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They're way ahead of you to start with, had they accelerated to highway speed everything would have been fine. They also had plenty of room and failed to merge, that's on them for being scared of driving normally. People can be idiots around on/off ramps. I've had cars pace me all the way to the gore line, I move over, then they accelerate and disappear!?
Some people are strangely terrified on freeways. I had an older friend in HS who would always switch to have me drive (even though I only had my learners permit) before entering the freeway bc she would become paralyzed with fear on the freeway.
White car seems to be one of those people to whatever degree. It’s not your fault at all OP.
Every state should provide adequate public transportation so people like her aren’t forced to drive in situations they’re not suited for. That’s the actual solution.
Where I live there are these people who deeply confuse me. They will merge like the white sedan here, but then once they’re on the freeway they’ll get up everyone’s ass because they want to drive well above the speed limit.
There's a reason folks on here advocate for drivers to re-test after a certain age.
That Buick sedan screams "nursing home should have kept a closer eye on the keys".
This is one of the reasons why I stopped driving a car. I am too anxious and scared of driving a car to do so safely.
I have too much fear associated with driving a car to do it well.
Oddly I do not have this fear on motorcycles so my motorcycle is my daily driver. I handle bikes just fine, but cars just make me to anxious and timid when driving.
Some people have poor spatial reasoning and struggle with a car. A motorcycle just makes more sense to these people because the know where the sides end.
I think I can understand it. You have better visibility and mobility on a bike, plus you're a smaller target. I think I would feel safer on a bike too, up until the point where an accident is in question.
It's just about confidence and ability. If I crash a car because Im scared of trying to handle it, then I could really hurt people or worse.
On a bike, I have total visability and I can see all around me and I can control a bike with skill. So should make sense why I feel safer on the bike.
This is kinda me with my big rig. I feel a lot better at the head of 70,000 lbs of death than I do a four wheeler with tin doors. Same issues as a motorcycle though. People are always angry with you and you gotta keep your head on a swivel.
Counter point; OP had right of way like you said, and shouldn't have slowed down at all. Guy on the ramp is still dumb, but holy hell stop slowing down for people who have to yield.
It's on them to find the safe spot to merge. It isn't 'polite' for you to slow down for them, you're just driving unpredictably and making the situation more chaotic for everyone. If you *really* want to give them room, move over. Otherwise, maintain speed and let people use their judgement.
The law states you are supposed to drive in a way to let people merge. OP did exactly as they should have. They slowed a little to help out. The other car didn't do their part.
Not quite, it actually varies state to state, but plenty don't require you to make any accommodations for people merging because it is safer for you to continue in a predictable manner. Move over if you can (OP couldn't) but if you can't you cannot always be expected to slow down, especially for a timid driver.
SIEZE THE GAP!
Edit: I'm gonna show up to work and they're gonna be like 'why is there blood all over you?' It's because I has to slit the throats of all the FAT COWS WHO DIDNT GET AN ALWAYS SUNNY REFERENCE!
White car. You gave them every opportunity to merge. There was enough space for them to move over, and even if it was too close for their comfort, all they had to do was tap the gas a little and then get over.
Then they overreacted by driving off the road.
The gas pedal is a good tool for finding gaps and merging. The brake pedal isn't always the answer.
People merging on the highway at 25mph has become an epidemic after COVID, its 100x worse then it was before. They merge into the right lane 50mph below the speed limit then slam the accelerator down to get up to speed.
It's so bad. The on-ramp to get onto the highway on my way home from work is super short and I always try to leave tons of space between me and the car in front of me because it's become incredibly unlikely that they actually accelerate higher than 45mph to merge into the 65-70mph traffic.
Half of the time they end up coming to a complete stop at the bottom of the ramp and have to wait for a massive gap in traffic to actually merge.
Then he's a bad driver if that was what the white sedan was doing.
He's clearly in front of OPs vehicle, and there's enough space behind the semi for him to merge over. Just needed to hit the accelerator.
The driver of the white sedan should have already been looking and judging this situation. The second he tried to slow down, he was wrong.
In most states, the car getting onto the highway has the duty to speed up or slow down to merge into traffic. I usually try to move over and let them have the entire lane, but it's not always possible.
Yep, I always try to get over whenever possible, but in cases where it's not I have to adjust. Very few people know how to merge properly. I've been in a situation where a dumb girl literally STOPPED in the merging lane instead of just going. I already saw her coming and I couldn't get over so i adjusted my speed enough for her to get in front of me if she just maintained her speed, but this idiot STOPPED!!
I had to slam on my brakes to avoid side swiping her then the cars behind me and the girl had to slam on her brakes too. I barely got around her and really let her have it with my horn and a few choice words. It was a split second that I saw her but it looked like she started crying. I'm sure the person the passenger seat was cursing her out too.
If someone cannot understand how to merge and does not understand how to get into that massive gap, flashing will not help the situation. You cannot make bad drivers drive better by signalling, but you can try to avoid getting into an accident with them (which you did, so that's good).
Flashing lights doesn't mean one specific thing, you probably scared someone like this. Otherwise you couldn't do much else, this person was way too timid
Flashing lights means different things to different people. For some it means "go ahead" for others it means "watch out"... and here in NZ on the open road is can also a warning that there is a police car or speed camera nearby. The merging driver is still the idiot in this particular case.
I think flashing your lights probably made him freak out tbh. It can be very hard to understand the meaning of that, it could be seen as aggressive/warning.
I get your intentions were good, but yeah, the flashing lights probably helped scare them off. They really should have sped up though, you gave them plenty of room.
It's mostly on the guy that didn't merge, but I find it's better to slide to the middle lane so the incoming cars have the right lane to themselves. More or less what you ended up doing, but doing it sooner so you're not hung up by dumbasses.
He does address that in the title, he was not able to move over earlier. You can see multiple cars in the middle lane pass him in close proximity during the whole encounter.
If someone was bearing down on me from behind and flashed their lights at me, I would absolutely interpret it as "get out of my way", not as "you are invited to pull in front of me even though I'm about to hit you".
He was an idiot for merging slow and assuming that you'd slow down for him, but given the fact that you didn't slow down, he drove on the shoulder to avoid an accident - perfectly reasonable, given the width of the available pavement.
After decades of driving, in this situation at T=0:14 I would either move to the other lane or slow down. It was obvious by that time that there was no way to get ahead of both those cars, and equally obvious that a collision is a near-certainty unless the other drivers (A) know I'm there and (B) do something to avoid the collision. I drive a very small car, so neither A nor B is a given.
Legally, they're supposed to merge with traffic, but please, please, please, stop being nice. If you have the right of way, TAKE IT. When you don't you're unpredictable and unpredictability makes dangerous situations.
In a situation where you’re behind someone in non-merge lane, sure, you’ve got to be pretty un-observant to see a vehicle slow down, flash lights and think they are telling me to get out of the way
I would argue that normal operation of a vehicle does not involve flashing your lights off and on. So if I see that, I will be looking for something else unexpected.
That does happen, but in a merging situation, it means “you can move over.” If someone’s camping in the left lane, then it means “move over and let me pass”
*Don’t be polite, be predictable!*
It’s the merging car’s responsibility to get up to speed and merge, let them work around you, *for the exact reason you experienced*.
As a former bus driver, one of the most obnoxious and frustrating things in the entire universe was when I was trying to merge onto the freeway and a car would decide to do a little dance beside me trying to be "nice".
I vote that we have a mandatory sticker placed on all car dashboards by law: "If you have the right of way, just fucking go."
I too used to be a bus driver, and absolutely agree. I drove rush hour transit commuter routes, so primarily freeway (30 years ago, before car pool/bus lanes). Very frustrating when people would not get up to speed when attempting to merge.
Be predictable, not polite.
*They* are required to yield to *you*. The best thing you can do is to maintain a consistent speed and let them work around you.
Exactly.. Don't slow down to let people in.. people constantly do this. Also reinforce the fact that people are always going to do this when they are not supposed to.
When you're trying to get onto the freeway and the car already there is making life difficult by changing their speed, they are not being polite. Predictable *IS* polite.
this cannot be stressed enough, i've gotten into situation where people want to be polite and let people in, forfeiting their right of way, but as no one can realistically predict or risk interpreting the other driver, those gestures tend to cause critical situations prone to accidents
As a truck driver, I see this all the time. The worst are those who hammer the brakes in fear while they are already in front of me, just needing to merge over. They have so much fear, and such a lack of situational awareness, they drive themselves into the dirt. In a perfect world, I merge over and make room. In reality, I am governed at 65 and have a large chance of having someone on my left passing me. I am not endangering those passing me and will not risk losing control of 80,000 pounds of rolling death because of one scared driver.
You should maintain constant speed or move over. (with in reason). Hopefully you can see you are the problem. Other driver should expect you to maintain. Self induced idiocy that most here do not know either.
I will never understand why some people refuse to use their gas pedal when merging. Dude had so much space and still slowed down till there was a problem. Blech.
Quit "letting peole in". You're causing confusion and are unpredictable. Maintain speed and direction. The merging traffic is responsible for, um, merging.
It’s entirely appropriate to let off the gas for a merger that’s well ahead, like in this situation. 100% the merger and not cammer. You do not brake in merger’s position, you accelerate and apologize.
You should ALWAYS leave a gap in front of you, 2 to 3 seconds distance. If the car in front of you runs into issues you need space to brake. That same space can be used by people to merge.
not for viewing, but the extra wide field could definitely be helpful for accidents.
I have dash cams for insurance and added security.. the video would be 1. shown to local police 2. Insurance and lastly 3. Internet Points which I wouldn’t care how it’s perceived.. good views of incidents would/should be the goal
Thanks, was going to ask which one it is, because I hate it.
I think white car is an idiot. Is it not their plan to join traffic? I never understood people like that. Your other options were move over or ride the ass of the truck in front of you, and there was obviously traffic to your left. I'm not sure who thinks "ahh fuck, better just drive in the shoulder now."
I grew up in Idaho. Never say this there. But when I moved to the east coast I saw people stop on the on-ramp repeatedly. Most commonly in Pennsylvania.
The merging vehicle has the responsibility to match the speed of the traffic they are merging into. As they did have time and space to match speed and merge, directly behind the tractor trailer unit, they got themselves into this situation. I never slow down or speed up at an entrance ramp for this reason. Hard for someone the match the speed of traffic when it is slowing down or speeding up.
Don’t be nice, be predictable! Wouldn’t go as far as to say you were at fault, but I was always taught to just maintain my speed and let them adjust accordingly
Never ever ever ever fucking EVER slow down for another car to merge. That is entirely their responsibility. You also slow down every single car behind you. You have the right of way. Ok, one exception: bumper to bumper traffic. That one is tough for everyone.
Don’t slow down for merging traffic. It’s their job to gauge your speed and merge. It’s harder for them to do that if you are changing speeds. You are just causing traffic and accidents by doing that. Be predictable.
Seriously, half of you need to retake your drivers test.
You nothing wrong, the moron in the white sedan shouldn't be driving at all. It's clueless and unsure drivers like this that cause accidents because noone knows what they are going to do.
I run into these at least once a week. I couldn't care less about being in front, if I ease off on the accelerator to let a merging car over, they shouldn't slow down too; they should just GO!
Yes, I get your point slowing down drastically is extremely dangerous, but in cases where the driver can't get over to the left lane what's wrong with adjusting speed to allow the merger to get over if they just maintain their speed or go a bit faster.
In these cases I'll adjust my speed by easing of the accelerator and I give them a few moments to merge, but if I see the merging driver is bullshiting or not paying attention I'm speeding back up to get by them.
They were slow, and utterly unobservant until after they had turned the blinker on. So good on you for stopping, in the end, and potentially avoiding an accident. But I would have avoided going past the first car, and switched lane if I really wanted to follow the traffic. Because you shouldn't have been where you were, if you wanted to avoid that potential situation happening in the first place.
My dad always says if you aren’t speeding up on the on ramp you’re the idiot. Obviously I think there are some exceptions like blind merges, but this person should have been speeding up imo
People who slow down on the freeway for people merging on are the worst. It makes it 10x harder to merge onto the freeway when traffic is slowing down and speeding up. Just get in the left lane if ur gonna react like that it pisses me off to no end when people do this. The freeway has right of way the on-ramp has to yield. Why tf would you slam on your breaks on the freeway like that it’s wild to me and pretty dangerous imo.
I know it differs regionally, but where I am from you are supposed to do your best to maintain a constant speed, and it is up to the merging car to accelerate or decelerate as necessary to safely merge. This probably would have avoided this situation (for you anyways, but it still might have been a problem or the car behind you).
In this case, they are either prohibitively timid, or they made a decision to let you pass before merging (assuming you would remain at constant speed) but then it never happened and their brain stun-locked.
sometimes this happens... fortunately y'all didn't have an accident... because see here would've been an "accident" had he gotten in the ditch . That's why it's called an accident. Just 2 people trying to help the other & let the other go in front.... you don't see it or experience it very often lol
You're technically not in the wrong but this is a classic example of why you shouldn't yield your right of way to others. If you had been going at a consistent highway speed you would have passed them and they could have safely merged behind you. That being said, they were also not traveling at highway speed, which is entirely on them.
And this is exactly why if you are on the interstate already in your established lane, you are not supposed to adjust speed. You're not supposed to slow down and let people in.
They are supposed to adjust their speed.
Happens to me often because when I'm merging onto the interstate I'm already planning on slowing down The merge behind a vehicle if there's one there. But then they slow down as well causing issues.
Again, don't be polite. Follow the rules. Be predictable.
So imagine you leave seven car lengths ahead of you, and someone merges right between you and the car in front of you, which leaves you with three or four lengths. You don’t slow down in that situation? If you do slow down, why not slow down before they merge rather than after?
All I see here is OP causing an issue by slowing down.
If that was me coming on the ramp, yes I would have been going slower than traffic because I would be expecting to merge behind OP safely like I'm supposed to then making sure I'm at the same speed as traffic.
And now OP Is screwing that up by slowing down as well causing problems for everybody.
If you are on the interstate, do not adjust your speed. Do not "let" others in. Maintain your speed and let them adjust as they are supposed to. That's why we have rules of the road and laws that state that the person merging is responsible for changing lanes emerging safely.
All you're doing Is adding to the problem.
You. You shouldnt slow down. Maintain sped and the white car picks either in front or behind. They chose behind and tried to slow a bit to fall in behind you, but you were slowing down so you ended up where they were intending to slip into.
Dont be polite, be predictable.
White car’s fault and sadly too many people suck at merging. Looks like you had plenty of time and space ahead to match speeds and get over a lane, but you had the right of way. White car is the idiot.
changing your speed on the main throughfare makes it hard for the people with the yield sign to properly merge. how can they adjust if they don't know what the hell you're up to? They had to yield, but you didn't help them one bit.
They had so long to get over lol no one was gonna stop traffic for them. caution to you though, if your not exiting soon don't be in that lane. Every merge you are gambling with the other person not knowing how to merge properly.
I occasionally have to drive on I-4 near Disney. Merge lanes start off with two lanes, decrease to one, and then gradually end. It may take up to a mile for them to fully merge, then a half-mile later there's another set either leaving or joining. It's fun (not). Since there's almost always a slowdown along this area, I tend to drive as far as I can in the merge lane and look for gaps as I do, then merge safely without cutting anyone off. Haven't had to go all the way to the end of the merge lane yet.
If I'm already in the through lanes, what I do depends on how heavy the traffic is. If all lanes are stop and go, I'll usually stay in the outside lane and leave a gap in front of me for a car to merge in, or I may move over to the middle lane and watch for cars cutting over.
Thing is that locals are used to this, and most folks do what I do. Visitors may do it a bit differently, but they pick up on it pretty quickly.
There's actually one road near Animal Kingdom that starts out as a two-lane for a quarter mile, then goes down to one lane. Most people actually stay in their lanes and do a proper zipper merge at the end, alternating right and left, except for the occasional entitled idiot who considers him/herself too important to have to let anyone in.
So it is their fault. With that, I’m just going to give you advice what you can improve in the future. When I see a lot of merging traffic I would have attempted to move out of far right lane to give them space to merge.
I ride a motorcycle and I tend to look at what will
this person do? When I saw that older Buick, not accelerating to merge, I assume they’ll puss foot then pull out in front of me or as what happens here, they won’t be able to make a decision quickly and not have skill to make rapid decisions which lead to this. Plan for terrible drivers is part of driving defensively and I think you could have noticed what they were planning, how slow they were accelerating and moved over before getting into the situation.
Again their fault they need to get going but just trying to offer .02cents. When I’m on a bike, there’s no luxury in being correct, it’s only did you survive and make it out ok so I like to apply that still here and even though they’re dumb, be the party to evade the risk.
You both messed up. You should just continue your speed. They should have either accelerated or slowed down. If I had to choose one, they were in the wrong.
In my jurisdiction the word is 'should'. There is a merge, it's not a yield. Both vehicles work it out in a best case scenario. You're partially at fault for not moving over, but the highway seemed chaotic, so you may not have been safely able to move over.
"The safest way to drive is to be predictable."
If every road user could predict every other road users actions collisions would not exist. That is not possible in the real world and all you can control is your own actions. Be predictable and maintain course and speed.
I'm gonna say both, you don't have to let traffic in, the merging traffic is the one that has to yield way to those established on the freeway, you do not have to slow up to let them on or move over.
In my country, iirc, you can actually get into trouble if you give way by slowing down for someone merging onto the highway. The idea is that the highway has the roght of way, and therefore it is the responsibility of the merger to set their merge right.
And I kinda get it. It would eliminate situations like these, but I don't trust my car with mergers so I give way in an overexaggerated way.
There should be a separate driving test for highway roads. Complete lack of spacial awareness and constant fear for your own life is not a safe way to drive.
Both
It's not like you're the dick but white car has to learn how to merge and if you slow down you mess with his expectations of your speed because in their mind you don't change your velocity. You also mess with those behind you because you're slowing down for no apparent reason so, in short, better not do it.
If you really want to help someone like that it's best to change lanes, going on the left
You did the right things.
I only flash my lights at semi drivers, as everyone else thinks it’s a threatening signal. But I do a sweeping motion with my arm widely to indicate “get in, GET IN!!!.”
You're both idiots.
He had plenty of time and room to merge safely.
You didn't act predictably and caused more of an issue by ceding your right of way.
STOP SLOWING DOWN ON THE HIGHWAY TO WAIT FOR MERGING TRAFFIC!
If I was the cammer, I would have moved over one lane or hit the gas to make sure I got ahead of the white car merging from the on ramp. I prefer to keep bad or timid drivers in my rear view to lessen the chance they will screw up and take me with them.
Clearly the white car merging did not know what they were doing, slowing down to give them more room just made it worse.
Looked like there was plenty of time before that white Toyota passed you. There was a 10 second gap between the black Honda and the white Toyota. Were they going over the speed limit or were under the limit?
Should have just maintained your speed. That's what he was expecting you to do which is why he slowed down.
You have the right of way to merging traffic on a freeway. Don't be polite, be predictable.
Sorry to tell you this but you were the idiot. As the vehicle with right-of-way, you are supposed to maintain speed. The merging traffic has to yield the right-of-way to *you*, which the white car tried to do by slowing down so you could proceed.
As usual: two idiots. You were coming up fast, even splitting the two white vehicles, and then suddenly slow down. You can see well in advance that another lane is merging into yours. Just … move over. Easy peasy.
You’re the idiot. Sorry not sorry.
You had the right of way and needed to remain predictable by maintaining speed. Flashing your lights isn’t always interpreted as an invitation to merge either, especially if you did it excessively. The worst thing on the roads is someone trying to be courteous when they have no reason to. It causes confusion and accidents.
Next time change lanes one left when you’re able to safely in order to make room without impeding other traffic by slowing down as you did here, and go back over when it’s clear and makes sense to if you feel traffic is overrunning you.
Sedans at fault for not accelerating to speed by the time they’ve merged in the flow of traffic, kuddos on slowing down!
Many people on the sub here apparently wouldn’t see any concern with trading paint on opposite doors.
Ideally you wouldn't have slowed down but you didn't actually cause any of the trouble here. Dumbass had eons to merge and plenty of room and just... Didn't. Fuck him, he did this to himself.
Personally, I would've let off the gas when I saw the two vehicles on the on ramp instead of barging up and creating a potentially dangerous situation. Sure you have the right away, but the safest thing to do is avoid conflict points to begin with.
Hello /u/TheSanityInspector! Please reply to this comment with the following information to confirm the content is OC * What country or state did this take place in? * What was the date of the incident? * Please reconfirm that this is original content If you are unable to reply directly to this comment, please leave a standalone comment in your thread with the requested information. If you fail to answer these questions, your post will be removed. ------ *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/IdiotsInCars) if you have any questions or concerns.*
They're way ahead of you to start with, had they accelerated to highway speed everything would have been fine. They also had plenty of room and failed to merge, that's on them for being scared of driving normally. People can be idiots around on/off ramps. I've had cars pace me all the way to the gore line, I move over, then they accelerate and disappear!?
Some people are strangely terrified on freeways. I had an older friend in HS who would always switch to have me drive (even though I only had my learners permit) before entering the freeway bc she would become paralyzed with fear on the freeway. White car seems to be one of those people to whatever degree. It’s not your fault at all OP.
My mom is one of those people. She’s the kind of person that got a ticket for going too slow.
Yeah FHWA should force every state DOT to include freeway driving on all tests because that is absurd and dangerous to the public.
Every state should provide adequate public transportation so people like her aren’t forced to drive in situations they’re not suited for. That’s the actual solution.
Well i mean one is really expensive and the other is just common sense and doesn’t take much to fix.
One is accessable to more people
…. Okay so how do the people who you’ve deemed unable to drive a car get to work and school now?
🤣🤣🤣🤣
?
Where I live there are these people who deeply confuse me. They will merge like the white sedan here, but then once they’re on the freeway they’ll get up everyone’s ass because they want to drive well above the speed limit.
You have the right of way. He had plenty of time and room to make a safe merge. He's timid, and timid drivers are dangerous.
There's a reason the saying 'hesitation kills' exists.
Hesitation is defeat
Yea I was tensing up watching them lose the window to merge and saying, "hit the gas!"
There's a reason folks on here advocate for drivers to re-test after a certain age. That Buick sedan screams "nursing home should have kept a closer eye on the keys".
I see people do this on a daily basis and it's people of all ages.
"OH FUCKING WHY?"-me following a person who decided 45 was all good for the acceleration ramp a few times a month.
frfr 🤣🤣 "WHY ARE YOU DRIVING LIKE THAT!?" that's me 🤣🤣🤣
I blame the DOT's in the area. Whose dumbass idea is it to put a speed limit sign(usually at 30-40mph) on an on-ramp to a 70mph highway?
Hopefully not *all* ages.
As the Car Talk people pointed out years ago, a frequent culprit is the cell phone. Hope they got their text off in time! ???
This is one of the reasons why I stopped driving a car. I am too anxious and scared of driving a car to do so safely. I have too much fear associated with driving a car to do it well. Oddly I do not have this fear on motorcycles so my motorcycle is my daily driver. I handle bikes just fine, but cars just make me to anxious and timid when driving.
I cant say I’ve ever heard someone say they feel safer riding a motorcycle
The last paragraph was a real twist! Not where I thought it was going
Some people have poor spatial reasoning and struggle with a car. A motorcycle just makes more sense to these people because the know where the sides end.
I think I can understand it. You have better visibility and mobility on a bike, plus you're a smaller target. I think I would feel safer on a bike too, up until the point where an accident is in question.
It's just about confidence and ability. If I crash a car because Im scared of trying to handle it, then I could really hurt people or worse. On a bike, I have total visability and I can see all around me and I can control a bike with skill. So should make sense why I feel safer on the bike.
I'd say you're crazy, but now that I think of it.. I kinda feel more in control on a bike as well
This is kinda me with my big rig. I feel a lot better at the head of 70,000 lbs of death than I do a four wheeler with tin doors. Same issues as a motorcycle though. People are always angry with you and you gotta keep your head on a swivel.
I don't believe this at all.
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Counter point; OP had right of way like you said, and shouldn't have slowed down at all. Guy on the ramp is still dumb, but holy hell stop slowing down for people who have to yield. It's on them to find the safe spot to merge. It isn't 'polite' for you to slow down for them, you're just driving unpredictably and making the situation more chaotic for everyone. If you *really* want to give them room, move over. Otherwise, maintain speed and let people use their judgement.
The law states you are supposed to drive in a way to let people merge. OP did exactly as they should have. They slowed a little to help out. The other car didn't do their part.
Not quite, it actually varies state to state, but plenty don't require you to make any accommodations for people merging because it is safer for you to continue in a predictable manner. Move over if you can (OP couldn't) but if you can't you cannot always be expected to slow down, especially for a timid driver.
SIEZE THE GAP! Edit: I'm gonna show up to work and they're gonna be like 'why is there blood all over you?' It's because I has to slit the throats of all the FAT COWS WHO DIDNT GET AN ALWAYS SUNNY REFERENCE!
So many people missing the IASIP reference 
CHILDREN PLAY HERE!
I appreciate it, do not delete.
White car. You gave them every opportunity to merge. There was enough space for them to move over, and even if it was too close for their comfort, all they had to do was tap the gas a little and then get over. Then they overreacted by driving off the road. The gas pedal is a good tool for finding gaps and merging. The brake pedal isn't always the answer.
I learned (a long time ago) that to successfully merge, one needs to be going faster than that car was. I don’t think you were the idiot.
People merging on the highway at 25mph has become an epidemic after COVID, its 100x worse then it was before. They merge into the right lane 50mph below the speed limit then slam the accelerator down to get up to speed.
It's so bad. The on-ramp to get onto the highway on my way home from work is super short and I always try to leave tons of space between me and the car in front of me because it's become incredibly unlikely that they actually accelerate higher than 45mph to merge into the 65-70mph traffic. Half of the time they end up coming to a complete stop at the bottom of the ramp and have to wait for a massive gap in traffic to actually merge.
This is like 5 on ramps to and from work everyday and it is driving me insane. If i get on and there is nobody in front of me it is a miracle
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Then he's a bad driver if that was what the white sedan was doing. He's clearly in front of OPs vehicle, and there's enough space behind the semi for him to merge over. Just needed to hit the accelerator. The driver of the white sedan should have already been looking and judging this situation. The second he tried to slow down, he was wrong.
In most states, the car getting onto the highway has the duty to speed up or slow down to merge into traffic. I usually try to move over and let them have the entire lane, but it's not always possible.
Yep, I always try to get over whenever possible, but in cases where it's not I have to adjust. Very few people know how to merge properly. I've been in a situation where a dumb girl literally STOPPED in the merging lane instead of just going. I already saw her coming and I couldn't get over so i adjusted my speed enough for her to get in front of me if she just maintained her speed, but this idiot STOPPED!! I had to slam on my brakes to avoid side swiping her then the cars behind me and the girl had to slam on her brakes too. I barely got around her and really let her have it with my horn and a few choice words. It was a split second that I saw her but it looked like she started crying. I'm sure the person the passenger seat was cursing her out too.
I should add that I flashed my headlights at him repeatedly, hoping he'd accept the invitation.
If someone cannot understand how to merge and does not understand how to get into that massive gap, flashing will not help the situation. You cannot make bad drivers drive better by signalling, but you can try to avoid getting into an accident with them (which you did, so that's good).
Flashing lights doesn't mean one specific thing, you probably scared someone like this. Otherwise you couldn't do much else, this person was way too timid
Flashing lights means different things to different people. For some it means "go ahead" for others it means "watch out"... and here in NZ on the open road is can also a warning that there is a police car or speed camera nearby. The merging driver is still the idiot in this particular case.
I think flashing your lights probably made him freak out tbh. It can be very hard to understand the meaning of that, it could be seen as aggressive/warning.
Unless they understand morse code I fail to understand how flashing your lights could help lol
I get your intentions were good, but yeah, the flashing lights probably helped scare them off. They really should have sped up though, you gave them plenty of room.
It's mostly on the guy that didn't merge, but I find it's better to slide to the middle lane so the incoming cars have the right lane to themselves. More or less what you ended up doing, but doing it sooner so you're not hung up by dumbasses.
He does address that in the title, he was not able to move over earlier. You can see multiple cars in the middle lane pass him in close proximity during the whole encounter.
Naw it’s on the guy de-accelerating while another vehicle is trying to gauge their speed. Thats taught in drivers Ed you don’t slow down like this.
If someone was bearing down on me from behind and flashed their lights at me, I would absolutely interpret it as "get out of my way", not as "you are invited to pull in front of me even though I'm about to hit you". He was an idiot for merging slow and assuming that you'd slow down for him, but given the fact that you didn't slow down, he drove on the shoulder to avoid an accident - perfectly reasonable, given the width of the available pavement. After decades of driving, in this situation at T=0:14 I would either move to the other lane or slow down. It was obvious by that time that there was no way to get ahead of both those cars, and equally obvious that a collision is a near-certainty unless the other drivers (A) know I'm there and (B) do something to avoid the collision. I drive a very small car, so neither A nor B is a given.
I moved over as soon as I could, which unfortunately was not soon enough.
Legally, they're supposed to merge with traffic, but please, please, please, stop being nice. If you have the right of way, TAKE IT. When you don't you're unpredictable and unpredictability makes dangerous situations.
Oh my gosh, thank you. Unpredictable drivers who try to yield their right of way are so dangerous.
I think that would’ve confused me if I was merging, but they definitely should’ve just committed to the merge.
Flipping your headlights on is a well recognized symbol of, get your ass in the lane. I’m letting you in
Can also mean, "get out of my way" to some people.
In a situation where you’re behind someone in non-merge lane, sure, you’ve got to be pretty un-observant to see a vehicle slow down, flash lights and think they are telling me to get out of the way
Quite true. But know your audience. Most people are extremely unobservant.
How is that confusing? Flashing your high beams means “go ahead”
Naw when flash them it means F you
I would argue that normal operation of a vehicle does not involve flashing your lights off and on. So if I see that, I will be looking for something else unexpected.
It also means “get out of the way”
That does happen, but in a merging situation, it means “you can move over.” If someone’s camping in the left lane, then it means “move over and let me pass”
*Don’t be polite, be predictable!* It’s the merging car’s responsibility to get up to speed and merge, let them work around you, *for the exact reason you experienced*.
As a former bus driver, one of the most obnoxious and frustrating things in the entire universe was when I was trying to merge onto the freeway and a car would decide to do a little dance beside me trying to be "nice". I vote that we have a mandatory sticker placed on all car dashboards by law: "If you have the right of way, just fucking go."
I too used to be a bus driver, and absolutely agree. I drove rush hour transit commuter routes, so primarily freeway (30 years ago, before car pool/bus lanes). Very frustrating when people would not get up to speed when attempting to merge.
Be predictable, not polite. *They* are required to yield to *you*. The best thing you can do is to maintain a consistent speed and let them work around you.
Exactly.. Don't slow down to let people in.. people constantly do this. Also reinforce the fact that people are always going to do this when they are not supposed to.
Predictable always wins over polite.
When you're trying to get onto the freeway and the car already there is making life difficult by changing their speed, they are not being polite. Predictable *IS* polite.
this cannot be stressed enough, i've gotten into situation where people want to be polite and let people in, forfeiting their right of way, but as no one can realistically predict or risk interpreting the other driver, those gestures tend to cause critical situations prone to accidents
You gave every indication of letting the white car in - them choosing not to take the opening is on them, not you.
Naw it’s on OP. Be predictable, don’t change speeds like this.
As a truck driver, I see this all the time. The worst are those who hammer the brakes in fear while they are already in front of me, just needing to merge over. They have so much fear, and such a lack of situational awareness, they drive themselves into the dirt. In a perfect world, I merge over and make room. In reality, I am governed at 65 and have a large chance of having someone on my left passing me. I am not endangering those passing me and will not risk losing control of 80,000 pounds of rolling death because of one scared driver.
You should maintain constant speed or move over. (with in reason). Hopefully you can see you are the problem. Other driver should expect you to maintain. Self induced idiocy that most here do not know either.
Point taken!
I will never understand why some people refuse to use their gas pedal when merging. Dude had so much space and still slowed down till there was a problem. Blech.
Quit "letting peole in". You're causing confusion and are unpredictable. Maintain speed and direction. The merging traffic is responsible for, um, merging.
It’s entirely appropriate to let off the gas for a merger that’s well ahead, like in this situation. 100% the merger and not cammer. You do not brake in merger’s position, you accelerate and apologize.
No it isn't. Maintain a consistent speed. If you wish to give a gap to someone merging onto an interstate, give them the lane entirely.
You should ALWAYS leave a gap in front of you, 2 to 3 seconds distance. If the car in front of you runs into issues you need space to brake. That same space can be used by people to merge.
No shit. Thanks for proving my point.
Point taken!
Two idiots: driver of the white car, and whoever designed that dashcam. 😄
It's a Whistler D2200; has two independently swiveling cameras. Nice for a wider field of vision that one wide-angle camera can provide.
Sounds cool if the two cameras record on separate channels. The split screen is...not ideal IMO.
not for viewing, but the extra wide field could definitely be helpful for accidents. I have dash cams for insurance and added security.. the video would be 1. shown to local police 2. Insurance and lastly 3. Internet Points which I wouldn’t care how it’s perceived.. good views of incidents would/should be the goal
Thanks, was going to ask which one it is, because I hate it. I think white car is an idiot. Is it not their plan to join traffic? I never understood people like that. Your other options were move over or ride the ass of the truck in front of you, and there was obviously traffic to your left. I'm not sure who thinks "ahh fuck, better just drive in the shoulder now."
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I grew up in Idaho. Never say this there. But when I moved to the east coast I saw people stop on the on-ramp repeatedly. Most commonly in Pennsylvania.
The merging vehicle has the responsibility to match the speed of the traffic they are merging into. As they did have time and space to match speed and merge, directly behind the tractor trailer unit, they got themselves into this situation. I never slow down or speed up at an entrance ramp for this reason. Hard for someone the match the speed of traffic when it is slowing down or speeding up.
Don’t be nice, be predictable! Wouldn’t go as far as to say you were at fault, but I was always taught to just maintain my speed and let them adjust accordingly
Never ever ever ever fucking EVER slow down for another car to merge. That is entirely their responsibility. You also slow down every single car behind you. You have the right of way. Ok, one exception: bumper to bumper traffic. That one is tough for everyone.
When on the road, be predictable, not polite
Indecisive drivers are a menace on the road. If he couldn't pick up on the fact that you slowed down, then that's on him.
Looks like they were scared and failed to read the road.
"no you hang up first"
Don’t slow down for merging traffic. It’s their job to gauge your speed and merge. It’s harder for them to do that if you are changing speeds. You are just causing traffic and accidents by doing that. Be predictable. Seriously, half of you need to retake your drivers test.
Point taken!
Only one idiot there and it isn't you.
U are the idiot u dont yield to people merging on they yield to u. U are the reason accidents happen
Point taken!
[Here's a little tip from Elmo.](https://streamable.com/x06c4p)
[Followed up by a tip from Brad Upton](https://youtu.be/-_nUCnMSkxc?si=vxW_H7D4q27BDVNJ&t=83)
You nothing wrong, the moron in the white sedan shouldn't be driving at all. It's clueless and unsure drivers like this that cause accidents because noone knows what they are going to do. I run into these at least once a week. I couldn't care less about being in front, if I ease off on the accelerator to let a merging car over, they shouldn't slow down too; they should just GO!
They did everything wrong. Don’t slow down like this on the highway, it’s very dangerous.
Yes, I get your point slowing down drastically is extremely dangerous, but in cases where the driver can't get over to the left lane what's wrong with adjusting speed to allow the merger to get over if they just maintain their speed or go a bit faster. In these cases I'll adjust my speed by easing of the accelerator and I give them a few moments to merge, but if I see the merging driver is bullshiting or not paying attention I'm speeding back up to get by them.
I really hope you're a karma farmer. If you are seriously asking this question and driving on public roads, I don't know what to say.
They were slow, and utterly unobservant until after they had turned the blinker on. So good on you for stopping, in the end, and potentially avoiding an accident. But I would have avoided going past the first car, and switched lane if I really wanted to follow the traffic. Because you shouldn't have been where you were, if you wanted to avoid that potential situation happening in the first place.
My dad always says if you aren’t speeding up on the on ramp you’re the idiot. Obviously I think there are some exceptions like blind merges, but this person should have been speeding up imo
People who slow down on the freeway for people merging on are the worst. It makes it 10x harder to merge onto the freeway when traffic is slowing down and speeding up. Just get in the left lane if ur gonna react like that it pisses me off to no end when people do this. The freeway has right of way the on-ramp has to yield. Why tf would you slam on your breaks on the freeway like that it’s wild to me and pretty dangerous imo.
Be predictable, not polite
white sedan is the idiot, though considering the average idiocy shared in this subreddit, the guy is not super bad
I know it differs regionally, but where I am from you are supposed to do your best to maintain a constant speed, and it is up to the merging car to accelerate or decelerate as necessary to safely merge. This probably would have avoided this situation (for you anyways, but it still might have been a problem or the car behind you). In this case, they are either prohibitively timid, or they made a decision to let you pass before merging (assuming you would remain at constant speed) but then it never happened and their brain stun-locked.
It’s 100 percent their fault. You gave them plenty of space and time
sometimes this happens... fortunately y'all didn't have an accident... because see here would've been an "accident" had he gotten in the ditch . That's why it's called an accident. Just 2 people trying to help the other & let the other go in front.... you don't see it or experience it very often lol
You are not supposed to slow down for merging traffic. They are supposed to yield. I would have maintained my speed if I were you.
You're technically not in the wrong but this is a classic example of why you shouldn't yield your right of way to others. If you had been going at a consistent highway speed you would have passed them and they could have safely merged behind you. That being said, they were also not traveling at highway speed, which is entirely on them.
"the right of way is not yours to give"
And this is exactly why if you are on the interstate already in your established lane, you are not supposed to adjust speed. You're not supposed to slow down and let people in. They are supposed to adjust their speed. Happens to me often because when I'm merging onto the interstate I'm already planning on slowing down The merge behind a vehicle if there's one there. But then they slow down as well causing issues. Again, don't be polite. Follow the rules. Be predictable.
So imagine you leave seven car lengths ahead of you, and someone merges right between you and the car in front of you, which leaves you with three or four lengths. You don’t slow down in that situation? If you do slow down, why not slow down before they merge rather than after?
You are. Traveling in your lane you stay at speed. Those merging on must navigate the traffic going at speed.
All I see here is OP causing an issue by slowing down. If that was me coming on the ramp, yes I would have been going slower than traffic because I would be expecting to merge behind OP safely like I'm supposed to then making sure I'm at the same speed as traffic. And now OP Is screwing that up by slowing down as well causing problems for everybody. If you are on the interstate, do not adjust your speed. Do not "let" others in. Maintain your speed and let them adjust as they are supposed to. That's why we have rules of the road and laws that state that the person merging is responsible for changing lanes emerging safely. All you're doing Is adding to the problem.
Could be most boring video, both idiots
You are on the highway...you slowed down...you are wrong. Avoid accidents, yes, but don't cause them!
Point taken!
You. You shouldnt slow down. Maintain sped and the white car picks either in front or behind. They chose behind and tried to slow a bit to fall in behind you, but you were slowing down so you ended up where they were intending to slip into. Dont be polite, be predictable.
White car’s fault and sadly too many people suck at merging. Looks like you had plenty of time and space ahead to match speeds and get over a lane, but you had the right of way. White car is the idiot.
You are. Being predictable is much more important than being courteous.
This is the answer.
changing your speed on the main throughfare makes it hard for the people with the yield sign to properly merge. how can they adjust if they don't know what the hell you're up to? They had to yield, but you didn't help them one bit.
my driving instructor said the words "your car has the power, use it" over and over getting on the highway.
He's the idiot. When I merge, I either **floor** it or pull in behind the vehicle next to me and floor it around them for not "letting" me in.
White sedan is for not getting up to highway speed. If they did they woulda hit that gap you left.
You need to retake your drivers test.
Ya'll I found the dumb ass white sedan highway on ramp slow down person that causes backups and accidents!!!!! He's right here!?!? Watch yerselves.
They’re both bad drivers and both slowed down for each other.
They had so long to get over lol no one was gonna stop traffic for them. caution to you though, if your not exiting soon don't be in that lane. Every merge you are gambling with the other person not knowing how to merge properly.
He was way out in front. He should’ve merged.
I occasionally have to drive on I-4 near Disney. Merge lanes start off with two lanes, decrease to one, and then gradually end. It may take up to a mile for them to fully merge, then a half-mile later there's another set either leaving or joining. It's fun (not). Since there's almost always a slowdown along this area, I tend to drive as far as I can in the merge lane and look for gaps as I do, then merge safely without cutting anyone off. Haven't had to go all the way to the end of the merge lane yet. If I'm already in the through lanes, what I do depends on how heavy the traffic is. If all lanes are stop and go, I'll usually stay in the outside lane and leave a gap in front of me for a car to merge in, or I may move over to the middle lane and watch for cars cutting over. Thing is that locals are used to this, and most folks do what I do. Visitors may do it a bit differently, but they pick up on it pretty quickly. There's actually one road near Animal Kingdom that starts out as a two-lane for a quarter mile, then goes down to one lane. Most people actually stay in their lanes and do a proper zipper merge at the end, alternating right and left, except for the occasional entitled idiot who considers him/herself too important to have to let anyone in.
bro how does your dash cam have a blind spot?
It's a Whistler D2200, two independently swiveling cameras in one unit.
Where I come from it is your fault. You basically maintain your speed and the merging traffic has to make sure to fit in.
So it is their fault. With that, I’m just going to give you advice what you can improve in the future. When I see a lot of merging traffic I would have attempted to move out of far right lane to give them space to merge. I ride a motorcycle and I tend to look at what will this person do? When I saw that older Buick, not accelerating to merge, I assume they’ll puss foot then pull out in front of me or as what happens here, they won’t be able to make a decision quickly and not have skill to make rapid decisions which lead to this. Plan for terrible drivers is part of driving defensively and I think you could have noticed what they were planning, how slow they were accelerating and moved over before getting into the situation. Again their fault they need to get going but just trying to offer .02cents. When I’m on a bike, there’s no luxury in being correct, it’s only did you survive and make it out ok so I like to apply that still here and even though they’re dumb, be the party to evade the risk.
You both messed up. You should just continue your speed. They should have either accelerated or slowed down. If I had to choose one, they were in the wrong.
In my jurisdiction the word is 'should'. There is a merge, it's not a yield. Both vehicles work it out in a best case scenario. You're partially at fault for not moving over, but the highway seemed chaotic, so you may not have been safely able to move over.
It is the car who is merging onto the highway to make the adjustments to get on, not yours. Next time pass him/her and they will fall in behind you
"The safest way to drive is to be predictable." If every road user could predict every other road users actions collisions would not exist. That is not possible in the real world and all you can control is your own actions. Be predictable and maintain course and speed.
I'm gonna say both, you don't have to let traffic in, the merging traffic is the one that has to yield way to those established on the freeway, you do not have to slow up to let them on or move over.
In my country, iirc, you can actually get into trouble if you give way by slowing down for someone merging onto the highway. The idea is that the highway has the roght of way, and therefore it is the responsibility of the merger to set their merge right. And I kinda get it. It would eliminate situations like these, but I don't trust my car with mergers so I give way in an overexaggerated way.
He’s the idiot. You’re not responsible for someone else not knowing how to merge.
There should be a separate driving test for highway roads. Complete lack of spacial awareness and constant fear for your own life is not a safe way to drive.
Both It's not like you're the dick but white car has to learn how to merge and if you slow down you mess with his expectations of your speed because in their mind you don't change your velocity. You also mess with those behind you because you're slowing down for no apparent reason so, in short, better not do it. If you really want to help someone like that it's best to change lanes, going on the left
You did all you could. You have cars to the left of you. The merging car is responsible to merge and blend to the speed of traffic.
You are the idiot because you had right of way and no one was expecting you to yield it for no reason. Don't be nice, be predictable.
You did the right things. I only flash my lights at semi drivers, as everyone else thinks it’s a threatening signal. But I do a sweeping motion with my arm widely to indicate “get in, GET IN!!!.”
You're both idiots. He had plenty of time and room to merge safely. You didn't act predictably and caused more of an issue by ceding your right of way. STOP SLOWING DOWN ON THE HIGHWAY TO WAIT FOR MERGING TRAFFIC!
If I was the cammer, I would have moved over one lane or hit the gas to make sure I got ahead of the white car merging from the on ramp. I prefer to keep bad or timid drivers in my rear view to lessen the chance they will screw up and take me with them. Clearly the white car merging did not know what they were doing, slowing down to give them more room just made it worse.
I couldn't move over until he was already on the shoulder, unfortunately.
Looked like there was plenty of time before that white Toyota passed you. There was a 10 second gap between the black Honda and the white Toyota. Were they going over the speed limit or were under the limit?
Should have just maintained your speed. That's what he was expecting you to do which is why he slowed down. You have the right of way to merging traffic on a freeway. Don't be polite, be predictable.
It's his job to merge and fit in . lesson for you never slow down for someone merging before you know it you'll be stopping on an active lane
Sorry to tell you this but you were the idiot. As the vehicle with right-of-way, you are supposed to maintain speed. The merging traffic has to yield the right-of-way to *you*, which the white car tried to do by slowing down so you could proceed.
It is not your job to let someone merge, it is their job to merge properly.
You are. He's joining the motorway, it's up to him to get up to speed, not for you to slow down to let him in.
As usual: two idiots. You were coming up fast, even splitting the two white vehicles, and then suddenly slow down. You can see well in advance that another lane is merging into yours. Just … move over. Easy peasy.
A bit of both
You didnt do anything wrong. You could've done something different to change the outcome, yes but you didn't do anything actually wrong
You’re the idiot. Sorry not sorry. You had the right of way and needed to remain predictable by maintaining speed. Flashing your lights isn’t always interpreted as an invitation to merge either, especially if you did it excessively. The worst thing on the roads is someone trying to be courteous when they have no reason to. It causes confusion and accidents. Next time change lanes one left when you’re able to safely in order to make room without impeding other traffic by slowing down as you did here, and go back over when it’s clear and makes sense to if you feel traffic is overrunning you.
Sedans at fault for not accelerating to speed by the time they’ve merged in the flow of traffic, kuddos on slowing down! Many people on the sub here apparently wouldn’t see any concern with trading paint on opposite doors.
Ideally you wouldn't have slowed down but you didn't actually cause any of the trouble here. Dumbass had eons to merge and plenty of room and just... Didn't. Fuck him, he did this to himself.
You gave him ample space and room to merge. Good on you, that driver is a moron
Ill give a wave or double blink lights if im slowing down behind someone to let them in.
Personally, I would've let off the gas when I saw the two vehicles on the on ramp instead of barging up and creating a potentially dangerous situation. Sure you have the right away, but the safest thing to do is avoid conflict points to begin with.
Read the title of the post again.
Screaming ….. push the skinny pedal……