Do you change lane if you see somebody merging from another road?

Vince M

I'd have to side with your husband on this one. You may have the right of way, but, you also have the resposibility to avoid a collision, regardless of the right of way.

Let me use a more extreme example: Your light turns green, but a car in the crossing street is approaching the intersection at high speed and does not look like he is going to stop. Do you have the legal right to put yourself in his path and let yourself get hit?

The law says "no." Right of Way laws are not written to show which vehicle has the right to occupy any particular part of the road. They are specifically written to indicate which vehicle must YEILD the right of way to another.

In that merge situation, while the law does not require you to change lanes, slow down or speed up, doing any of these things gives you and the other driver more options to make a safe merge. Your insistance on NOT, at least, trying to change lanes if it is safe, eliminates one of those options. What hubby is suggesting is a question of WHY would you want to cut yourself off from an option IN CASE the other driver does not properly yeild to you.

In other words, find a way to leave room so that the other driver can safely merge.

Russ B

It's not bad to not change lanes, because you DO have the right of way. It just makes everybody's day a lot easier if you do merge to the left though. And there are also many aggressive drivers on the roads, so just because you have the right of way doesn't mean that the car that merges will always yield to you, so it helps to drive defensively and give other drivers room for error.

Friendly Stranger..

First of all, I think that he shouldn't critique you on your driving unless you are putting someone else in harms way. It is important to note that everyone has different driving styles. His ways are not like your ways of driving. Everyone is different. Me personally, I do change lanes before the merge comes because I do not want to run the risk of the driver speeding up trying to beat me to the next lane. I just let them merge and once I see its safe to get over then I do so. Some drivers cause accidents when in the merging lane because they drive too fast and they shoot out without yielding to other drivers. Now as it relates to you and your husband, I would just bring this up to him. Let him know that you do not appreciate him critiquing you. You drive different and you may have been taught differently. Drive the way you feel is best but as long as it is safe. If it isn't safe then don't do it but if you drive safely then don't worry about changing your driving style.

flagger

Lots of possibilities here.
Slow down,
Speed up,
Change lanes left.

None are right or wrong, just possibilities.
I think moving left is a good idea but not required.

CIvvy Civ ãƒ„

If there is someone trying to merge from the right, I most certainly try to move to the left lane to make it easier on the merger, and it helps avoid a collision...

The merge lane is called a "acceleration lane" which mean, the driver should be at the speed at which everyone is travelling by the time he is ready to merge.. He shouldn't HAVE to stop (granted, depending on traffic, he may have to)

Within the last 12 months I graduated from a defensive driving course (Young Drivers of Canada)
And they teach you to Move into the left lane to make it easier for the other driver...

Mike K

i hate that. now i can see if that car cant get over but when the driver doesent speed up or slow down. i punch it and cut in front of him.(just enough where he has to hit brakes). just to make him think about doing it again.you just wait one of these days till a 18 wheeler needs to get over. they are the kings of the road and he will push you over.

neonlights1971

I'd say its a nice to get over when a car or whatever truck is trying to get on the main rode..
but if you can't get over thats a different story..
And wouldn't you appreciate if you were coming on to the highway if someone did the same to you??

bungee

look at it this way, if you were the vehicle merging with other traffic would you appreciate it if someone made it safer for you to merge if your answere is yes than why would you be so adamant about not helping someone else. You probably do need to stop driving as your an accident waiting to happen<

JAJ

I will usually try to get over if I can or slow down a little bit if the cars that are merging are going fast. If the cars that are merging are going slow I will sometimes speed up a little bit if I can or move over. I always hate it when people don't get out of the way when I'm trying to merge so I usually try to get out of the way.

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