Good Question: Why Can't Minnesotans Figure Out The Zipper Merge?

Why does the zipper merge seem so difficult for most Minnesotans? Heather Brown answered this Good Question last fall.

[arthurbrumagem]

I learned how to merge as a 16 yr old in Ohio. I have lived in 6 different states and Mn is the worst for such a simple process. Most come off a ramp at 35mph

[ElCyberWizard]

Coming from Florida the highways here feel a lot different

[williamfriar]

I refuse merge until I’m already up to the barrels. I’m not getting into that super slow traffic in the lane that is remaining open.

[illuninate]

Part of the problem is people doing 40 on an on-ramp while trying to merge on a freeway and everybody's doing 75 plus

[th]

This can't work in the USA where Me First is the golden standard.

[joesiwek]

When I'm driving.alot of people don't use their turn signals. I will let them in. If they got their turn signal on. It's a respect thing.most drivers don't know how to use them

[KitKat-hngd]

Let's talk about people who drive slow in the fast lane

[johnwick-iiil]

Most of the time, the congestion is caused by an obstruction well after the merge point. So essentially the zipper does nothing to speed up the flow of traffic. It just turns one longer line into two shorter lines. But it is still the same number of vehicles that must flow thru the obstruction. There may be a benefit of the shorter lines not blocking side streets, but that doesn't make the lines any faster.

[lesleyk]

The real question is: Why can't people drive well in Minnesota? It's not just zipper merging. Other issues include: people merging slow on the freeway ramp, driving slow in the fast lane and driving too close to people's bumpers. Minor stupid mistakes DO cause major accidents. SMH.

[chozen_]

For one, because they don’t even know what it is and two, because no one looks over towards the direction they are “merging “ until last sec, which is absolutely STUPID!!

[MN_IS_DONE]

Good Question: Why aren't journalists licensed like any other profession?

[nightshade]

I think you're giving people too much credit. I drive 100 miles a day in the cities. It's absolutely stupidity

[sjr]

We'll be having this same conversation when we are all in spaceships and trying to merge with other spaceships, they had the same conversation when people used covered wagons heading to the gold rush in California. A better "Good Question" is "do stupid drivers know that they are stupid drivers?"

[Abandoned_Brane]

You have the narcissists who speed up and try to get in a few cars ahead, and people who just aren't bright enough to figure it out.

[brycejackson]

That's a professional semi driver. I can tell you the zipper merch just doesn't work because people are assholes who don't know how to take turns. And traffic actually moves a lot faster if you merge over to the lane as soon as you see the signs that say lane ends in 2 miles or whatever, the only reason that strategy doesn't work is because all the assholes that think they're better than everybody fly up and try and cut in at the last minute. The zipper merch is actual dog s*** in practice

[chozen_]

He’s a dork ! These ppl just simply can’t drive

[barryklinedinst]

People are rude. They can figure it out. They are entitled little butt heads. That's why

[DickGazInYa]

With a stop sign, do you slowly come to a stop or do you wait until the last second and slam on the brakes? If you are in a grocery store, do you run past someone you see going for a checkout to get in front of them? If you see debris in the road way, do you just approach at the same speed and wait until the last second to evade the obstruction or do you notice it way before hand and calmly slow down to calculate how to go around the object?

The biggest part of driving is LOOKING AS FAR AHEAD AS POSSIBLE. You make decisions based on what the conditions are way out in front of you, you don't just wait until the last second and instantly react, that gets people killed. I swear, a few weekends at a performance driving event would do wonders for drivers these days because the majority do not have any sense of awareness, car control or just basic physics in general.

And btw, zipper merging looks good on paper. It doesn't work in the rear world.

[phacelesshero]

Here's why. Because usually when people see the lane narrowing ahead, they don't wait until last second to merge. So now you have 20 people in the left lane who have been there for a short while. Then you get these Fast n Furious drivers who zoom right up to the bottleneck and expect everyone who's been creeping along to just make room. I always leave a bit early when going for a drive and don't really mind letting 1 person in ahead of me, but I do understand that waiting until the absolute last second to merge is kind of stupid and dangerous. Especially in MN when the roads are often bad.

[_.Leo_.]

There's no law saying I must allow someone in front of me by virtue of them signaling? So why would I? These drivers are terrible.