Highway merging... Was I a jerk?

[firebane]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
Meh, I couldn't care less if I saw someone do that. I will merge on to deerfoot early too (just before the dotted line starts) if people are driving too slowly preventing me from merging safely and there is nobody behind me (don't want to spray rocks). The majority of Calgarians don't understand what this sign means, let alone the having to deal with a normal merge:


This means "yield and/or stop" to most people:

Uh if you yield in that lane you are going to be a bloody nuisance! That sign means you have your own damn lane so do not stop and just go.

I will honk my horn at you if you decide to stop at those signs and do not proceed.

[01RedDX]

.

[pheoxs]

Unfortunately to say but you're both dicks. I take the same road and all too often people do 90 all the way until they merge, it's stupid. But like it or not you crossed the solid meridian illegally and blew by him. It also sprays up rocks that sit in that area in the spring/fall.

I follow people right until the dotted line, then merge over and pass them. Even if you get stuck behind a few more cars, who cares. There's usually some tool doing 105 in the fast lane that you'll get stuck behind anyways.

You already have a ~30 minute commute, whats another 30 seconds.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by tirebob
Definitely was not tailgating nor did I cut anyone off. and there was no gravel as the lanes were swept last week. I would never spray a car around me with gravel. I crossed over two lanes to the middle lane so as to not impede the others merging further down. I did however cross over before the broken painted line for sure, but as described, this merge lane a really, really long and I would have been merging into a huge cluster of cars if I rode it out behind the under speed merger in front of me.

I go thru that merge quite often and I do the same as you. But only if cars in front of me isn't doing 110.

It's quite dangerous when the traffic on QE2 is doing 130 and you are only doing 90 and within seconds another merge lane is coming thru.

[K3RMiTdot]

Bob, quit being a jerk.

JK

I would have done the same!

[Darell_n]

I like to merge across the grass at 110kph (minimum) before the paint even starts.

[riander5]

You bastard

[spikerS]

Think that's bad?

Try going from Country Hills Blvd to Southbound Deerfoot. There are times where the whole merge lane is clusterfucked because some little asian bitty is doing 60kph, merges onto Deerfoot in rush hour and figures it's ok, because they are just going to take the offramp to the airport. Meanwhile all the traffic on deerfoot is jamming on the brakes and swerving around them.

Bob, I would have done the same thing.

[btimbit]

Ah I know the merge you're talking about now. I've done that a few times at that same spot

[ercchry]

I usually wait for them to merge then blow pass them on the right... But with how the traffic pattern was I probably would of done the same... That's a long zone and there is no excuse... Country pickups are some of the most entitled drivers out there, no matter what you did it would of been wrong to the guy unless you followed what he was doing... I had to pass one today on the bike... 53km/h in a twisty section of a 100km/h highway (75km/h yellow signs for the corners)

[sr20s14zenki]

Would have done the same, and have on a few occasions. IF you cant merge at a proper speed, expect this.

[lilmira]

Anyone noticed that traffic has been slower in the last month or so? It was all pretty smooth even through winter then it turned to shit for no reason. My gas mileage has taken a hit for sure.

[ercchry]

It's cause they announced they are enforcing 1km/h and over for tickets now

[YCB]

Originally posted by 01RedDX
90kmh? What a trooper. I am faced with 70-80kph "mergers" on Stoney all the damn time and often forced to do the same thing.

^^^ this.. there is ~2 km of roadway and they decide to merge out at 70-80kph right after the solid line...

Putting me in a situation of getting up to speed and might pass them on the right?

[JohnnyHockey]

I trust you did the safest thing given the situation....but ya, normally, wait until the dotted line before doing it. Either way, the point is is that this truck got all his panties in a bunch, just ignore it man, I'm sure it's no surprise, but a lot of people out there are just idiots, no rhyme or reason and certainly no need to dwell on it.

I'm sure everyone here has at some point been honked at like crazy by what almost always is a...crazy female driver...when they are clearly the one in the wrong. Not to be sexist but.....

[nonofyobiz]

Some people are just not in control of their emotions at all. If someone is losing it on you, the most appropriate emotion to feel is pity.

[speedog]

Originally posted by pheoxs
Unfortunately to say but you're both dicks. I take the same road and all too often people do 90 all the way until they merge, it's stupid. But like it or not you crossed the solid meridian illegally and blew by him. It also sprays up rocks that sit in that area in the spring/fall.

I follow people right until the dotted line, then merge over and pass them. Even if you get stuck behind a few more cars, who cares. There's usually some tool doing 105 in the fast lane that you'll get stuck behind anyways.

You already have a ~30 minute commute, whats another 30 seconds.

tirebob is one of the very few beyond members I have been fortunate enough to meet, nice guy, but pheoxs' last statement above sums it all up quite nicely.

One has to put things into perspective and realize that there are other things in life that are quite a bit more dear and precious than those 30 seconds and it probably wasn't even 30 seconds.

In the past when my in-laws used to live in Kelowna, we used to regularly make the trek out there and back and yupp, I was one of those that was passing whenever safe to do so. Was I getting much further ahead, probably not and as the years went by and I took a different tact of letting the passers/tailgaters/whatever who were in such a hurry do their thing while I kept out of the way, I started to notice my stress levels had went down and it was almost a guarantee I would pass all those "in a hurry people" at the next town as they were taking a break or getting fuel or whatever. Then another 20-30km down the road, it would be the same people in the same scenario and it became an amusing game for our family to watch the craziness that would unfold behind or in front of us.

We made sure we were never the cause of any of the craziness but when you see a semi enter a snow shed tunnel behind someone and exit ahead of that same someone, you just know that there was something happening in that tunnel that didn't have to happen, something a bit of patience would have done wonders for.

In the last few years, I have become quite a relaxed driver. I do the speed limit and drive safely and at the same time I do not get in people's way - there is nothing that urgent or immediate in my day that requires me to break the law or put myself or others at risk even when doing do appears to be seemingly harmless.

Life will go on even with that additional 5-10 seconds lost because I opted not to pull what I know in my heart and brain was a sort of dumb and unnecessary move - people merge slowly or yield at the wrong time or do dumb stuff all the time. I don't know what's going on in their life and can only control how I react to that situation and at the end of the day, the upcoming knot of Deerfoot/#2 traffic on that morning most likely wouldn't have proven to be any big deal.

pheoxs, thanks for that nugget of wisdom.

[tirebob]

Hey Speedog,

I do agree and I too am a much more relaxed driver than most by a long shot. That was sort of my point on this particular move I did. It wasn't about trying to squeak out a few extra seconds nor was it a frustrated, rub it in the guys face kind of move. It was simply a safer move than what was coming down the pipe if I remained in the spot I was.

I mean lets be honest... It isn't like I think if I would have waited and had to merge into a tight ball of traffic I would have been all scared and nervous or anything, but I would have had to drop my speed even more, or stomp on it last second to jump between two cars, both of which were less safe choices than what I did instead.

That is really about it. I calculated what was the easiest and safest move at the moment and did it. In my mind I think it was the right thing to do at the moment based on the fact I had absolutely zero impact on anyones position or the flow of traffic by making said move and if anything, it improved the safety all around for the remaing vehicles.

Now being "perceived" as a dick move, I can see where the nay sayers are coming from. I just don't understand why it would actually have been a dick move...

[blitz]

If you had crossed the solid line and stayed in the lane he was going to merge into, it would have been a dick move. But you didn't. So it wasn't.

[Hallowed_point]

Originally posted by spikerS
Think that's bad?

Try going from Country Hills Blvd to Southbound Deerfoot. There are times where the whole merge lane is clusterfucked because some little asian bitty is doing 60kph, merges onto Deerfoot in rush hour and figures it's ok, because they are just going to take the offramp to the airport. Meanwhile all the traffic on deerfoot is jamming on the brakes and swerving around them.

Bob, I would have done the same thing.

Yup. It's brutal. I can guess who it's going to be before I even pass them. I'll go out of my way to let someone in with a signal on who's merging. I'll even move into another lane to make it smoother if it makes sense at the time. But holy shit people, it's not safer to merge below the speed limit. That's not merging.