]

jjj wrote:
The problem now a days is there is no consideration on the road. I drive a semi and it is impossible to get up to speed before you enter and have people from behind me pass in the gore point and take my lane out from under me when you have no choice but to push them for being rude. I just try to get up to speed as much as possible and merge in. you are always going to get that one person who has no idea what you have to do to get these beasts rolling. If they flip me off, I just wave and think out loud to them, Thank you for letting me know that I am number 1. Just got to love the rude and ignorant drivers.

I will give someone towing (18 wheeler or RVer ) room if I possiable can because I know how hard it is to merge into traffic. However what really yanks my chain is going up a 5-6% hills and the trucks in the right line and doing 25 mph and one of the Aholes tries to pass the other just because he can do 26 and Im in the left lane doing 60. They just pull out in front of you like its nothing. I just want to reach under the seat and grab my 40 cal and unload it into the drivers door as I go by

[hotpepperkid]

In CA at the heavily traveled on ramps they have a traffic signal and when the traffic is really heavy those lights are active and every auto must stop. It lets one auto at a time onto the freeway. If you want to just pass on by there is nothing stopping you. But if a cop catches you it a ticket for running a red light (not cheap now days)

[hotpepperkid]

sunkatcher wrote:
Remember; “Education is Our Responsibility”, the key and I have done my share is that drivers will learn when I pull that left hand turn signal on it means I AM MOVING LEFT not I want to move left.

Oh so you just bully your way in?

[oughtsix]

When towing I try to avoid busy city areas during rush hour. Nothing pisses the rest of the freeway off more than a rig that tries to enter a packed but well moving freeway at 40mph. This creates very dangerous conditions rippling behind you for many miles/minutes on the freeway. If you can't be up to at least the speed limit at the end of the onramp should you really be on the road... especially during rush hour?

When I am in my car I have no problem "flashing a truck or RV in" if they are at least trying to accelerate up to speed (Any tailpipe will tell you the difference between a truck "Flooring it" vs. "Driving miss Daisy").

Do a little prior planning and try to hit cities during off peak hours. It makes your life less stressful and everyone elses too! If you are in your RV you probably aren't worried about being late for work.

Of course I also have no issue letting someone pass me if they want to go faster than me either.

Why are so many RV drivers (and truckers) so discourteous to other drivers then expect everyone else be courteous to them? If you come to a passing lane on a single lane highway SLOW DOWN and let the miles of cars behind you pass instead of speeding up!

[Jloucks]

Yea, don't try to merge going 20 miles+ lower then the traffic you are trying to merge with.

That being said, 'construction length ramps', you know, the tiny short ramps, seem to pose the biggest problem for me.

And, yes, ramps yield to highways... but toss construction ramps into the equation and sometimes it has to be a negotiation.

[RAS43]

Pete_k wrote:
Read this page good into. Merging into traffic But Always remember the road traffic has the right of way. Not you on the merge lane.Pete

That is the biggest issue I see around here-the merging traffic expects the road traffic to yield to them. Very frustrating when towing and I can't move to the left.

[wilber1]

It's up to everyone to make it work but push comes to shove, the littlest guy will give in the end.

[time2roll]

Aim for the open space and slide in. I find it is not really a big deal.

I did have a lady try to merge between my truck and trailer in 10 mph LA traffic.
Big PITN but her insurance paid everything.

[Terryallan]

j2catfish wrote:
My understanding of the North Carolina law is that the traffic in the RH travel lane near an on ramp must slow down to allow ramp traffic to enter.
Catfish

Looked it up. that would be wrong. According to NC, DOT. It is not the responsibility of the drivers already on the interstate to make a hole. It is the driver entering responsibility to find a hole.
In other words. When you are on the get on, you better not hit some one already on the big road. they have the right of way.
That being said. It behoves the person on the big road to try to help someone merg, and I do, when possible. I will move over to let them in. However, If there is a vehicle beside of me. I can't move over. So it is up to the merger.

[john_bet]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
I like to creep down the ramp with a long line of cars behind me. When I get the freeway I often stop and wait for a space big enough to fit into. Sometimes the people behind me get impatient and blow their horns but I want to do this safely. As soon as I can get on the freeway I move all the way over to the left lane and stay there. This is driving Minnesota style!







B.O.

I don't drive like that on a Minnesota ramp. I have yet to see a big rig do that on any ramp anywhere. My school bus takes over a quarter of a mile to go from 0-55. My RV is a little faster,but not sports car fast.