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Comment by myko | Hacker News Reader

it really depends on where they are in relation to me and if people are following them closely

when they see my signal they are behind me so making it much more difficult to merge cleanly - i can either hop over as soon as i signal (not safe) or brake so i can merge behind them, where if they hadn't sped up i'd just move over naturally in the flow of traffic

it really feels to me like your comments are meant to needle my complaint re: folks not understanding the zipper merge, am i misreading you? do you think the zipper merge should not be used?

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"brake so i can merge behind them"

This is how you're supposed to merge. When you get on the freeway you don't expect the current flow of traffic to accommodate for you, instead you accommodate for them.

"it really feels to me like your comments are meant to needle my complaint re: folks not understanding the zipper merge, am i misreading you? do you think the zipper merge should not be used?"

I am not sure you're understanding how it's supposed to work... People in the flowing lane aren't meant to stop or slow down to let you over.

The zipper action is meant when it's backed up. The zipper lane isn't designed for you to disrupt the current flow of traffic.

Edit: here's a video, maybe it will help you understand better

https://youtu.be/I2Rd8z_VHpE?si=C4nmWqQpL7aaydQI

If someone speeds up when they see a car in another lane signalling that they are going to merge, in order to prevent that car from safely merging, when the merge would have been safe to perform had they not sped up to prevent it, they are definitely driving incorrectly.

If a car does that then it's not safe to merge until after they've gotten ahead of you.

Exactly, which is what I said in my earlier comment that you seem to have misunderstood.

You are misunderstanding. Please re-read what I've written so far. At no point did I suggest what you are saying.

> This is how you're supposed to merge. When you get on the freeway you don't expect the current flow of traffic to accommodate for you, instead you accommodate for them.

Specifically, you should read the rest of the line you are replying to here.

I mentioned people behind me speeding up to make it impossible for me to merge without braking, after I signal. At no point did I say they should "stop" or "slow down".

I was pointing out that people deliberately speeding up to make it harder to merge without braking are causing problems. It was a light-hearted comment about the failure of many drivers in my town to properly zipper merge.

Here is a video demonstration of zipper merge to help you better understand appropriate driving behavior: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX0I8OdK7Tk

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