Many stop and wait at the end of the on-ramp until somebody stops to “let them in”.
A major contributors to traffic congestion is the inability of a most at the wheel to pay enough attention to traffic to merge without disrupting traffic on the highway and motorways.
Merging requires cooperation and coordination.
- Those in the main traffic stream to which traffic is to merge must maintain adequate space in front of their car to provide a safe stopping distance and an opportunity for one (1) other vehicle to merge into the gap at the next on-ramp. Most on-ramps are preceded by off-ramps allowing some vehicles to leave, creating a larger gap than normal. If one doesn’t close the gap until after the end of the on-ramp, it gives merging traffic a chance to merge easily into that larger gap.
- Traffic should merge on a 1:1 basis in dense traffic; with flow from the on-ramp matched vehicle-for-vehicle with that in the lane of the continuing road.
- Those who wish to merge must match their speed to that of the traffic on the road and position their vehicle so that it’s aligned with a gap in the traffic before the on-ramp lane ends
When those on the continuing road fail to leave a gap, they contribute to congestion because traffic will attempt to merge more slowly and with a greater potential of a mishap; resulting in perhaps hours of delay while emergency vehicles struggle to respond to a crash.
Passengers at the Wheel 