Yes, but I can believe people not seeing it being applied. A lot of people don't like it for whatever reason. Only ignoring it seems to create (or worsen) the problem in the first place
At least on motorways, this is because more often than not you will be going too fast to do this safely by the time you run out of lane. Most drivers will be conditioned by that experience to expect it unless they can see evidence to the contrary. This is also why the signs indicating lane closures will usually be half a mile or more before the actual closure. When the traffic is slow moving to start with people do tend to merge in turn.