Are people that ignorant?

Question

Okay, can someone who does this please tell me why. When you are merging onto a major freeway (highway) from an on ramp; why do you not look to see if a car is already in the merge lane before merging? You just keep driving, never slowing down and just expect the person who already is ON the highway and technically has the right of way to let you in. Is it a "If I don't look and see them; then they're not really there" mentality?

Answer 1

It has been my experience that a lot of people have their outside mirror adjusted so they can see behind them (like for backing-up) instead of to the left of their car.  About 20% of drivers have their mirror adjusted this way.  This makes it difficult for them to see when merging.  I hope some of them read this and readjust their mirrors.

Answer 2

Some people are oblivious.

Answer 3

Yes, unfortunately, many people are that ignorant.

Answer 4

Yes stupid too....so just know your not in that group and help with evolution and have them end their existance,,,

Answer 5

It's a time when people should work together to make it safe. But some people just can't understand.

Answer 6

I think it's more ignorant to keep driving down the merge lane when people are trying to merge. Maybe there trying to give you a hint.

Answer 7

Yes, people are that ignorant!

Answer 8

im not one of them so i cant really help...

but i have a sugestion, do like i do, drive your truck with the snowplow on it... they notice that... and if they do what you described, push them off the highway.

becuase the truck with the biggest plow ALLWAYS has the right of way.

Answer 9

You have to remember that most driving schools DO NOT teach students how to merge onto a highway because it's not required for the road test (at least it isn't in NY or NJ). So yes, it's ignorance.

To get a CDL, the road test that you have to pass is alot more involved than the regular one. If the NYDMV was to change the road test and include HALF the things on the CDL test, the roads would be EMPTY, because most people wouldn't be able to cope with the extra effort that test requires.

Answer 10

In my Jeep, I make an honest attempt to merge.  In my father's Audi A4, or mother's BMW, I'm usually at or above the posted speed limit and can adjust to find a hole in traffic.

Some people panic, and I've been more than once been tempted to get out of the vehicle and beat the stuffing out of someone who stopped on a ramp in a panic.

And sometimes I've had to blunder on, trusting people to avoid me.  A 350 horse diesel engine isn't going to give a tractor trailer with a gross weight in the 80,000# range the same acceleration as a 1600# Cabriolet with a 90 horsepower engine.

Legally, I should probably yield, which would mean stopping.  If I force you over a lane, and get the finger from you, I'm better off than I am for the lawsuits from the six or seven soccer moms that rear ended me and eachother because they were too busy yapping on their phones to notice my brake lights.  I also expect to get shot for stopping on the entrance ramp while I wait for a hole in the traffic that I can pull into.

In my car, or my parents' vehicles, I try to aggressively accelerate through the ramps and merge smoothly.  In larger trucks, or towing larger trailers, particularly with some of the more deficient ramps, that isn't an option.

I should also point out that it's pretty seldom that the traffic in the right lane of any major city is anywhere near the speed limits of the freeway.  You try getting a 40,000# truck from the posted speed of 45 on the service road up to 70 as you head down an entrance that's about 20' long and diverges from the service road at a 60 degree angle; try doing it with a regualar car, see if you're above the speed limit of the highway when you have to figure out how to tactfully merge in.

Insurance companies usually assign blame in accidents to the last driver that had an opportunity to avoid the collision.  Insurance companies, through lobbyists, also make most of our driving laws.  Did you have the ability to let the vehicle on, did you have the ability to avoid the collision, at what point did it seem like a better idea to hit the other collision vehicle than, as witnesses state, you could have simply moved over and taken another exit?

Make room for trucks, idiots, dunces, and soccer moms in a panic.  It's easier and less inexpensive; consider it the automotive equivalent of having decent manners.