Community Forums

MRUSA14 · 06-30-2018, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gcamper

Just a question: how can they merge safely if we don’t leave enough space between vehicles for them. Are they just supposed to stop when they reach the end of the merge lane?

If they can’t fit in the space ahead of you, they must slow down and merge in behind you. It is the onramp traffic that must adjust their speed, NOT the highway lane traffic. If the traffic in the travel lane were slowing down at every onramp, all the traffic behind them would need to slow as well, which could back up for miles and cause chaos in the travel lane.

In the travel lane you must hold your speed so that the onramp traffic knows this and can adjust to you. If you are changing your speed they cannot know what you will do next. Unless they know what they can expect you to do they cannot adjust to your speed. By law they should expect you to hold steady speed and adjust their speed to pull out ahead of you or slow down to pull in behind you. That is what a merge or yield is all about.

EdInArk · 06-30-2018, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRUSA14

If they can’t fit in the space ahead of you, they must slow down and merge in behind you. It is the onramp traffic that must adjust their speed, NOT the highway lane traffic. If the traffic in the travel lane were slowing down at every onramp, all the traffic behind them would need to slow as well, which could back up for miles and cause chaos in the travel lane.

In the travel lane you must hold your speed so that the onramp traffic knows this and can adjust to you. If you are changing your speed they cannot know what you will do next. Unless they know what they can expect you to do they cannot adjust to your speed. By law they should expect you to hold steady speed and adjust their speed to pull out ahead of you or slow down to pull in behind you. That is what a merge or yield is all about.

If I'm so close to the car in front of me at highway speeds that a car can't get in, I'm too darned close.

MRUSA14 · 06-30-2018, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdInArk

If I'm so close to the car in front of me at highway speeds that a car can't get in, I'm too darned close.

I totally agree. However, often some jerk will decide that the ample space in front of your motorhome is too big and cut in front of you. The worst is when they do that and then slow down. Now you have too little spece ahead of you. In these cases I always ease off the throttle and drift back to restore the adequate space ahead of me.

radcac · 06-30-2018, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NealC

I've noticed this a lot since RV'ing going on 1 year now...cars when on an onramp coming onto the highway think they have the right of way and the traffic (us in BIG RV's) should yield to them. One time I remained in my lane and maintained speed and the car even honked at me in a rage as if I was supposed to move out of their way. I saw this several times today to the point that I am making an even bigger effort to make the lane change as cars just don't understand who yields to who NOR do they speed up or slow down to merge into highway traffic. I know of a few incidents now of the MH getting hit so I'm making a more concerted effort to avoid this situation. Truly baffling, and yes, I change lanes to open up the inside lane if I can but I can't always do so and prefer not to be the one to slam on the brakes as it's their responsibility to make the merge happen.

Have you noticed this as well in your motorhome travels?

P.S. Yes, I'm aware cinergi just had an incident from this very situation in his New Aire!

Absolutely! People do not know the rules on the road. Also, Ohio drivers appear the worst to me- they will not yield, let you pass or merge in front of them.

EdInArk · 06-30-2018, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRUSA14

I totally agree. However, often some jerk will decide that the ample space in front of your motorhome is too big and cut in front of you. The worst is when they do that and then slow down. Now you have too little spece ahead of you. In these cases I always ease off the throttle and drift back to restore the adequate space ahead of me.

Yeah. My post was sort of tongue in cheek and sort of not

Yes, I try to maintain a safe following distance, but in heavy traffic it can be very difficult. I'll adjust my speed a couple of mph with my throttle to make a safe space in front of me, but I won't be on the brakes in traffic unless I absolutely have to.

I read these threads and see a lot of people saying you should always do one thing or another and never do some things, and that's all well and good. I always have a plan myself, but plans are often only good 'til the first problem -- then they tend to fall apart.

TonyMac · 06-30-2018, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRUSA14

I totally agree. However, often some jerk will decide that the ample space in front of your motorhome is too big and cut in front of you. The worst is when they do that and then slow down. Now you have too little spece ahead of you. In these cases I always ease off the throttle and drift back to restore the adequate space ahead of me.

For those of us who drove semis, (ok, I only did it for about 8 months) this is a natural and normal occurance. So is not being in the right lane in heavy traffic if there's more than two lanes. Some call it the merge lane, but the right lane in heavy city traffic is where people MUST enter and exit the freeway. Usually, in heavy city traffic, there's more than two lanes. So I sidle up in the lane just left of the merge lane, put on some relaxing music, and say unto myself "We might be here a while." I mean, where you got to go anyway? Driving that semi, time was money, not so much in the MH, but what you gonna do? One wreck and you lose more than you'll ever gain. Relax.....

gcamper · 06-30-2018, 08:41 AM

If everyone drove safely and left a safe distance between each vehicle traveling down the highway there would be room for merging traffic to merge. The problem is this rarely happens so the merging traffic has to force their way onto the highway.

ArkanStar · 06-30-2018, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwelveVolt

We are traveling through Quebec this week. The on-ramp traffic does have to cross a dotted line.

People here seem very intense. No one smiles as they zigzag and cut each other off. and that is just the two lanes between the registers and the front door at Costco.

[emoji38][emoji38][emoji38]

Kennzz05 · 08-30-2018, 12:47 PM

To all that think you are supposed to move over and make room here you go...
https://www.facebook.com/twistedtruc...8912640134482/

BirchyBoy · 08-30-2018, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kennzz05

To all that think you are supposed to move over and make room here you go...
https://www.facebook.com/twistedtruc...8912640134482/

At the end, he must be talking about Kyle Clark on channel 9 in Denver. He loves loud jackets.

gvjackson · 08-30-2018, 02:51 PM

Had a car do a panic stop at the bitter end of an on ramp a few days back near Charlotte NC in moderate traffic, and it is hard to imagine how our MH was not towed away along with many more. Their panic stop was not the biggest issue! It was the 3 vehicles behind them winding up to traffic speed, one of which was a light dump truck which ended up in our buffer space as we rolled past. This could have been a NASCAR pile up, but thankfully no damage. I'm honestly left a bit shaken. I saw it developing and had slowed a bit, but far short of what was needed if metal had started crunching in front of us. Too many times I've seen a driver get near the end of a ramp, then look.

RKins · 08-30-2018, 03:35 PM

I was travelling on i-75 Tuesday and had 5 lanes, 2 of which were exit lanes. We were just about halfway past the exit lanes and I'm in the first lane that continues north. I see a car in the 3rd lane over turn on its right turn signal and I tell my wife that this person was going to cut us off. Here they come, I'm talking aloud "no, no, no" as I'm standing on the brakes and they kept coming and we're down to like 45 and finally they realized they weren't going to make it to the exit and they kept going north. Talk about a pucker moment.

Isaac-1 · 08-30-2018, 07:19 PM

While not on a freeway, and I was not in my coach, I saw what can only be described as two idiots today, one I almost hit. I was driving along a 4 lane street in the left lane at noon today, the guy in the car in the right lane next to me accelerated, cut in just ahead of me, then slammed on their brakes in order to make a left turn into McDonalds, instead of slowing down and getting behind me (there was plenty of space behind me, the next set of cars was 200-300 feet back).

The second incident I saw while I was stopped at a traffic light, a woman had just finished fueling up at an old corner gas station, someone was fueling at the second pump in front of her, so while talking on her cell phone she put the car in reverse and backed into the truck that was waiting behind her, she then put the car in drive and ran into the car that was at the second pump. This all took place maybe 25 feet from the side of my car as I was the 3rd or 4th car back from the red light.