What is so confusing about highway on ramps?

[rwsmith]

An ironclad rule....

Avoid eye contact, either directly or through mirrors. Stare straight ahead as entering the highway. Other cars will have to avoid you. And NEVER signal your intentions.

 

[Tom K]

A lot of highway designs suck because when they designed them, they thought traffic would look like this:

When in reality it looks like this:

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

The person that came up with the American version of a Round About, should be forcibly sterilized, without andesitic, on live TV, at 5:30 PM! Let this be a warning to all would be "Traffic Engineers"!

Ivan

 

[Protocall_Design]

The person that came up with the American version of a Round About, should be forcibly sterilized, without andesitic, on live TV, at 5:30 PM! Let this be a warning to all would be "Traffic Engineers"!

Ivan

Same for the one that came up with the crossover overpass!!!

 

[walkinghorse]

Cloverleaf exits and entrances, where vehicles are decelerating to exit, and acceleratingto enter in the same space. As noted previously traffic loads were grossly underestimated, but even with a few vehicles, it is an accident looking for a place to happen! ��

 

[rags]

I routinely see two types of merging failures using on ramps:

Type 1) Driver completely ignores the fact there is a on ramp that allows you to gain speed to merge. Driver makes a full stop at the beginning of the on ramp then tries to merge into highway speed traffic from zero MPH.

Type 2) Driver accelerates down the on ramp, but makes no effort to regulate speed to merge into traffic. Upon reaching the end of the ramp without merging, driver slams on brakes, then attempts to merge from zero MPH at end of ramp.

Both should be automatic four points in my opinion. Totally avoidable problems with potentially severe consequences. I just don't understand it.

^^^ THIS ^^^

...is why mounting a rocket launcher to your vehicle should be legal!

 

[ameridaddy]

If on/off ramp design and the prevalence of 2 lane HOV's ending and merging into 3 lanes is any indication, Virginia DOT engineers aren't.
My pet peeve on highway design is a closing radius on-ramp, where the ramp design forces the driver to slow down when he should be able to accelerate to merge into oncoming traffic.
The other thing is that the driving section of our state test for a driver's license never goes near a high speed road, highway or have any requirement to successfully make a merge. All the candidate does is drive around the block wherever the local DMV office is located. IOW, all the teenage darlings have a right to drive. It most certainly is no longer a privilege.

The result of this untaught, untested skill is a plethora of drivers who creep to the end of the merge lane begging for mercy from oncoming traffic and stop, as described above, and the rude me-first types who, wanting to exit onto an off-ramp, pass and then wedge in front of a driver trying to leave the on-ramp, then slam on brakes in front of that poor schlub who needs to accelerate from the on-ramp into mainline traffic.

Part of this is due to the awful design of the above aptly-named "Cross of Death", but if the exiting driver would swallow her pride, slow down and drop in behind the on-ramp merging driver instead of cutting in front, the exchange would be much smoother and safer.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I apologize as it seems Ruthie has meandered into you folks' territory.

She does get around.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Just because you drive does not mean that you have a license.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Avoid eye contact, either directly or through mirrors. Stare straight ahead as entering the highway. Other cars will have to avoid you. And NEVER signal your intentions.

My wife does that, but because there are no solid objects at the speed of light at which she travels.

 

[Gaffer]

The reason that there are so many idiot drivers is because our population is full of idiots. Darwin defined it and it is working. Those who do not have common sense are soon weeded out at these on ramps and the gene pools is one seed cleaner.
Many years ago I took a week long driver training course at Southern Connecticut State College. It was a splendid course with video of your driving and various skid courses to maneuver and practice on.
The basic idea was that you as a driver can manipulate the other drivers to some degree with your actions and maneuvers. As to on ramps I agree that many have no clue. Either they were never told or they are just plain idiots. Use your signals accelerate and merge. Sure there will be those who attempt to prevent your merging, but either accelerate ahead of or slow enough to move in behind.
As I said driving is a method to clean the gene pool. With luck you can watch it happen without your being a part of the action.

 

[jbtrucker]

You are supposed to merge with the flow of traffic if you can . Don't haul off the ramp and cut in front of another vehicle , especially a truck when there is plenty of room to merge behind them.

 

[sar4937]

Our roads dept. recently introduced the "weave" to our state in construction areas. Now the on ramp drivers feel it is highway traffic's duty to accommodate their merge. They make no eye contact, and take no notice of traffic speed. Quite a few are texting.

 

[dockmurgw]

I always try to hit the end of the on ramp doing the same speed as everyone on the highway. But then there's the obnoxious ***'s that refuse to speed up, slow down or move over to allow traffic to merge. And don't even get me started on the clueless ones that cruise along in the passing lane going no faster than everyone in the travel lane.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Dad taught me to swim with the rest of the salmon.

 

[ladder13]

Old time gear head here. Most all vechicles I own/ever owned come with the big engine and I'm not loath to use it.

...........

Those LS and LT engines come in handy some times.

 

[shouldazagged]

Believe it or not, we still have one on ramp here that requires you to merge from the left, into the passing lane, on the busiest interstate in the city.

I was good at merging smoothly into traffic, but that one scared the polyester fiberfill out of me a few times.

Why the hell they haven't rectified that baffles me.

 

[LVSteve]

Most drivers can only do one thing at a time. Getting onto the entrance ramp is one thing. After doing so, they can drive down the entrance ramp. Getting onto the highway is a third thing done in its proper order. Therefore, they come to a stop and work on that one thing. Doing all three together is mind boggling and cannot be done.

I blame that on the Stop sign routine being hammered into everybody. Nobody is taught to anticipate the traffic, because you are all going to stop in a few yards. That's why you get idiots either stopping on roundabouts or blasting on when they shouldn't because there is no Stop sign.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

While I generally attempt the high-speed approach of post #4, and almost always find it safe and non-challenging, I believe that most problems occur because NEITHER driver is willing to be the one who slows down and falls in behind the other. While I believe that the high-speed APPROACH is the safest, one must ALWAYS be ready to slow down or even brake when that will result in a safe merge.

I believe that stupidity is one cause of difficult merges, but ego is another.

 

[johngalt]

Experiences similar to those posted is one of the reasons I still treasure my old Tahoe. Everyone else on the road thinks it is just an old behemoth of a truck. That guy in the fancy Audi usually decides he better not cut me off.

One of the more common examples of driving ineptitude I see is people who can't judge spaces. I often see people who refuse to drive between lanes of cars even though there is plenty of room.