Quote:
Originally Posted by justatroll
That is opposed to merging early so that you do not have to stop.
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No, if traffic is very heavy, you have to stop either way. With early merge, you stop early in the merge lane, effectively leaving wasted open space in front of you. If traffic is moderately heavy, and if people in the through lane are not jerks, nobody has to stop when merging late, just slow down a bit.
Late zipper merges are recommended by traffic laws in some countries, in at least two US states (Minnestota
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/trafficen...rge-zipper.pdf and I think Washington state too) and
required at least in Germany.
In terms of overall traffic throughput, it is a matter of debate whether late merge is much more efficient. But the main advantage is that - when properly exuted, it is less road-rage inducing.
That because:
- the rules are clear and perceived as just.
- every driver in the through lane only had to let in one car in front of him/her, while with early merge it may be one awkward early merger even before merging is allowed, cutting through the solid lane, then someone in the middle and another one at the end.
- the problem of late mergers overtaking early mergers does not exist if there are no early mergers. (It does not work the other way around, because, as I said, early mergers create empty space in front of them in the merge lane, few drivers will resist using it).