Think you hit the nail on the head. I've been driving for 25 years, never had any points on me licence, but I still make mistakes, hence why I love Ashley's channel
But... but... but if you allow other motorists to get in front of you they'll be two or even three metres ahead of you! Thus causing you to literally lose years off your life and when you get home, the wife will look older, she won't recognise you any more because you'll have gone grey and the kids will have left home already and your dinner will be cold! #truefacts
A couple of decades ago on roadworks in germany\holland they had roadsigns depicting a zip where each tooth was clearly a car. It seemed very effective. I suppose they could have had signs saying "no overtaking" "leave spaces and merge alternately" but 'zip' said it all so neatly.
I'm sure I have occasionally seen signs in the UK that say "Like a Zip" together with a graphic illustration. Shame it's not more widely used. One for the appropriate authority to consider to provide wider education.
I've heard of the zipper merge too and it works great if everyone cooperate. It also means that all available lanes are fully utilised at all times. When there are roadworks many people get angry when there are signs from two miles back announcing that the lane will close and yet some people drive on that lane until right at the very place where it closes and then try to zipper-merge onto the next lane. Those that get angry don't get one thing: if everybody immediately moved off the lane that will close two miles back as soon as they see the sign it would cause unnecessary congestion on the other lane/s and one lane would be unused. However, what I don't like is when people leave it too late to stop using a late that's closing on the motorway because that puts everyone at risk. I've seen cops having to force drivers off the closed lane because some drivers never leave the lane until they crash onto the broken down vehicle on that lane. That's how people get killed when they have broken down on the motorway.
The way I see it is if the car is behind you. You have priority but if the car is In front of you they have priority, it's a simple rule that saves many problems with merge and turn but it doesn't always work like that. Ashley you highlighted pretty much every problem well done 👏 I learned something today
Been driving for 37 years. Watched this video with my son who is learning. We both learned something. Where there is a clear merge from one lane into another (with arrows), traffic very often backs up in the live lane and people who know the route move into that lane early. They then usually assume priority (and often beligerance) towards drivers who correctly use the closing lane up to the point it closes and then try to merge. This is where problems are most likely to happen IMO. Many thanks
It is not correct : moving from the closing lane when traffic is still moving freely is the most efficient method ; the idiots who try to push in at the last moment cause compression waves of braking in the open lane and are the ones who need to be educated . if everyone moved over as soon as the closure was signed ahead , there would be no problem , nor reduction of speed .
@@derekheeps1244 Sorry You are so wrong - is it a wind up. Always a slowing up of cars - to have no braking and backing up of cars on the approach to the merge point, the cars would need to merge flawlessly PLUS instantly DOUBLE their speed for the full length of restriction (OR drive along with their clearance to next car halved) - simple hydraulics, as neither of the last 2 happen so there is always a tail back . A compromise would be to increase your speed say by 50% and decrease you clearance to car in front by maybe 50% (needs calculations) but this combination is counter instinctive and nuts lol. Am surprised Ashley never pulled you up on this. Soup dragon is right about tail backs and possibly blocked roundabouts which is a bad additional outcome.
@@derekheeps1244 The only way to guarantee any sort of smooth merge is to merge at the point that the lane closes - otherwise it is ALWAYS going to be a free for all with vastly different speeds in the two lanes, which causes frustration and is dangerous. The most efficient method is merging evenly, ie 1 from one lane, one from the other, and the only way for this to realistically be achieved is to do this at the point where the road goes to one lane
It's funny, up here at the queensferry crossing bridge, coming from the south, the merging occurs near the bridge, at the last junction, prior to that, you can have upto 5 miles of tailbacks of the middle lane, eventually the left lane breaks off into an overpass. The right lane merges into the middle. It's actually faster to go down the left lane, break off the motorway, go over the roundabout at the overpass, and then back down to merge into the middle lane.. than it is to drive "in" the middle or right hand merging lane. This can save you literally hours of waiting or moving at 0-10mph.. yet the vast majority of drivers.. rush for the right lane to get a sort of queue hop on the middle lane. Or they sit in the middle lane.. both middle and right traffic can be loosing 2-3 hours in the queue. Every day.
@@MegaRugster my friend told me this, and I didn't believe it until I tried it one day, it makes no sense yet is the quickest option! Meanwhile all those in the middle lane thinking they're saving themselves time are doing exactly the opposite.... Madness....
This is a hard one, sometimes it's preferable to have the idiots in front but other times for them to be behind you. If they ram you, it's their fault by default. If in front.. they can force you to ram them.. and that's never a good situation, trying to prove it's their fault is difficult. My wife slammed into a guy who simply stopped in the right side of the lane, then indicated to turn into his driveway, as he'd done countless times before. Only this time, due to his late indication and sudden stop, my wife was unable to stop. Both of them ended up in hospital and both cars were wrecked. After court action the insurance companies paid for both cars. imo his should have paid for ours, but given how premiums work it doesn't really matter anymore. If he'd paid attention, slowed down and indicated, it might never have happened. For my part, I was standing at the side of the road waiting to be picked up. I attended to the idiot first.. then to my wife, which has for the last decade been an ongoing issue of contention. :D
@@MrEricharper Not really, it's quite easy, depends on how stupid the rammer is. Esp if they tailgate, something I'm continually warning my wife not to do, she drives so close to the car in front you can see the hair on the back of the drivers head.
A lot of drivers get this wrong and often push their way through, if people just looked out for each other and merged in turn, it would make it a lot easier for everyone.
John Bower Yes, but people in cars aren’t people any more to some drivers. They wouldn’t do it on foot. Maybe we will get to pavement rage, or given the aging population, mobility scooter rage, but once its face to face, folks tend to be more polite.
@John Bower it's people like that who mainly drive like knobs. It probably doesn't click in their heads that they aren't getting to their destination quicker
At 65, driving for over 40 years, I have learnt something new. I do show consideration at these merges but now I am aware it should make me a better driver. Thank you, Ashley.
It's hard when most people know the incorrect thing. If you try to do the correct thing (stay in inner lane until both lanes merge into one), people for some reason see this as 'unfair' or 'cheating' or 'queue skipping' and when you get to the merge the other cars just close all the gaps thinking that they are teaching you a lesson when in fact they're the ones in the wrong.
Yes but other cars are not polite and drive slowly in front of you. They can see there is no place for them but they still accelerate and pass you over. As they are in front of you they assume they are in the right of way even thin their lane is ending and they push into your car. Thats a wanker move to do. Just stay behind, I can merge but do not accelerate and push in me. This is a road rage.
@@projectxgaming there's no need to indicate at a merge, as stated by all sources in this video there is no priority, completely different to a lane change where both lanes are continuing andyou indicate because you are "changing lanes", in a merge there is no change, both lanes just merge and no indicating is needed
Only on this video to understand if what I knew was correct from an encounter earlier. Turns out it was. We have a congested bridge in town that was expanded into more lanes with one direction having a parallel two lane with a zipper merge at the end. The left lane is always jammed with very few people using the outside merge in turn lane. Today I coasted up the right lane overtaking the lane of congested traffic and looked for the most suitable gap and slowed down crawling forward waiting for my chance go merge into the gap. As I did this the large SUV beside me (I was in a small Yaris) sped up and closed the gap. As I signalled my intentions and the gap grew a bit but also noticing there was no gaps behind the SUV either he sped up again causing me to become dangerously stranded briefly straddling two opposing directional lanes before I could get safely back into the right. 100m up the road it splits in a Y; traffic lights on the right (where I came to a stop) and unimpeded through road up another direction on the other fork. The SUV flew past me window down F'ing and blinding. All I could do is shake my head and think wtf is wrong with people on the road. We were a hair's breadth from being in a horrible multicar collision.
This is my number 1 pet peeve. Every time I try and merge in turn at the point of lane closure I am met with people closing the gap or beeping / shouting at me. Sometimes even still, you get people who are in the live lane pulling out half into yours to block you, as if they believe you are queue jumping.
Uneducated philistines. The difference between queue jumping and merging in turn isn’t as fuzzy as people think it is. Last year I had to sit a driver awareness course - on Zoom of course because of Covid-19 - and the reason for that was I was queue jumping in order to get to the right hand lane to do a right turn when the left hand lane was gridlocked with drivers turning left. The trouble was that I went past a pedestrian crossing island on the wrong side. Had I not gone the wrong side of the island to do my right turn, there’d have been no problem. When you merge in turn, at no point do you venture onto the wrong side of the road unless instructed otherwise by a contraflow system. It sounds to me like you’re doing the right thing there, mate. Btw, loving the GTA videos. Keep up the good work!!
@@derekheeps1244 Derek he's not. You are supposed to use all available road space up to the merge point. If traffic in the left lane is stationary and the right hand lane is clear for half a mile to the merge point then everyone in the right lane should drive up the empty lane to the merge point. They are the rules and that prevents miles of gridlock in a single lane behind and increases overall traffic flow. So stop being a muppet.
Thank you. I found this very useful. I travel on 2 stretches of road where there are 2 into 1 mergers and have quite often found myself being squeeze or even nearly side swiped because the driver in the left hand lane thinks that it is their priority. I am simply just trying to merge in safely, but they just don’t like it. It’s not like I’m gaining anything that is going to massively impact on their journey.
It is like a zip each should take their turn in slotting in. Basically it's down to courtesy and good safe driving skills. I'm positive that it is totally legal to use both lanes and although some drivers feel its inappropriate to move ahead of the inside lane if it is moving slower It is the correct thing to do and keeps traffic flowing.
In New Zealand they have signs that say "Merge like a zip". Great place to drive if you get the chance. You should let people go when turning across you too.
"Merge like a zip" still creates confusion, because some people think it means that the lanes are supposed to take turns, i.e., don't let two cars in a row get in from the other lane, even if they're both in front of you, because it's your lane's "turn".
5:06 - Every time I come across this scenario there's always people who prefer to block the outside lane further back (few hundred yards or so before the markings and signs appear) so it spoils it for everyone else too. All because of their lack of knowledge of "merge in turn". Total shame that a good sum of 'drivers' think that the merging lane is a "queue jumping lane", and for anyone who agrees with that last sentence needs to certainly re-evaluate their driving skills. And possibly licence, too. I always use the outside lane to even do everyone else a favour by saving a car length of traffic in the inside lane but undoubtedly 7 out of 10 people always contest this when on the road. I remember another dashcam poster on UA-cam (deleted now unsurprisingly) was all for merge in turn in the comments section, but uploaded a video of themselves blocking someone from merging properly as to the rule of thumb. This explains it perfectly, and I hope those who don't know or believe merge in turn is another word for "queue jumping" has changed their minds.
I've just commented the same thing but with far less eloquence. Deliberately blocking traffic is surely an offence. I wonder if a Police dashcam submission service like Operation Snap would accept video of a road-blocking merge in turn vigilante as evidence leading to a ticket.
It's simple in Poland as well, if your lane ends, you have to give way. It's beyond me how such an important issue could not be regulated here in UK. I know we all should have common sense and courtesy towards others but what happens when there is a collision? Who would be blamed?
I live in the UK and my Instructor teaches all his students the Zip technique. 1 car after the over. In fact most people I know understand this but yet you still get Plebs who want to get 1 car ahead and fucking up the system. Creates so much traffic and chaos because one prick cant be patient
"Merge in turn" is the terminology used in the UK. Essentially *zipper merge*. Though you could be like a mate of mine who thought that meant "there is gonna be a merge on a corner coming up". 🤦♂️
Came here because of an incident a couple of days ago. Thee lanes become two (the right and middle merge). I'm in outside lane because middle lane is full and if I joined that I'd been backed up to the cross hatched junction. There's maybe there or four cars in this middle lane queue. I'm now near the front of this group and as the merge approaches I assess that the biggest gap is in front of car next to me. I accelerate (still under speed limit) and position myself next to the gap. The neighbouring car does not like this. He would barely have to slow down to allow me to merge but instead maintains his exact distance from car in front, accelerating at the same pace as me. Now, I'm happy to accept his lane has priority and even if he didn't I'm not the kind of person to care if I'm in front of behind someone. I literally just wanted to find the safest place to merge. But this guy is now almost a car length behind me but refuses to yield and stays next to me as the lane narrows. In the end I was scared he was going to take the back off my car and gave him a honk to make him aware I was there as much as anything. He yielded but slowed down to yell at me twice as we made our way down the following road, which was upsetting because my family were in the car. If this guy had tried to overtake me I would have braked and let him pass, but he stayed next to and slightly behind me which gave me even less choices. He obviously thought I was trying to get in front of him but I was literally just trying to merge at the safest point.
Top Vid, Ashley. As a truck driver I encounter car driver insisting that they must go first and even when I am in the right hand lane they just wont give up their 6ft of space. Really good to know there is no specific rule about this its just down to good manners. Love your channel. very informative without a preachy attitude that some have.
This is all very well, but don't assume, sometimes there is a genuine reason that you have not seen. A cyclist, pedestrian, an object fallen off a car. Never get righteous.
as a truck driver when on moterway contraflow situatios where the sign was 1 or 2 miles saying a lane was closed instead of merging into the two running lanes in plenty of time car driver carried on to the merge point and caused congestion those days we had c b radios and got three trucks abbrest to stop the idiots and the traffic stared to flow i never new of a truck driver who got in trouble with police for doing that
When I went to driving school, nearly a decade ago, my instructor continually pushed an idea on me: "Take care of the car in front of you". It's a simple statement, but quite powerful and helps a lot. Obviously, in certain situations this isn't completely possible or you have multiple cars that influence your own driving. People make mistakes, if everyone would be a bit more careful and courteous, roads would be much safer. Alas, people are too self-absorbed to care about other participants in traffic.
My driving instructor told me to assume every other driver is a complete and total moron and to make allowances and to expect and shrug off stupidity. Your driving instructor sounds nicer :-)
Regarding people assuming priority: I was always advised that the highway code never explicitly instructs anyone that they have priority, and instead only instructs when to give priority to someone else. Also, it is never safe to assume that anyone else will give priority as instructed for a wide variety of reasons. The objective is to ensure we act safely no matter what others do, and assuming too much or attempting to enforce our feeling of priority can be unsafe acts in themselves.
Spot on. www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/general-rules-techniques-and-advice-for-all-drivers-and-riders-103-to-158 contains the statement in question: "The rules in *The Highway Code* do not give you the right of way in any circumstance, but they advise you when you should give way to others. Always give way if it can help to avoid an incident." People who try to take priority and, worse still, enforce priority when it is not given as it ought to be, often lead to incidents. It is always best to remember we are human, humans make mistakes and, as Ashley says, many drivers misunderstand this scenario.
I believe that part of the problem relates to the highway markings in that invariably one lane remains live and the other finishes, requiring vehicles in that lane to move into the 'live' lane. This gives the impression of the live lane having priority. This is confirmed by the response from the police. If both lanes merged to a 'new' lane in the centre (which can then deviate to the appropriate side), together with alternate arrows on each lane advising of the need to merge in turn, any impression of priority or 'pushing in' would be removed.
Whether it’s to the left or right of me I’ve always thought priority was to the car that’s slightly ahead. I can honestly say watching your vids and putting what I see into practise makes driving a lot more of a chilled out experience I used to be a very selfish driver Tail gating, over taking in silly places , closing gaps on people all it does is make you drive on the edge and be tense all the time. I had to really ask myself why? What difference will it make? If you asked me now why I drove like that I’m not sure I could answer it either! Keep doing the driving lords work brother👍
I misunderstood this for many years. I was one of those people getting annoyed at people travelling past the queuing traffic thinking they were queue skipping. But I mentioned the scenario to a German friend of mine who said in Germany its just common practise for all lanes to be used and filled up and then the cars merge in turn in a zip like fashion and its a faster process. This made a lot of sense to me and I've since changed my mind and accepted it is better for all to do it in this way. However a lot of people don't understand this, especially on motorways when 2 lanes are closed for example, there will be a huge queue for miles in 1 lane and the other lanes are empty, where as it makes much more sense to queue in the 2 lanes all the way up to the merging point and then merge in turn.
Your videos are fantastic! I’m so glad that there’s someone like you educating people on these issues, especially given how well you explain them like in this video. It’s actually quite frightening the number of drivers out there that do assume priority, thereby demonstrating a dangerous lack of common sense. Maybe we can’t influence them on the road but at least you can help by spreading awareness and promoting more sensible driving. Keep doing what you do sir.
Thanks for this. I honestly thought that the traffic in the right lane with arrow pointing left meant that traffic in the left lane had priority. Not enough is taught to educate this, until I found your video.
Thanks for the explanation Ashley,I've wondered about this for a long time. My observation of merging in turn is that many people just want to get ahead and aren't particularly interested in the rights and wrongs. Courtesy seems to be on the decline. I wonder how many bumps and scrapes occur at these merging lanes through sheer stubbornness on both sides. People like to get ahead even if they put their vehicle at risk. I've witnessed many road rage incidents in these circumstances. I've learned to hold back and let them in if it's going to become dangerous;It doesn't make any difference to my time of arrival. I think its down to the 'I won' mentality.
What I learned in the 6 years of driving is that if you proceed as mr. Ashley just said, you will be making your life and the other drivers' lives a lot easier. One thing I would also like to add, always look out for the ones that are in front of you, that are looking to join the main stream of cars, make sure there is plenty of space, which usually can be accomplished simply by not accelerating as much as the ones wishing to join.
One of my favorite channels and one where I've learned a lot! Though the laws are slightly different in Croatia, I have picked up a few things that have made me a better driver. I've only been on the road alone for about a year and 5 months but I do feel I get better by the day!
People just cant stand the thought of another driver getting ahead of them. This isn't just with merging lanes, I see tons of drivers in ques blocking entrances to side streets and refusing to let people out even when they have nowhere to go. People ending up in the middle of intersections and roundabouts because they dont wait for their exits to clear. When it comes to driving most people seem like they cant bare to lose a few seconds of their time. Its really not hard to let people merge in turn, the whole reason there are multiple lanes is for people to use them to aid congestion.
Exceptions to this are when people pull out forcing you to brake and then proceed to go below the legal limit which you were driving before they pulled out. This is why I do my best to never let people out as in most cases based on my experience they end up doing 50mph for example on a straight stretch of a 60mph road or 20 in a 30.
Regardless of the view of the organisations featured, what matters is what is written in the Road Traffic Act and the Highway Code. This is where the clarity needs to be made. Most road users don't even know what these cover yet alone the opinions (as good as they are), from the other organisations.
in South Australia we have 2 different merges there is the lane merger where the vehicle in front has priority (not a car racing up beside you at last minute) However when the lane ends (such as entering a motorway) the lane that is ending must give way to the vehicles in the lane it is merging into so that they don't cause a collision or a safety risk. It's so simple it makes sense but.... you're asking drivers to work together and that's basically asking adults to share resources, a mixed bag of results at best I confirmed this with a traffic enforcement officer that lives and breathes this stuff and he confirmed that "when lanes merge it is best to yield to the dangerous individual and let them pass, there is no point in putting each other's safety at risk, however the car that is in front has priority but when a lane ends whether you are in front or not does not matter you must give way if you are entering the other lane"
Love that last bit you said. If only everyone worked together then traffic would flow so much better. But it's a shame that there's too many people that find it difficult to "share" the road as that's effectively what this is - sharing the road.
My home state (Victoria) has plenty of roads where one marked lane is wide enough for two streams of traffic to run side by side for whole lengths of road. I find that drivers are a lot more cautious and become considerate of other people when compared to having two marked lanes.
I've been driving for over two years. I am a confident driver who does many hours of city and motor driving. These videos are still great to watch and I feel like your teach me some great advance driving skills. Thanks Ashley.
Excellent video. As a driving instructor in the Winchester and Southampton areas, I get my pupils to watch your videos. It never ceases to amaze me how many motorists seem unable to show a bit of courtesy.
A van did this to me 18 months ago. Unfortunately I didn't have a dash cam. As soon as I saw that he was trying to overtake me when I was clearly in the front space (had done the zip method for the merging lanes), I braked but it was too late. He hit my car, admitted no fault (although the way he handled the accident it was so obvious these types of accidents happen to him all the time) and I ended up not claiming as it wasn't worth it. But I was 7.5 months pregnant at the time. It could have had much more dire circumstances. All this so he could be one car ahead. Crazy!
The last time I saw this was when the car behind me closed the space because he didn't want the guy next to him to merge in infront of him. The traffic was stop start, so I just stopped and let the guy go in front of me instead.
Thank you for this video. For years this question has bugged me, about whether I had priority, the other driver had priority, especially during road works on a motor way. I will now use all of the road when approaching road works, to help the flow of traffic.
I make it a rule to view a vid from you every day. Even though I had a licence since 1973, there is always something I learn or am reminded of. Many thanks for your generosity of giving your time.
The situation works best when each car lets one car in front of it, taking it in turns to move forward. Sometimes you actually do see this, sometimes you see two cars fighting with each other blocking the entire road.
Ashley, thanks so much for these videos- this one especially - I try to be a conscientious and safe driver but can’t afford driver training. So many times I’ve been cut up by inappropriate behaviour from other drivers. This really has been a useful sanity check and a safe place to reaffirm whether my driving behaviour is appropriate.
An excellent video, even though I passed my test in October I still watch your content as there is always room for improvement especially on the roads I have learned something with this and many other videos you have made🙂 You are really good at your job 👍🏼
The best example of merging in turn I've experienced was whilst on holiday in Jersey some years ago. There was no pipping of horns or angry gesticulations, everyone was just getting on with the business of driving being polite and getting on their way... Brilliant.
This is great. never had too many nightmare scenarios but have gotten annoyed in the past being in the left lane of a dual carriageway agt what I thought were people wrongly "barging in" and overtaking when the lanes merged. It does still happen quite dangerously but this video has helped me to learn that I should only be be annoyed when the people doing are unnecessarily closing the space down Thanks
This is a good follow up video to your previous ones on the individual incidents. I don't think the problem will ever be solved so my solution is to avoid Rice Lane/Longmoor Lane as much as possible, might be a good tip for life in general.
I was driving along a dual carriageway which had road work's so right hand lane coned off to merge into left lane, left hand lane had a long queue so I proceeded down right hand lane with half a mile or so until the merge when a driver pulled out blocking my lane then continued to block me at the same slow speed as the left queuing lane all the way until the merge in, the queue was double the length it should have been because the right hand lane was empty, I didn't consider it queue jumping and had every right to continue up to the merge point.
Thanks Ash, I always thought I was a considerate Road user but these are helping me to be mindful of others and catch myself on in these situations. I’m just as lousy as the next person a lot of the time.
Well presented, and I agree with your recommendation. While this one is about 2 into 1 lane merges in urban areas, they also exist, in effect, on many motorways where 2 lane slip roads lead onto a 2 lane carriageway, which then becomes 3 lane, so that the left lane becomes lane 1, and the old lane 1 merges with the right hand slip road to become lane 2. The merge often takes place at almost 60 - 70 mph, and unless it’s heavy traffic, it’s not safe to stop in the middle! Often wise to slow down a bit, or accelerate a bit more, to widen the gap into which something can slot into. Typical places: M4/M5 Almondsbury junctions ( 51°33'05.1"N 2°33’08.7"W - lots of them) etc.
Love how you appear to leave a decent gap when you pull up at the lights . This was how I was taught many years back and still works fine for me. Only today a car broke down at the traffic lights and I was the only one in the queue able to take immediate action and make progress as all the others had done the usual parking on each others bumpers and unable to take evasive action. I was also taught let the bad drivers pass as you'll catch up with them later after they've crashed , as long as you're on the gas you're making progress after all 👍
I really appreciate your videos. I've not been driving long, but I do feel like I've improved in part due to putting your advice into practise. Thank you for that.
Reading through the comments there is an abundance of references to 'courtesy'. As a company driver I was sent, a few years ago, on a 'Driving for Work' course, which tried to instruct my workmates and myself NOT to be courteous at all when driving. I've been happy to ignore the advice that was given then. Also thanks to you, Ashley for the good advice.
Thank you for attempting to clear that one up for me. We have to accept that there will always be those who’ll always believe they have “priority” The rest of us - the vast majority of great drivers, just need to keep looking sharp.
Hi Ashley. Good video. As with most driving, there are an increasing number of drivers who feel they have a sense of entitlement when in a car on the road. Some call it queue jumping. Fact is we all get caught in traffic now and then and how some people behave serves to show they do not want another driver in front. I call it T.B.I.F syndrome - to be in front syndrome. Often those drivers are going in the same direction or just want to be ahead so they can then block the road to make a turn or just have you behind them as in their head they have gained something. Very sad.
I spent just one year with a driving job, across England and Wales. I found that in North Yorks and Norfolk you found the most courteous drivers while Devon and Manchester the most aggresive. London was somewhere in the middle.
The most polite driver I have come accross were in Newcastle. Coming off the motorway two lanes merge into 1, joining another 2 lanes also merging into one (from cars on other side of the motorway). Once merged and now in outside lane (the other exit went to inside lane) I needed to cross to LH lane for my turn within about 25 yards. Conjested like hell yet everyone merged in turn and gave way. It worked every rush hour. I lived in Scotland and worked in Newcastle and the Geordies were the most considerate.
Well done for highlighting this misconception; I've been driving for 40 years and I've always applied the rule that if you know the road, ie if you know one of these situations is coming up, get into the "correct" lane as soon as possible, that is, well before any signs or arrows tell you to. Having said that I would never come from behind like the red van and physically block someone in the other lane from merging; that was just crazy. There is a situation like this in Newcastle on the motorway where the inner lane runs out with very little warning. Unfortunately it is right adjecent to a slip road, so you get drivers bombing up the inside behind you and you never know if they're about to take the exit or try to undertake.
Been watching these for a few weeks now. I’ve been driving for 10 years but have only been driving regularly for 4 years. These are really useful videos and have actively helped improve my driving because while I try to do the right thing I do make mistakes now and again (which I get away with by the perceptive driving of others). Thanks again Ashley.
Perfect example of this on the A64 yesterday. Signs are clear and it states merge in turn. The left side lane must of queued a good quarter mile. The right hand lane was clear. I passed at least 50 cars. The looks you get and how defensive some of the drivers got astonished me. I learnt merge in turn early on when learning to drive. It really comes more down to common sense then 'beating the queue'
Ive been driving for 16 years, a taxi driver for 10 of those and now a truck driver for over 2 years and i always had the understanding that unless there is a sign saying merge in turn then which ever lane has the arrow had to give way to the other lane. Hmm learn something new every day. Its true what they say you know. How ever long youve been driving you never stop learning. Thanks.
It's amazing that out of the companies you emailed, maybe 2 were prepared to give their interpretation. The rest gave vague generalisations. Especially since it's such a fundamental situation to find ourselves in on the majority of our journeys. What I find more amazing, however, is the amount of drivers who don't drive courteously. Usually Audi drivers. Or Shitting Peugeots!
You have to wonder why the HWC is so vague on these situations, my theory is that the people who write it, are just your average joe, with the very same queueing mentality.
There is no priority to traffic merging, you can not have a Law which is subject to user interpretation. The highway code is not Law. If a vehicle changing or merging hits a vehicle in the Lane they are joining they are at fault. The so called Zip Merging you refer does not exist. The Rule you refer to is not Law, it is common sense that the drivers in the Primary Lane allow traffic to join, but it is not the Law.
I got honked at today after turning left exiting a roundabout. I went on a practical test lessons with my mum (having an L plate behind the vehicle) and someone from the right lane wanted to merge. I had the lead foot here and there he/she came out of nowhere speeding while trying to merge. I panicked a little bit and reduced my speed to help them go pass my car to prevent any collision. I have 30 hours worth of lessons underway belt and my test is next month and I make It a point to drive around with my mum anytime she is free. I understand that I have a long way to go and I sincerely know that situations like this can make me fail my test. My aim is to become a safe driver all round while considering other road users as well. Your video helped calm my nerves a bit because the Highway Code doesn't do much judgement to this matter but the response from the police does speak a lot about common sense which I applied
I find your videos very useful as a professional driver myself its good to get all advice on driving. The point about merging lanes is nobody wants to give way , to be honest I'm guilty of this myself sometimes, so will take this advice to improve my attitude . But asking drivers to be courteous I wouldn't hold my breath
I will have my driving test tomorrow. Thankfully, as I've usually done with my instructor, we will start by me driving both of us to where we start the driving test, therefore I'll be readier for what's up ahead. My driving lessons have essentially had two parts, and I have performed more consistently and competently as the second half of the driving lesson is ahead of me. I dream about having a job as a driver, and hooking up my vehicle with a front dashcam and rear dashcam, as well as a camera, which will record everything where I look and what I do. Other than that, on my dad's Nissan Micra from 2003, I plan to drive myself and my parents to my grandmother to celebrate Christmas. Before that, it'll be up to me to be able to do those plans. Your channel has been among my top 3 go-to channels for the educational stuff. Thank you so much for everything you've offered to us!
@@ashley_neal It ended up failing, but I can live with that, learn and carry on. I tried my best at both driving safely, as well as observation. My go-to goal was to not think any further from my tiny mistakes, but instead move on and correct it next time. However, my train of thought led me to eventually make some tiny mistakes into very noticeable issues, I'll explain here, this was in Finland, where the traffic goes forward on the right lane, etc: 1. I was on a turning lane, when I had to actually go forward to pass a four-lane road (two going to one way, other two to other way). I was almost done with stopping to my red light, but I had a brilliant idea of suddenly going to the straight lane at the last minute, and I looked if anyone would be behind or around me. And yes, it was at the end of the lane of the road, making it illegal to do that. It would've been a daily, very usual mistake, which could have been very tiny, but it wasn't that. Nothing bad ended up happening, but it was very unwise, and I should've known better at the moment. 2. Intersections with no yield signs (upside triangle, clarification to those who may not know) or stop signs. Those we call "equal intersections". I would fail at being ready to slow down for those, since for whatever dumb reason I have a habit of just looking down to whether or not any vehicles are coming from the right. My speed would be at 20-30 km/h, depending on how closed any little roads are. The problem there is as follows: "I don't see anyone, so I'm good", which is what we shouldn't think, when I could have anything coming from there at any speed. We generally are told to "yield vehicles from the right, and watch out for vehicles coming from the left". Also, intersections with a yield sign are something that I've had a dumb tendency of "going through, since I'm going slow", but again, the flipside of that way of thinking is dangerous. 3. A roundabout or couple. I check if we have anyone inside, and I aim to go in when I have nobody coming in from 12 o'clock. That way I got beeped at from behind, and I wonder if that would be among my mistakes, I assume not among my biggest ones. Also, one of my turns was a bit too steep in comparison to the speed at the moment. During my one driving lesson, I stumbled upon a situation, where an intersection had its lights flashing on yellow, therefore not performing as usual. We had an upside triangle, therefore we would have to yield anyone, and since we were turning right, just about vehicles from the left, as well as pedestrians. We stopped at the line. The middle of the exit road of mine was obstructed, so it would be tough to watch out for anything, especially creeping out to observe further. Of course I would get beeped at from behind, but it didn't bother me. That was essentially it for me so far. Next up I'll have two hours for driving lessons before my next attempt at the test on November 19th. I would love to see this get passed along if possible, or even covered on a topic video of yours.
Psst... I had to correct the third point. Better late than never! I also didn't pass the second test, but I'll get to the details later on. It went much better though, and I have just a few essential things to tackle in order to be a safer, and more considerate driver.
This was indeed an educational video for and now I understand the situation regarding lane merging. I have experience many situations being forced from a lane bec tge other deemed they had the right of way / Priority.
Point nicely explained. In the first clip I note that the van failed to observe only pass on the right, unless it was beside you when you started to pull over to the left. But I doubt that it was.
Hi Ashley, I consider myself pretty well read on driving rules, but, have to admit to forgetting there isn't a rule on this. It was in my head that the live lane had priority (for potential insurance claims). However I always practice merge in turn anyway. Thank you for reminding me that there is no specific rule for this and that we all still can learn things.
Hi Ashley, your first example on this video just happened on my learner driving lesson today except my driving instructor said I I would've failed because "you need to drive faster when you're in the right lane as other vehicles wont wait for you to merge and will overtake on the left lane". My test in next week and I dont understand how it would've been a fail as I still merged safely?
I tend to treat it as the lane without the arrow has priority, but that doesn't mean actively inhibit other drivers on the disappearing lane from getting in. Really these roads should be zipper merged.
Is the correct answer. And I'm sure I've seen that in black and white somewhere. It's the same as the rule where it says you shouldn't make another car change its course or speed because of your own driving. If you car is in the outside lane, stick an indicator on and see if someone hangs back for you, it's only courteous! Some as well know are steering wheel warriors who don't give a toss for other road users.
Hi Ashley, in Norfolk Council over the last 5 years, they have re-done all 2 into 1 signage. They all actually have signs saying 'merge in turn' and arrows in the road point inward from left, then inward from right, to indicate to drivers what they should do: that they should merge in turn. In a few places I'm starting to see signage like 'merge like a zip' which is the sort of terminology I think local authorities should be using when lanes close like this, to encourage drivers to use all available road space right up to the pinch point, then 'merge like a zip'.
Sadly there is no answer to this problem because some people will ALWAYS assume they have priority and no amount of telling them they don't will change anything. The only solution is to drive safely and *defensively* and if someone wants to push in then just let them. In my many years of motoring I have learned that for far too many drivers, it is all about inflating their ego, so if they can get one over other motorists in some way then they will. Nothing you can say or do will persuade them otherwise and in reality there are more important things in life than dealing with other people's egos.
Merge in turn is a favourite of mine for spotting good drivers and setting an example. If in the left lane, allow a gap for the car ahead of you to get back in, if in the right lane, find your drop behind car and don’t try to force an unfair merge, any behaviour from either lane that isn’t amicable usually gets you a let in from a decent driver behind. Sometimes these give way and priority issues are made worse by bad drivers with cameras, it brings an extra dimension to the entitlement, even a “righteous” collision.
My local county run the “ripper campaign” where they put a picture of a clothing zip next to a. “Merge in turn” signs. However my local council also built a new relief road, which they used a merge in turn point on it, however if they hadn’t used it, the road would have the 45 minute delay it has every morning and evening
Very helpful video Ashley, as a fellow adi, I appreciate the work/time taken to put it together. Also emphasises the old adage, 'priority can't be given, only taken'...... Or these days snatched from your hand.
Thanks for this video. I had an incident where I was the one merging in & this older chap was refusing to look at me (I was crawling & indicating) & just drove his car in to mine because he believed he had right of way & I always thought it had been my fault (extremely low speed so no claim made) but now I know it was both our fault really!
This should be air on national television. I feel that the only people watching this is the courteous driver sadly.
Rightly said Ian
I couldn't agree more! I think it's the only way to get the message across to the general public.
@@jeffp2966 maybe throw in a car crash and pizza to get people talking about it
Think you hit the nail on the head. I've been driving for 25 years, never had any points on me licence, but I still make mistakes, hence why I love Ashley's channel
Not true at all I am a very discourteous driver and I just watch these videos to feed my massive superiority complex
But... but... but if you allow other motorists to get in front of you they'll be two or even three metres ahead of you! Thus causing you to literally lose years off your life and when you get home, the wife will look older, she won't recognise you any more because you'll have gone grey and the kids will have left home already and your dinner will be cold! #truefacts
But thank you Ashley, was actually wondering about this the other day. So this is good to know.
That explains a lot.
sad but true
I’m not sure a merging lane is intended for people to overtake on.
Surely it is better to match speed so it is easier to get in?
So this is why my wife looks 80,and I'm still.21_.., thank you
When everyone (it's rare) does what they're supposed to it works like a zip on some clothing, everything just slots into place. It's super efficient.
A couple of decades ago on roadworks in germany\holland they had roadsigns depicting a zip where each tooth was clearly a car. It seemed very effective.
I suppose they could have had signs saying "no overtaking" "leave spaces and merge alternately"
but 'zip' said it all so neatly.
Yep, that's the quickest way to everyone where they are going. Anyone would think it was rocket science.
I'm sure I have occasionally seen signs in the UK that say "Like a Zip" together with a graphic illustration. Shame it's not more widely used. One for the appropriate authority to consider to provide wider education.
I've heard of the zipper merge too and it works great if everyone cooperate. It also means that all available lanes are fully utilised at all times. When there are roadworks many people get angry when there are signs from two miles back announcing that the lane will close and yet some people drive on that lane until right at the very place where it closes and then try to zipper-merge onto the next lane. Those that get angry don't get one thing: if everybody immediately moved off the lane that will close two miles back as soon as they see the sign it would cause unnecessary congestion on the other lane/s and one lane would be unused. However, what I don't like is when people leave it too late to stop using a late that's closing on the motorway because that puts everyone at risk. I've seen cops having to force drivers off the closed lane because some drivers never leave the lane until they crash onto the broken down vehicle on that lane. That's how people get killed when they have broken down on the motorway.
Car ahead rule , state safe 🙏
2:19 the man in the red van is a proper See You Next Tuesday lol
The way I see it is if the car is behind you. You have priority but if the car is In front of you they have priority, it's a simple rule that saves many problems with merge and turn but it doesn't always work like that. Ashley you highlighted pretty much every problem well done 👏 I learned something today
Been driving for 37 years. Watched this video with my son who is learning. We both learned something. Where there is a clear merge from one lane into another (with arrows), traffic very often backs up in the live lane and people who know the route move into that lane early. They then usually assume priority (and often beligerance) towards drivers who correctly use the closing lane up to the point it closes and then try to merge. This is where problems are most likely to happen IMO. Many thanks
It is not correct : moving from the closing lane when traffic is still moving freely is the most efficient method ; the idiots who try to push in at the last moment cause compression waves of braking in the open lane and are the ones who need to be educated . if everyone moved over as soon as the closure was signed ahead , there would be no problem , nor reduction of speed .
@@derekheeps1244 Sorry You are so wrong - is it a wind up. Always a slowing up of cars - to have no braking and backing up of cars on the approach to the merge point, the cars would need to merge flawlessly PLUS instantly DOUBLE their speed for the full length of restriction (OR drive along with their clearance to next car halved) - simple hydraulics, as neither of the last 2 happen so there is always a tail back .
A compromise would be to increase your speed say by 50% and decrease you clearance to car in front by maybe 50% (needs calculations) but this combination is counter instinctive and nuts lol.
Am surprised Ashley never pulled you up on this. Soup dragon is right about tail backs and possibly blocked roundabouts which is a bad additional outcome.
@@derekheeps1244 The only way to guarantee any sort of smooth merge is to merge at the point that the lane closes - otherwise it is ALWAYS going to be a free for all with vastly different speeds in the two lanes, which causes frustration and is dangerous. The most efficient method is merging evenly, ie 1 from one lane, one from the other, and the only way for this to realistically be achieved is to do this at the point where the road goes to one lane
It's funny, up here at the queensferry crossing bridge, coming from the south, the merging occurs near the bridge, at the last junction, prior to that, you can have upto 5 miles of tailbacks of the middle lane, eventually the left lane breaks off into an overpass. The right lane merges into the middle. It's actually faster to go down the left lane, break off the motorway, go over the roundabout at the overpass, and then back down to merge into the middle lane.. than it is to drive "in" the middle or right hand merging lane. This can save you literally hours of waiting or moving at 0-10mph.. yet the vast majority of drivers.. rush for the right lane to get a sort of queue hop on the middle lane. Or they sit in the middle lane.. both middle and right traffic can be loosing 2-3 hours in the queue. Every day.
@@MegaRugster my friend told me this, and I didn't believe it until I tried it one day, it makes no sense yet is the quickest option! Meanwhile all those in the middle lane thinking they're saving themselves time are doing exactly the opposite.... Madness....
“The best thing to always do, back off let the idiots pass”- ashley neal😂
Should make that into a bumper sticker
Spot on Karen, keep them in front where you can control the distance between you and them.
This is a hard one, sometimes it's preferable to have the idiots in front but other times for them to be behind you. If they ram you, it's their fault by default. If in front.. they can force you to ram them.. and that's never a good situation, trying to prove it's their fault is difficult. My wife slammed into a guy who simply stopped in the right side of the lane, then indicated to turn into his driveway, as he'd done countless times before. Only this time, due to his late indication and sudden stop, my wife was unable to stop. Both of them ended up in hospital and both cars were wrecked. After court action the insurance companies paid for both cars. imo his should have paid for ours, but given how premiums work it doesn't really matter anymore. If he'd paid attention, slowed down and indicated, it might never have happened. For my part, I was standing at the side of the road waiting to be picked up. I attended to the idiot first.. then to my wife, which has for the last decade been an ongoing issue of contention. :D
@@MegaRugster takes some doing to "force someone to ram you "?
@@MrEricharper Not really, it's quite easy, depends on how stupid the rammer is. Esp if they tailgate, something I'm continually warning my wife not to do, she drives so close to the car in front you can see the hair on the back of the drivers head.
A lot of drivers get this wrong and often push their way through, if people just looked out for each other and merged in turn, it would make it a lot easier for everyone.
John Bower Yes, but people in cars aren’t people any more to some drivers. They wouldn’t do it on foot. Maybe we will get to pavement rage, or given the aging population, mobility scooter rage, but once its face to face, folks tend to be more polite.
@John Bower it's people like that who mainly drive like knobs. It probably doesn't click in their heads that they aren't getting to their destination quicker
At 65, driving for over 40 years, I have learnt something new. I do show consideration at these merges but now I am aware it should make me a better driver. Thank you, Ashley.
It's hard when most people know the incorrect thing. If you try to do the correct thing (stay in inner lane until both lanes merge into one), people for some reason see this as 'unfair' or 'cheating' or 'queue skipping' and when you get to the merge the other cars just close all the gaps thinking that they are teaching you a lesson when in fact they're the ones in the wrong.
Yes but other cars are not polite and drive slowly in front of you. They can see there is no place for them but they still accelerate and pass you over. As they are in front of you they assume they are in the right of way even thin their lane is ending and they push into your car. Thats a wanker move to do. Just stay behind, I can merge but do not accelerate and push in me. This is a road rage.
Depends, but still. If the car is not indicating hell merge ill not let this guy through because his too lazy to put an indicator
Stupid. So - from now - I wil ever use only the left line and will skip all those dumbs waiting correctly in their line.
@@projectxgaming there's no need to indicate at a merge, as stated by all sources in this video there is no priority, completely different to a lane change where both lanes are continuing andyou indicate because you are "changing lanes", in a merge there is no change, both lanes just merge and no indicating is needed
Only on this video to understand if what I knew was correct from an encounter earlier. Turns out it was. We have a congested bridge in town that was expanded into more lanes with one direction having a parallel two lane with a zipper merge at the end. The left lane is always jammed with very few people using the outside merge in turn lane. Today I coasted up the right lane overtaking the lane of congested traffic and looked for the most suitable gap and slowed down crawling forward waiting for my chance go merge into the gap. As I did this the large SUV beside me (I was in a small Yaris) sped up and closed the gap. As I signalled my intentions and the gap grew a bit but also noticing there was no gaps behind the SUV either he sped up again causing me to become dangerously stranded briefly straddling two opposing directional lanes before I could get safely back into the right. 100m up the road it splits in a Y; traffic lights on the right (where I came to a stop) and unimpeded through road up another direction on the other fork. The SUV flew past me window down F'ing and blinding. All I could do is shake my head and think wtf is wrong with people on the road. We were a hair's breadth from being in a horrible multicar collision.
This is my number 1 pet peeve. Every time I try and merge in turn at the point of lane closure I am met with people closing the gap or beeping / shouting at me. Sometimes even still, you get people who are in the live lane pulling out half into yours to block you, as if they believe you are queue jumping.
Or they’re jealous of your Lan-Evo
because you ARE
Uneducated philistines. The difference between queue jumping and merging in turn isn’t as fuzzy as people think it is. Last year I had to sit a driver awareness course - on Zoom of course because of Covid-19 - and the reason for that was I was queue jumping in order to get to the right hand lane to do a right turn when the left hand lane was gridlocked with drivers turning left. The trouble was that I went past a pedestrian crossing island on the wrong side. Had I not gone the wrong side of the island to do my right turn, there’d have been no problem. When you merge in turn, at no point do you venture onto the wrong side of the road unless instructed otherwise by a contraflow system. It sounds to me like you’re doing the right thing there, mate. Btw, loving the GTA videos. Keep up the good work!!
@@MrSupercar55 Queue jumping and driving on the wrong side of the road are two different thing.
@@derekheeps1244 Derek he's not. You are supposed to use all available road space up to the merge point. If traffic in the left lane is stationary and the right hand lane is clear for half a mile to the merge point then everyone in the right lane should drive up the empty lane to the merge point. They are the rules and that prevents miles of gridlock in a single lane behind and increases overall traffic flow. So stop being a muppet.
Thank you. I found this very useful. I travel on 2 stretches of road where there are 2 into 1 mergers and have quite often found myself being squeeze or even nearly side swiped because the driver in the left hand lane thinks that it is their priority. I am simply just trying to merge in safely, but they just don’t like it. It’s not like I’m gaining anything that is going to massively impact on their journey.
It is like a zip each should take their turn in slotting in.
Basically it's down to courtesy and good safe driving skills.
I'm positive that it is totally legal to use both lanes and although some drivers feel its inappropriate to move ahead of the inside lane if it is moving slower
It is the correct thing to do and keeps traffic flowing.
Like a zip is exactly how I've been explaining it to students for years.
Yeah, zipper merge is the way to go, there's nothing courteous about merging way ahead and ultimately impeding the flow of traffic.
In New Zealand they have signs that say "Merge like a zip". Great place to drive if you get the chance. You should let people go when turning across you too.
@@andyman286 We need those here in the states
"Merge like a zip" still creates confusion, because some people think it means that the lanes are supposed to take turns, i.e., don't let two cars in a row get in from the other lane, even if they're both in front of you, because it's your lane's "turn".
5:06 - Every time I come across this scenario there's always people who prefer to block the outside lane further back (few hundred yards or so before the markings and signs appear) so it spoils it for everyone else too. All because of their lack of knowledge of "merge in turn".
Total shame that a good sum of 'drivers' think that the merging lane is a "queue jumping lane", and for anyone who agrees with that last sentence needs to certainly re-evaluate their driving skills. And possibly licence, too. I always use the outside lane to even do everyone else a favour by saving a car length of traffic in the inside lane but undoubtedly 7 out of 10 people always contest this when on the road. I remember another dashcam poster on UA-cam (deleted now unsurprisingly) was all for merge in turn in the comments section, but uploaded a video of themselves blocking someone from merging properly as to the rule of thumb.
This explains it perfectly, and I hope those who don't know or believe merge in turn is another word for "queue jumping" has changed their minds.
I've just commented the same thing but with far less eloquence. Deliberately blocking traffic is surely an offence. I wonder if a Police dashcam submission service like Operation Snap would accept video of a road-blocking merge in turn vigilante as evidence leading to a ticket.
I can confirm Mr. Neal that I have learned quite a valuable amount of information in this video. Cracking job!
Two into one in New Zealand is simple, no one has priority, you are just expected to merge like a zip, and 99% of drivers know this and will do this.
It's simple in Poland as well, if your lane ends, you have to give way. It's beyond me how such an important issue could not be regulated here in UK. I know we all should have common sense and courtesy towards others but what happens when there is a collision? Who would be blamed?
@Redblade it doesn't work like that, one of the lanes ends with broken line just like a slip road. Same rule of priority applies.
I live in the UK and my Instructor teaches all his students the Zip technique. 1 car after the over. In fact most people I know understand this but yet you still get Plebs who want to get 1 car ahead and fucking up the system. Creates so much traffic and chaos because one prick cant be patient
Same thing in Serbia
"Merge in turn" is the terminology used in the UK. Essentially *zipper merge*. Though you could be like a mate of mine who thought that meant "there is gonna be a merge on a corner coming up". 🤦♂️
Came here because of an incident a couple of days ago. Thee lanes become two (the right and middle merge). I'm in outside lane because middle lane is full and if I joined that I'd been backed up to the cross hatched junction. There's maybe there or four cars in this middle lane queue. I'm now near the front of this group and as the merge approaches I assess that the biggest gap is in front of car next to me. I accelerate (still under speed limit) and position myself next to the gap. The neighbouring car does not like this. He would barely have to slow down to allow me to merge but instead maintains his exact distance from car in front, accelerating at the same pace as me. Now, I'm happy to accept his lane has priority and even if he didn't I'm not the kind of person to care if I'm in front of behind someone. I literally just wanted to find the safest place to merge. But this guy is now almost a car length behind me but refuses to yield and stays next to me as the lane narrows. In the end I was scared he was going to take the back off my car and gave him a honk to make him aware I was there as much as anything. He yielded but slowed down to yell at me twice as we made our way down the following road, which was upsetting because my family were in the car. If this guy had tried to overtake me I would have braked and let him pass, but he stayed next to and slightly behind me which gave me even less choices. He obviously thought I was trying to get in front of him but I was literally just trying to merge at the safest point.
Did you indicate though? If not maybe he took offence to that.
Top Vid, Ashley. As a truck driver I encounter car driver insisting that they must go first and even when I am in the right hand lane they just wont give up their 6ft of space. Really good to know there is no specific rule about this its just down to good manners. Love your channel. very informative without a preachy attitude that some have.
10:53 Taxi was never gonna let him get away with that was he 😂
Excellent video keep it up. 👏👏
The Jag was in the right because he drives a Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag (TG reference).
@@collinslfc needs more a's 😉
You forget, that without exception, all taxi drivers are dickheads.
It gets me when people block two lanes when they are about to merge JUST to stop anyone else using the full lane.
This is all very well, but don't assume, sometimes there is a genuine reason that you have not seen. A cyclist, pedestrian, an object fallen off a car. Never get righteous.
as a truck driver when on moterway contraflow situatios where the sign was 1 or 2 miles saying a lane was closed instead of merging into the two running lanes in plenty of time car driver carried on to the merge point and caused congestion those days we had c b radios and got three trucks abbrest to stop the idiots and the traffic stared to flow i never new of a truck driver who got in trouble with police for doing that
When I went to driving school, nearly a decade ago, my instructor continually pushed an idea on me: "Take care of the car in front of you". It's a simple statement, but quite powerful and helps a lot. Obviously, in certain situations this isn't completely possible or you have multiple cars that influence your own driving. People make mistakes, if everyone would be a bit more careful and courteous, roads would be much safer. Alas, people are too self-absorbed to care about other participants in traffic.
My driving instructor told me to assume every other driver is a complete and total moron and to make allowances and to expect and shrug off stupidity. Your driving instructor sounds nicer :-)
@@Medved290 Haha, true. He did mentioned that to me as well, but I was trying to be positive.
Regarding people assuming priority: I was always advised that the highway code never explicitly instructs anyone that they have priority, and instead only instructs when to give priority to someone else. Also, it is never safe to assume that anyone else will give priority as instructed for a wide variety of reasons.
The objective is to ensure we act safely no matter what others do, and assuming too much or attempting to enforce our feeling of priority can be unsafe acts in themselves.
Spot on. www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/general-rules-techniques-and-advice-for-all-drivers-and-riders-103-to-158 contains the statement in question:
"The rules in *The Highway Code* do not give you the right of way in any circumstance, but they advise you when you should give way to others. Always give way if it can help to avoid an incident."
People who try to take priority and, worse still, enforce priority when it is not given as it ought to be, often lead to incidents. It is always best to remember we are human, humans make mistakes and, as Ashley says, many drivers misunderstand this scenario.
I believe that part of the problem relates to the highway markings in that invariably one lane remains live and the other finishes, requiring vehicles in that lane to move into the 'live' lane. This gives the impression of the live lane having priority. This is confirmed by the response from the police. If both lanes merged to a 'new' lane in the centre (which can then deviate to the appropriate side), together with alternate arrows on each lane advising of the need to merge in turn, any impression of priority or 'pushing in' would be removed.
Whether it’s to the left or right of me I’ve always thought priority was to the car that’s slightly ahead.
I can honestly say watching your vids and putting what I see into practise makes driving a lot more of a chilled out experience
I used to be a very selfish driver
Tail gating, over taking in silly places , closing gaps on people all it does is make you drive on the edge and be tense all the time.
I had to really ask myself why? What difference will it make?
If you asked me now why I drove like that I’m not sure I could answer it either!
Keep doing the driving lords work brother👍
I misunderstood this for many years. I was one of those people getting annoyed at people travelling past the queuing traffic thinking they were queue skipping. But I mentioned the scenario to a German friend of mine who said in Germany its just common practise for all lanes to be used and filled up and then the cars merge in turn in a zip like fashion and its a faster process. This made a lot of sense to me and I've since changed my mind and accepted it is better for all to do it in this way. However a lot of people don't understand this, especially on motorways when 2 lanes are closed for example, there will be a huge queue for miles in 1 lane and the other lanes are empty, where as it makes much more sense to queue in the 2 lanes all the way up to the merging point and then merge in turn.
As my driving instructor always taught me:
Q: "where is the best place for a bad driver?"
A: "in front of you so you can keep an eye on them"
Your videos are fantastic! I’m so glad that there’s someone like you educating people on these issues, especially given how well you explain them like in this video.
It’s actually quite frightening the number of drivers out there that do assume priority, thereby demonstrating a dangerous lack of common sense. Maybe we can’t influence them on the road but at least you can help by spreading awareness and promoting more sensible driving. Keep doing what you do sir.
Thanks for this. I honestly thought that the traffic in the right lane with arrow pointing left meant that traffic in the left lane had priority. Not enough is taught to educate this, until I found your video.
Thanks for the explanation Ashley,I've wondered about this for a long time. My observation of merging in turn is that many people just want to get ahead and aren't particularly interested in the rights and wrongs. Courtesy seems to be on the decline. I wonder how many bumps and scrapes occur at these merging lanes through sheer stubbornness on both sides. People like to get ahead even if they put their vehicle at risk. I've witnessed many road rage incidents in these circumstances. I've learned to hold back and let them in if it's going to become dangerous;It doesn't make any difference to my time of arrival. I think its down to the 'I won' mentality.
The videos really help Ashley ! thanks for the uploads
What I learned in the 6 years of driving is that if you proceed as mr. Ashley just said, you will be making your life and the other drivers' lives a lot easier. One thing I would also like to add, always look out for the ones that are in front of you, that are looking to join the main stream of cars, make sure there is plenty of space, which usually can be accomplished simply by not accelerating as much as the ones wishing to join.
One of my favorite channels and one where I've learned a lot! Though the laws are slightly different in Croatia, I have picked up a few things that have made me a better driver.
I've only been on the road alone for about a year and 5 months but I do feel I get better by the day!
Thank you Ashley. I have been driving a number of years but your videos like this are still very educational. You never stop learning. Thanks again.
People just cant stand the thought of another driver getting ahead of them. This isn't just with merging lanes, I see tons of drivers in ques blocking entrances to side streets and refusing to let people out even when they have nowhere to go. People ending up in the middle of intersections and roundabouts because they dont wait for their exits to clear. When it comes to driving most people seem like they cant bare to lose a few seconds of their time.
Its really not hard to let people merge in turn, the whole reason there are multiple lanes is for people to use them to aid congestion.
Exceptions to this are when people pull out forcing you to brake and then proceed to go below the legal limit which you were driving before they pulled out. This is why I do my best to never let people out as in most cases based on my experience they end up doing 50mph for example on a straight stretch of a 60mph road or 20 in a 30.
Regardless of the view of the organisations featured, what matters is what is written in the Road Traffic Act and the Highway Code. This is where the clarity needs to be made. Most road users don't even know what these cover yet alone the opinions (as good as they are), from the other organisations.
in South Australia we have 2 different merges there is the lane merger where the vehicle in front has priority (not a car racing up beside you at last minute)
However when the lane ends (such as entering a motorway) the lane that is ending must give way to the vehicles in the lane it is merging into so that they don't cause a collision or a safety risk.
It's so simple it makes sense but.... you're asking drivers to work together and that's basically asking adults to share resources, a mixed bag of results at best
I confirmed this with a traffic enforcement officer that lives and breathes this stuff and he confirmed that "when lanes merge it is best to yield to the dangerous individual and let them pass, there is no point in putting each other's safety at risk, however the car that is in front has priority but when a lane ends whether you are in front or not does not matter you must give way if you are entering the other lane"
Love that last bit you said. If only everyone worked together then traffic would flow so much better. But it's a shame that there's too many people that find it difficult to "share" the road as that's effectively what this is - sharing the road.
My home state (Victoria) has plenty of roads where one marked lane is wide enough for two streams of traffic to run side by side for whole lengths of road. I find that drivers are a lot more cautious and become considerate of other people when compared to having two marked lanes.
This is a very valuable lesson & changed my view of how to approach a merging situation. Makes things much less stressful.
What did I learn from this video? That there are no rules governing this so I'm quite right to block out queue jumpers!
Thanks for taking the time to investigate this Ashley - it's very illuminating.
They could also just make a law for it and that's it, simple, not dependent on opinions or level of civility.
This is now a very old video - AND I just learnt something new. Outstanding!
I've been driving for over two years. I am a confident driver who does many hours of city and motor driving. These videos are still great to watch and I feel like your teach me some great advance driving skills.
Thanks Ashley.
Excellent video. As a driving instructor in the Winchester and Southampton areas, I get my pupils to watch your videos. It never ceases to amaze me how many motorists seem unable to show a bit of courtesy.
This is really interesting, basically it’s all down to being a courteous, considerate driver and not being selfish!
A van did this to me 18 months ago. Unfortunately I didn't have a dash cam. As soon as I saw that he was trying to overtake me when I was clearly in the front space (had done the zip method for the merging lanes), I braked but it was too late. He hit my car, admitted no fault (although the way he handled the accident it was so obvious these types of accidents happen to him all the time) and I ended up not claiming as it wasn't worth it. But I was 7.5 months pregnant at the time. It could have had much more dire circumstances. All this so he could be one car ahead. Crazy!
The last time I saw this was when the car behind me closed the space because he didn't want the guy next to him to merge in infront of him. The traffic was stop start, so I just stopped and let the guy go in front of me instead.
Thank you for this video. For years this question has bugged me, about whether I had priority, the other driver had priority, especially during road works on a motor way.
I will now use all of the road when approaching road works, to help the flow of traffic.
I make it a rule to view a vid from you every day. Even though I had a licence since 1973, there is always something I learn or am reminded of. Many thanks for your generosity of giving your time.
The situation works best when each car lets one car in front of it, taking it in turns to move forward. Sometimes you actually do see this, sometimes you see two cars fighting with each other blocking the entire road.
Ashley, thanks so much for these videos- this one especially - I try to be a conscientious and safe driver but can’t afford driver training. So many times I’ve been cut up by inappropriate behaviour from other drivers. This really has been a useful sanity check and a safe place to reaffirm whether my driving behaviour is appropriate.
The easiest was to sort this problem out is to put the word MUST on the Merge in Turn sign.
An excellent video, even though I passed my test in October I still watch your content as there is always room for improvement especially on the roads
I have learned something with this and many other videos you have made🙂 You are really good at your job 👍🏼
Your videos really help me to avoid road rage and getting annoyed when people do things wrong. I’m always thinking, make it a non issue. Thanks!
The best example of merging in turn I've experienced was whilst on holiday in Jersey some years ago. There was no pipping of horns or angry gesticulations, everyone was just getting on with the business of driving being polite and getting on their way... Brilliant.
This is great. never had too many nightmare scenarios but have gotten annoyed in the past being in the left lane of a dual carriageway agt what I thought were people wrongly "barging in" and overtaking when the lanes merged. It does still happen quite dangerously but this video has helped me to learn that I should only be be annoyed when the people doing are unnecessarily closing the space down
Thanks
This is a good follow up video to your previous ones on the individual incidents. I don't think the problem will ever be solved so my solution is to avoid Rice Lane/Longmoor Lane as much as possible, might be a good tip for life in general.
Some drivers just don't have the mental ability to anticipate roads safely.
According to IQ statistics, 10% of the population are under 85. I can bet a few percent of them drive. And it shows.
I was driving along a dual carriageway which had road work's so right hand lane coned off to merge into left lane, left hand lane had a long queue so I proceeded down right hand lane with half a mile or so until the merge when a driver pulled out blocking my lane then continued to block me at the same slow speed as the left queuing lane all the way until the merge in, the queue was double the length it should have been because the right hand lane was empty, I didn't consider it queue jumping and had every right to continue up to the merge point.
Thanks Ash, I always thought I was a considerate Road user but these are helping me to be mindful of others and catch myself on in these situations. I’m just as lousy as the next person a lot of the time.
Well presented, and I agree with your recommendation. While this one is about 2 into 1 lane merges in urban areas, they also exist, in effect, on many motorways where 2 lane slip roads lead onto a 2 lane carriageway, which then becomes 3 lane, so that the left lane becomes lane 1, and the old lane 1 merges with the right hand slip road to become lane 2. The merge often takes place at almost 60 - 70 mph, and unless it’s heavy traffic, it’s not safe to stop in the middle! Often wise to slow down a bit, or accelerate a bit more, to widen the gap into which something can slot into. Typical places: M4/M5 Almondsbury junctions ( 51°33'05.1"N 2°33’08.7"W - lots of them) etc.
Love how you appear to leave a decent gap when you pull up at the lights .
This was how I was taught many years back and still works fine for me.
Only today a car broke down at the traffic lights and I was the only one in the queue able to take immediate action and make progress as all the others had done the usual parking on each others bumpers and unable to take evasive action.
I was also taught let the bad drivers pass as you'll catch up with them later after they've crashed , as long as you're on the gas you're making progress after all 👍
I really appreciate your videos. I've not been driving long, but I do feel like I've improved in part due to putting your advice into practise. Thank you for that.
Reading through the comments there is an abundance of references to 'courtesy'. As a company driver I was sent, a few years ago, on a 'Driving for Work' course, which tried to instruct my workmates and myself NOT to be courteous at all when driving. I've been happy to ignore the advice that was given then. Also thanks to you, Ashley for the good advice.
Thank you for attempting to clear that one up for me. We have to accept that there will always be those who’ll always believe they have “priority” The rest of us - the vast majority of great drivers, just need to keep looking sharp.
Hi Ashley. Good video. As with most driving, there are an increasing number of drivers who feel they have a sense of entitlement when in a car on the road. Some call it queue jumping. Fact is we all get caught in traffic now and then and how some people behave serves to show they do not want another driver in front. I call it T.B.I.F syndrome - to be in front syndrome. Often those drivers are going in the same direction or just want to be ahead so they can then block the road to make a turn or just have you behind them as in their head they have gained something. Very sad.
One of your best videos fella. I feel the people who drive trying to prove a point are the most dangerous.
Nice one, Ashley. Great service and glad you were able to publish the expert opinions.
I spent just one year with a driving job, across England and Wales. I found that in North Yorks and Norfolk you found the most courteous drivers while Devon and Manchester the most aggresive. London was somewhere in the middle.
The most polite driver I have come accross were in Newcastle. Coming off the motorway two lanes merge into 1, joining another 2 lanes also merging into one (from cars on other side of the motorway). Once merged and now in outside lane (the other exit went to inside lane) I needed to cross to LH lane for my turn within about 25 yards.
Conjested like hell yet everyone merged in turn and gave way. It worked every rush hour.
I lived in Scotland and worked in Newcastle and the Geordies were the most considerate.
Well done for highlighting this misconception; I've been driving for 40 years and I've always applied the rule that if you know the road, ie if you know one of these situations is coming up, get into the "correct" lane as soon as possible, that is, well before any signs or arrows tell you to. Having said that I would never come from behind like the red van and physically block someone in the other lane from merging; that was just crazy. There is a situation like this in Newcastle on the motorway where the inner lane runs out with very little warning. Unfortunately it is right adjecent to a slip road, so you get drivers bombing up the inside behind you and you never know if they're about to take the exit or try to undertake.
Another brilliant, well presented, clear and informative video thanks Ashley.
Hi Ashley,job done thank you.I've been driving 10 years now and that was a good educational video for me.Thanks again.
Been watching these for a few weeks now. I’ve been driving for 10 years but have only been driving regularly for 4 years.
These are really useful videos and have actively helped improve my driving because while I try to do the right thing I do make mistakes now and again (which I get away with by the perceptive driving of others). Thanks again Ashley.
Perfect example of this on the A64 yesterday. Signs are clear and it states merge in turn. The left side lane must of queued a good quarter mile. The right hand lane was clear. I passed at least 50 cars. The looks you get and how defensive some of the drivers got astonished me. I learnt merge in turn early on when learning to drive. It really comes more down to common sense then 'beating the queue'
I always “let one in and go”.
Try that in China. You let one in and half the city goes in front of you.
Nice video!
I learned something. I'm an advanced rider/Driver with the IAM, but I'm learning every day.
Ive been driving for 16 years, a taxi driver for 10 of those and now a truck driver for over 2 years and i always had the understanding that unless there is a sign saying merge in turn then which ever lane has the arrow had to give way to the other lane. Hmm learn something new every day. Its true what they say you know. How ever long youve been driving you never stop learning.
Thanks.
Ashley I am so so happy to have found your channel 🥰🥰
Best thing ever for drivers. ❤
It's amazing that out of the companies you emailed, maybe 2 were prepared to give their interpretation. The rest gave vague generalisations. Especially since it's such a fundamental situation to find ourselves in on the majority of our journeys.
What I find more amazing, however, is the amount of drivers who don't drive courteously.
Usually Audi drivers.
Or Shitting Peugeots!
You have to wonder why the HWC is so vague on these situations, my theory is that the people who write it, are just your average joe, with the very same queueing mentality.
Wish we had the ‘zip system’ it really would save all the stress from these situations. Great video. 👍🏼
There is no priority to traffic merging, you can not have a Law which is subject to user interpretation.
The highway code is not Law.
If a vehicle changing or merging hits a vehicle in the Lane they are joining they are at fault.
The so called Zip Merging you refer does not exist.
The Rule you refer to is not Law, it is common sense that the drivers in the Primary Lane allow traffic to join, but it is not the Law.
I got honked at today after turning left exiting a roundabout. I went on a practical test lessons with my mum (having an L plate behind the vehicle) and someone from the right lane wanted to merge. I had the lead foot here and there he/she came out of nowhere speeding while trying to merge. I panicked a little bit and reduced my speed to help them go pass my car to prevent any collision. I have 30 hours worth of lessons underway belt and my test is next month and I make It a point to drive around with my mum anytime she is free. I understand that I have a long way to go and I sincerely know that situations like this can make me fail my test. My aim is to become a safe driver all round while considering other road users as well. Your video helped calm my nerves a bit because the Highway Code doesn't do much judgement to this matter but the response from the police does speak a lot about common sense which I applied
I find your videos very useful as a professional driver myself its good to get all advice on driving. The point about merging lanes is nobody wants to give way , to be honest I'm guilty of this myself sometimes, so will take this advice to improve my attitude . But asking drivers to be courteous I wouldn't hold my breath
I will have my driving test tomorrow. Thankfully, as I've usually done with my instructor, we will start by me driving both of us to where we start the driving test, therefore I'll be readier for what's up ahead. My driving lessons have essentially had two parts, and I have performed more consistently and competently as the second half of the driving lesson is ahead of me. I dream about having a job as a driver, and hooking up my vehicle with a front dashcam and rear dashcam, as well as a camera, which will record everything where I look and what I do. Other than that, on my dad's Nissan Micra from 2003, I plan to drive myself and my parents to my grandmother to celebrate Christmas.
Before that, it'll be up to me to be able to do those plans. Your channel has been among my top 3 go-to channels for the educational stuff. Thank you so much for everything you've offered to us!
How did you test go 🤞🏽
@@ashley_neal It ended up failing, but I can live with that, learn and carry on. I tried my best at both driving safely, as well as observation. My go-to goal was to not think any further from my tiny mistakes, but instead move on and correct it next time. However, my train of thought led me to eventually make some tiny mistakes into very noticeable issues, I'll explain here, this was in Finland, where the traffic goes forward on the right lane, etc:
1. I was on a turning lane, when I had to actually go forward to pass a four-lane road (two going to one way, other two to other way). I was almost done with stopping to my red light, but I had a brilliant idea of suddenly going to the straight lane at the last minute, and I looked if anyone would be behind or around me. And yes, it was at the end of the lane of the road, making it illegal to do that. It would've been a daily, very usual mistake, which could have been very tiny, but it wasn't that. Nothing bad ended up happening, but it was very unwise, and I should've known better at the moment.
2. Intersections with no yield signs (upside triangle, clarification to those who may not know) or stop signs. Those we call "equal intersections". I would fail at being ready to slow down for those, since for whatever dumb reason I have a habit of just looking down to whether or not any vehicles are coming from the right. My speed would be at 20-30 km/h, depending on how closed any little roads are. The problem there is as follows: "I don't see anyone, so I'm good", which is what we shouldn't think, when I could have anything coming from there at any speed. We generally are told to "yield vehicles from the right, and watch out for vehicles coming from the left".
Also, intersections with a yield sign are something that I've had a dumb tendency of "going through, since I'm going slow", but again, the flipside of that way of thinking is dangerous.
3. A roundabout or couple. I check if we have anyone inside, and I aim to go in when I have nobody coming in from 12 o'clock. That way I got beeped at from behind, and I wonder if that would be among my mistakes, I assume not among my biggest ones.
Also, one of my turns was a bit too steep in comparison to the speed at the moment.
During my one driving lesson, I stumbled upon a situation, where an intersection had its lights flashing on yellow, therefore not performing as usual. We had an upside triangle, therefore we would have to yield anyone, and since we were turning right, just about vehicles from the left, as well as pedestrians. We stopped at the line. The middle of the exit road of mine was obstructed, so it would be tough to watch out for anything, especially creeping out to observe further. Of course I would get beeped at from behind, but it didn't bother me.
That was essentially it for me so far. Next up I'll have two hours for driving lessons before my next attempt at the test on November 19th. I would love to see this get passed along if possible, or even covered on a topic video of yours.
Psst... I had to correct the third point. Better late than never! I also didn't pass the second test, but I'll get to the details later on. It went much better though, and I have just a few essential things to tackle in order to be a safer, and more considerate driver.
This was indeed an educational video for and now I understand the situation regarding lane merging. I have experience many situations being forced from a lane bec tge other deemed they had the right of way / Priority.
Thank u sir for taking the time to educate us all.!
Point nicely explained. In the first clip I note that the van failed to observe only pass on the right, unless it was beside you when you started to pull over to the left. But I doubt that it was.
Hi Ashley, I consider myself pretty well read on driving rules, but, have to admit to forgetting there isn't a rule on this. It was in my head that the live lane had priority (for potential insurance claims). However I always practice merge in turn anyway. Thank you for reminding me that there is no specific rule for this and that we all still can learn things.
This has been really helpful for me as it is an aspect of driving I always feel nervous about!
Hi Ashley, your first example on this video just happened on my learner driving lesson today except my driving instructor said I I would've failed because "you need to drive faster when you're in the right lane as other vehicles wont wait for you to merge and will overtake on the left lane". My test in next week and I dont understand how it would've been a fail as I still merged safely?
I tend to treat it as the lane without the arrow has priority, but that doesn't mean actively inhibit other drivers on the disappearing lane from getting in. Really these roads should be zipper merged.
Is the correct answer. And I'm sure I've seen that in black and white somewhere. It's the same as the rule where it says you shouldn't make another car change its course or speed because of your own driving. If you car is in the outside lane, stick an indicator on and see if someone hangs back for you, it's only courteous! Some as well know are steering wheel warriors who don't give a toss for other road users.
Hi Ashley, in Norfolk Council over the last 5 years, they have re-done all 2 into 1 signage. They all actually have signs saying 'merge in turn' and arrows in the road point inward from left, then inward from right, to indicate to drivers what they should do: that they should merge in turn.
In a few places I'm starting to see signage like 'merge like a zip' which is the sort of terminology I think local authorities should be using when lanes close like this, to encourage drivers to use all available road space right up to the pinch point, then 'merge like a zip'.
Sadly there is no answer to this problem because some people will ALWAYS assume they have priority and no amount of telling them they don't will change anything. The only solution is to drive safely and *defensively* and if someone wants to push in then just let them. In my many years of motoring I have learned that for far too many drivers, it is all about inflating their ego, so if they can get one over other motorists in some way then they will. Nothing you can say or do will persuade them otherwise and in reality there are more important things in life than dealing with other people's egos.
So glad you did this as I was not certain myself. Please do a tutorial on how to safely merge in turn as us Brit’s really are unable to do this
Merge in turn is a favourite of mine for spotting good drivers and setting an example. If in the left lane, allow a gap for the car ahead of you to get back in, if in the right lane, find your drop behind car and don’t try to force an unfair merge, any behaviour from either lane that isn’t amicable usually gets you a let in from a decent driver behind. Sometimes these give way and priority issues are made worse by bad drivers with cameras, it brings an extra dimension to the entitlement, even a “righteous” collision.
My local county run the “ripper campaign” where they put a picture of a clothing zip next to a. “Merge in turn” signs. However my local council also built a new relief road, which they used a merge in turn point on it, however if they hadn’t used it, the road would have the 45 minute delay it has every morning and evening
Very helpful video Ashley, as a fellow adi, I appreciate the work/time taken to put it together.
Also emphasises the old adage, 'priority can't be given, only taken'...... Or these days snatched from your hand.
Nice one Graham. Keep safe, Ashley
Thanks for this video. I had an incident where I was the one merging in & this older chap was refusing to look at me (I was crawling & indicating) & just drove his car in to mine because he believed he had right of way & I always thought it had been my fault (extremely low speed so no claim made) but now I know it was both our fault really!
A well made educational video, supported by official agency answers to a specific request. Thank you. 🙏
Why the heck is this video sponsered by Primemark?!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣