by Frank Miller

Created on: June 09, 2008   Last Updated: January 16, 2009

You're merging onto the highway from the entrance ramp. Simple, right? All you do is adjust your speed to the highway traffic, pick an opening in said traffic, and smoothly merge on to the highway using that never ending entrance ramp to come up to speed. What could be easier than that? Isn't that the way it's taught in driver ed. and the driver's manuals?

Most of us who have driven for over a few weeks, have quickly come to realize that traffic merges can easily range from "piece of cake" to "life-threatening." "Tricky at best" are often the most common. But how many of us have actually thought about the different kinds of merges I mean, really broken it down. A few years ago I decided to figured I'd make it kind of a game.

The first thing I do when I approach a merge situation is determine what type of merge I'm in. If I'm already familiar with the roads I'll already have an idea. If not? I've got to figure it out pretty quickly.

Is it an open merge or a tight merge? Is it a fast merge or a slow merge? This refers to the road I'm merging onto. Oh, and incidentally, how much of a ramp do I have? Always nice to know that. If it's an open merge (traffic not too close together) and it's moving at a normal pace, I can usually drift on in without too many problems. Text book stuff. If it's tighter, I'm going to have to use that ramp to pace myself. I may even be forced to stop and wait for an opening. A short ramp will definitely compound the issue.

It's a slow, tight merge. Traffic is moving slowly and is pretty condensed. This is my second easiest merge. I pull on to the ramp and if I can't find a spot right away, I simply have to wait for one. Tight and fast? Probably going to have to stop and wait for an opening and "nose" myself in, unless I apply the "just go" mentality. "Just go" and hope they're alert enough to jam on the brakes and not kill me.

Second big merge question. How many lanes does that highway actually have?

We want to kind of "Driverthink" about that. Why? Because when you're picking your way into a multiple lane highway, you can't just be focusing on the lane you're merging into. What if you have the perfect opening in your lane, but someone suddenly swerves into it from one of the other lanes? Your opening just went by-by. Now you're at speed, at the end of your ramp, this guy is barreling down on you and you've got no where to go! Oops! How many times have we seen that happen? It's a real "pour on the gas" or "lock the wheels" scenario. Best

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