So, I'm getting on the freeway this morning...

[JulesMaximus]

I'm coming up the entrance ramp, accelerating to 65mph which I'm doing handily by the time I'm looking to merge and I have a large space I can move into but there is a car coming up fast in the right lane. Now, I'm way in front of this car and there are cars in front of me that are also merging but the merge lane is ending and this guy is going to have to slow down to let me in or I'm going to have to slam on my brakes and let him by. He's going to have to slow anyway because the car in front of me is already in his lane and going slower than I am.

Anyway, this dickhead comes right up practically alongside me almost forcing me onto the shoulder rather than let me merge. He finally backed off and let me in but I'm still wondering what the point of that was... what the fuck is wrong with people?

Edit-For reference, this is the on ramp. Very short distance to get up to speed and merge here.

 

[MotF Bane]

Ultra-competitive asshole. Letting you in means he lost a single position (if you're on the Duc, a half a position), and that is UNACCEPTABLE.

Then a momentary flicker of sanity popped through his dim brain and he backed off enough.

 

[dank69]

I'm coming up the entrance ramp, accelerating to 65mph which I'm doing handily by the time I'm looking to merge and I have a large space I can move into but there is a car coming up fast in the right lane. Now, I'm way in front of this car and there are cars in front of me that are also merging but the merge lane is ending and this guy is going to have to slow down to let me in or I'm going to have to slam on my brakes and let him by. He's going to have to slow anyway because the car in front of me is already in his lane and going slower than I am.

Anyway, this dickhead comes right up practically alongside me almost forcing me onto the shoulder rather than let me merge. He finally backed off and let me in but I'm still wondering what the point of that was... what the fuck is wrong with people?

90% of people are completely oblivious to the rest of the world around them.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Ultra-competitive asshole. Letting you in means he lost a single position (if you're on the Duc, a half a position), and that is UNACCEPTABLE.

Then a momentary flicker of sanity popped through his dim brain and he backed off enough.

At least he wasn't honking at me, I'll give him that. I was driving the cage. Too cold to ride the Ducati.

 

[waggy]

90% of people are completely oblivious to the rest of the world around them.

Ultra-competitive asshole. Letting you in means he lost a single position (if you're on the Duc, a half a position), and that is UNACCEPTABLE.

Then a momentary flicker of sanity popped through his dim brain and he backed off enough.

either of these are it.

 

[Beev]

I had a similar situation happen once, but I merged anyway. The car in the lane was going really fast, but I HAD to merge because my merge lane was ending, so I did. He had to slow down (but not slam on his brakes or anything) and then he switched lanes and gunned it around me and flipped me off. I just shook my head.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I'm coming up the entrance ramp, accelerating to 65mph which I'm doing handily by the time I'm looking to merge and I have a large space I can move into but there is a car coming up fast in the right lane. Now, I'm way in front of this car and there are cars in front of me that are also merging but the merge lane is ending and this guy is going to have to slow down to let me in or I'm going to have to slam on my brakes and let him by. He's going to have to slow anyway because the car in front of me is already in his lane and going slower than I am.

Anyway, this dickhead comes right up practically alongside me almost forcing me onto the shoulder rather than let me merge. He finally backed off and let me in but I'm still wondering what the point of that was... what the fuck is wrong with people?

Since you're entering, shouldn't you yield to traffic already in the lane?

 

[slayernine]

Yeah but if I lose my position I'm never going to get to 1st position in this rush hour race. NOBODY PASSES MEEEEEEEEE!!!!

 

[manimal]

hey be glad it didnt end up in an accident. I was lane splitting in 96 on the 405 and a guy opened his driver side door because he was pissed I was moving and he wasnt.


Road rage was invented in SOCAL

 

[herrjimbo]

people are assholes. it would be nice if they let you merge, but they don't have to. legally, they have the right of way. kind of odd since one has to accelerate to get on.

i just try to gauge speed with distance and merge the best i can.

 

[Wyndru]

Ultra-competitive asshole.

This. It's a common occurrence unfortunately, I call it the race horse mentality. When the horse is out in front they tend to run slower, but when they are behind another horse they try to speed up to pass or block. It basically sums up how I feel about most drivers on the highway.

 

[bfdd]

hey be glad it didnt end up in an accident. I was lane splitting in 96 on the 405 and a guy opened his driver side door because he was pissed I was moving and he wasnt.


Road rage was invented in SOCAL

truth, i've actually followed fucks that have pulled shit like this on me down yelling and throwing shit at their cars the whole time.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Since you're entering, shouldn't you yield to traffic already in the lane?

Like I said, I had plenty of space to merge but the door was closing because this guy was going way over the speed limit. I didn't actually move over until he backed off but I was just about out of options at that point and would have been forced onto the shoulder.

He was probably doing 80-85mph by my estimate. The guy in front of me was doing maybe 60mph and I was catching him up as we were merging. I didn't want to cut the guy off but he wasn't giving me any indication of slowing.

 

[Vic Vega]

Happens every day where I live. The highway designers here decided that the actual highway space pre-off ramp and post-on ramp can be the same piece of highway! Fantastic. So you have have people frantically trying to merge onto the highway and merge off of the highway in what's typically a 50 yard space, maybe 100 yards at the most. Many, many interchanges are setup that way here.

What really annoys me is when I need to get off and can see the off ramp, maybe 100 yards out. But before I can get to it, some buffoon merge into traffic from the on ramp going 40 MPH - so I have to slam on the brakes and creep along at 40 MPH to the off ramp, hoping I don't die before then.

 

[SP33Demon]

You should have merged and made him slow down. Only passive manlets merge from the shoulder lane.

 

[slayernine]

I had a similar situation happen once, but I merged anyway. The car in the lane was going really fast, but I HAD to merge because my merge lane was ending, so I did. He had to slow down (but not slam on his brakes or anything) and then he switched lanes and gunned it around me and flipped me off. I just shook my head.

I find when it comes to merging you need to convince the other driver that you ARE going to merge whether they let you or not. Assuming that the other driver most likely doesn't want to get in a collision they will back off.

Now take that with a grain of salt, I encourage you to try and be reasonable if at all possible. Some guys just don't get that if you don't want to let people merge that you get the hell out of the lane they are merging into... Those idiots need to be shown that people don't put up with their bullsh*t.

 

[amish]

did he proceed to tailgate you after he let you merge too?

 

[Chrono]

HEY ASSHOLE. You're one car spot ahead of me in my lane... THAT's MY SPOT! *snickers*

 

[JulesMaximus]

did he proceed to tailgate you after he let you merge too?

No, he backed off.

 

[MotF Bane]

I find when it comes to merging you need to convince the other driver that you ARE going to merge whether they let you or not. Assuming that the other driver most likely doesn't want to get in a collision they will back off.

Now take that with a grain of salt, I encourage you to try and be reasonable if at all possible. Some guys just don't get that if you don't want to let people merge that you get the hell out of the lane they are merging into... Those idiots need to be shown that people don't put up with their bullsh*t.

If the other driver isn't bothered by the prospect of a collision, in favor of proving you wrong, not giving up the position, thinks you're going to be slow, or whatever reason, then you're going to be having a bad day.

 

[slayernine]

If the other driver isn't bothered by the prospect of a collision, in favor of proving you wrong, not giving up the position, thinks you're going to be slow, or whatever reason, then you're going to be having a bad day.

I guess we need to find an ultracompitative ass-hole and get his opinion on what he would do.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Oops, sorry. I was talking on my handsfree while reading my email and didn't see you trying to merge.

 

[mmntech]

Tractor trailers do this all the time out here.

 

[BoomerD]

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/merg_pass.htm#mergingpassing

And the law about that:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21804.htm

V C Section 21804 Entry Onto Highway

Entry Onto Highway

21804. (a) The driver of any vehicle about to enter or cross a highway from any public or private property, or from an alley, shall yield the right-of-way to all traffic, as defined in Section 620, approaching on the highway close enough to constitute an immediate hazard, and shall continue to yield the right-of-way to that traffic until he or she can proceed with reasonable safety.

(b) A driver having yielded as prescribed in subdivision (a) may proceed to enter or cross the highway, and the drivers of all other vehicles approaching on the highway shall yield the right of-way to the vehicle entering or crossing the intersection.

Technically, under California law, neither of you has the actual right-of-way...the freeway on-ramp is considered to be its own "traffic lane" that merges with the rightmost lane on the freeway...

http://www.pe.com/local-news/column...as-right-of-way-when-merging-onto-freeway.ece

BUT, at the same time, the traffic in the lane has right of way over merging traffic...you must yield to them until it's safe to merge...

Among other duties, when I worked for the electrical utility, I used to teach the Class A drivers license course for everyone who was required to obtain such license. Everything from the rules and regulations (class time) to how to actually drive the vehicle, how to back up a trailer, and how to properly inspect such a vehicle before driving.

 

[bfdd]

I guess we need to find an ultracompitative ass-hole and get his opinion on what he would do.

I've refused to move for dipshits on the road, rather let them hit me than continue to encourage their shitty driving practices.