question about lane changes?

Its called 'merging' onto a freeway, yet them 4 wheelers have no clue as what to do, right.

I never honk my horn air/city @ merging traffic. As a professional driver you should always be aware of your surroundings, merging traffic, etc.. if I see a car coming up on the onramp, I judge my speed to theirs, if I see that they wont make it, I merge, if possible, if not ill ease off a tad to allow them on. Why create a situation that can be avoided by a simple tap of the breaks or a merge to the left.
blasting them w/ a horn might scare them. My luck grandma will freak out, go flying off the freeway into a starbucks and blame me for her stupidity.
I see a lot of idiots haul ### up next to me, and slow down, drive on the shoulder or come to a complete stop. I mean I have no place to go...idiots...

Home sick already..? Pfft talk to me when ya been out 9weeks..

 

I swear it seems most people merging just dont know wtf they are doing and/or reallly aren't even paying attention either...I do whatever I can to NOT hit anybody,but if it comes to the idiot getting ran onto the shoulder or me making a lane change and hitting someone over in that lane,best they just run onto the shoulder(i mean it is just a white line on the road) and maybe they learn something then.....sounds mean but seriously,so slowing down is best,changing lanes but i have had people run on to the shoulder beforeBECAUSE THERE IS NO PLACE i CAN SAFELY GO TO TO SAVE THEIR UNATTENTION PAYING HINEY! OR SLOW IN TIME.i WILL AND DO USE MY HORN WHEN NEEDED(CITY HORN) Thats why you have 2 horns(to get someones attention) In metro areas it really is safer to take the middle lane so everyone can merge and or get around me.

 

I do a lot of 55 mph driving and almost never move over for merging traffic. They have to yield the right-of-way to YOU. If you dive left and tag some kid's tuner (he was doing 90 in a 60 mph zone, right?) you'll be at fault for changing lanes in an unsafe manner. If someone hits you while merging you'll USUALLY be OK- but that varies from State to State. I'm betting on the cops citing the other driver for F.Y.R.O.W. (Failure To Yield The Right Of Way).

 

ive never heard of getting a ticket for merging to the left lane unless its posted no trucks left lane.. and yeah they are suppose to yield or use that pedal on the right called GAS PEDAL

 

Also at least in Calif its againest the law to use any horn unless its a emergancy,tooting a horn to get someone to speed up is a no no,because it cancause a fender bender,so they say.

 

Bigbusman, soon you will be taking a class called SDD which stands for Swift Decisions something or other. It's about the choices you make as a driver. Most of the big cities will have 3 or more lanes, so a good choice might be to move over one lane til I get out of town. I look at the situation like how fast are the trucks running over there, I don't want to slow them down (I run 55 in the big cities- easier to get to 0 miles an hour from 55 as opposed to 65), so I might stay in the slow lane. I will only go over for these merging cars if it is a slam dunk safe and easy for me. Otherwise they are going to have to speed up and get ahead or brake down and wait and play the victim like they invariable do. It's funny, there will be a mile of open road for these guys who are obviously just starting their day at 5am (I've been driving since 2300) we get neck and neck at the top of the onramp/freeway and they slam on their brakes and dive off. Not 10 seconds later you'll see them fly by about 90 miles an hour, I often wonder why didn't they step on it back there when they had the chance, and don't they see I'm only going 55? But they expect us to slow down for THEM and accomodate Them, just do what it takes to not hit them or be hit by them. I got hit by an SUV in my fuel tank so there's no way that could be preventable on my part but it ruins your day, in my case the whole week because it happened the day before New Years Eve which means the shop was closed for 5 days. In a hotel for 5 days making $50 bucks a day. Choices...

 

The fact of the matter is most people merging onto the freeway don't look to see what they're merging into until they are close to, or at the end of the merge lane.
You can see it as they meander down the lane, plenty of space to make a decision, then all of a sudden, BAM! they hit the brakes or speed off like a cat with it's tail on fire!
Why?
They looked in their mirror for the first time and saw BIG TRUCK!
"OH SH.T, I BETTER GET MOVING!"

I tell my students to hold their lane and own their real estate. In most cases if you slow down to accomodate the driver, or move lanes, you are giving up YOUR right of way. You will be held accountable, even if it's only for a citation, if that driver has any incident.
They are required to merge with YOU, not the other way around.
Now obviously, if you can accomodate them SAFELY, be polite and do so.
But OWN YOUR LANE!!!

 

I always merge if the left lane is open,hopefully commen curtisey will rub off,as far as being homesick dont know what to say unless you can bring your family with you

 

This is a touchy subject. Unless there's a sign posted telling through traffic to move over for ramps, merging traffic is supposed to yield to the highway.

I try to move over when I can but sometimes you just can't. If they have to drive on the shoulder for a little bit then so be it. Either speed up or fall in behind me.