This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Zipper Merge
Nov
8
2023
I was driving yesterday on a freeway that I’m familiar with but haven’t driven in a while. The traffic report said there was a slowdown, so I knew to be ready for that.
Sure enough, there were some brake lights and both lanes slowed. The orange construction sign said “Left lane closed ahead – 2 miles”. I was in the left lane, so I decided to stay in the left lane and see if I could promote the zipper merge.
I stayed in the left lane. The next sign said “Left lane closed ahead – 1 mile”. Stayed in the left lane still. “Left lane closed ahead – 1/2 mile”. Still stayed.
Then the next sign (about T minus 1/4 mile) said to merge. It had no text, so I can’t type what it said, but it was the two lines getting closer picture. So I merged at that point, because that’s when the people setting up the construction zone said to merge.
There were people who merged into the right lane back when the first sign said “left lane closed ahead”. And people merged after that too.
And then there were people who didn’t merge when I did – they kept going in the left lane. And I wondered when they were going to merge. The 1/4 mile came and went, and there was no lane closure. Both lanes stayed open – there weren’t even any barrels set out on the side of the road.
Then I realized one of the benefits of waiting until the merge point to zipper merge, rather than merging at the first sign of an upcoming lane closure: if the lane isn’t actually closed, then you don’t cause unnecessary traffic slowdowns by filling up only one lane.
I wish I could have seen around the larger vehicle in front of me to see the lane never closed, before I merged right.
Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s road, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.
Numbers 20:17
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 6:31 am and has been carefully placed in the Driving category.
