What do you think of drivers who block others from speeding ahead in a merge?

I do it whenever the occasion demands. In the UK however there are a couple of things to note. It is only legal to carry out this manoeuvre after the first warning sign that there is a closed lane and only until you reach the "merge in turn" sign. If you do so outside these limits you can be prosecuted for causing an obstruction.

Well, the optimal answer would be: Start looking for a spot to merge as soon as you realize that the lane will end, that way, by the time the lane actually ends everyone has already merged and you can maintain a decent speed without traffic coming to a complete crawl.

Traffic STOPS in situations like this BECAUSE there are idiots who are racing ahead trying to get just another 1/4 mile ahead, but then they delay and stop traffic when they have to force themselves into the main lane up ahead.

Anyways, point is, it's not really helping anything. But those a**holes who race ahead in the merge lane deserve to be blocked in and screwed over anyways.

Actually I have no problem whatsoever with people who try to merge at the end, because this is not necessarily a bad idea.

Someone rear-ended my car on the freeway once, and this happened because traffic was slowing down and becoming congested; so the guy behind waited too long to brake after I had begun to brake for slow-moving cars ahead. This is a reminder that heavy traffic volume can cause accidents.

Therefore, when people wait until the last moment to merge that means they're milking the available road space on the highway for all it's worth: they're over in the right lane, which many people have already abandoned to merge left, which means two or three cars' worth of space have now been created in the left lane, thus decreasing the possibility of someone ending up having a car accident exactly like mine.

So the pseudo-righteous indignation and pseudo-heroics of people mentioned in your question and in some answers to your question make me sick.

[Edit: But of course there are thumbs down. I fully expected this.

By the way, why fight cheating with cheating? Isn't this the wrong thing to do?]

I've seen truckers do that on occasion legal or not....they drive side by side and pace traffic so that you don't have to stop but rather drive at a steady albeit lower pace until you can merge. Works good. I'm no fan of people racing ahead just so they can cut in ahead of the other drivers who then have to stop completely instead of just slowing down and gradually merging which is the way it should be. If everyone just merged where they were, traffic would keep flowing. Racing ahead and jumping in is what causes traffic to backup and stop. Whenever I'm stuck in jam in one lane, I usually allow traffic to get some distance ahead and then drive slow or crawl along at a steady pace until I see speeds ahead pick up which to me is better than start, drive a few feet and stop....then repeat a thousand times.

Well, it's always better to merge earlier, but realistically, most people will wait until the last second. It's illegal to pass on the right and it's illegal to take up two lanes...so everyone was in the wrong.

I think the majority of drivers would get really pîssed off and wouldn't take it mildly as a "reminder" to merge. Could lead to road rage, not recommended.

They know they are CHEATING. And it causes massive danger at the merge point! Other are tempted to "pullout" & learn to cheat.. Block them every time. Keep your caution lights on. This provides a safety feature against potential lane robbers and lets them know you are not going to move. It helps your neighbors who are not cheating. It is the right thing to do.

What are they gonna do? Blow their horn? There are four horns on the Town Car. The Town Car takes no back-talk from anyone! Once other cars see it is blocked, they quiet down and keep their place in line and the merging goes much smoother for everyone!

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lyn1136

Whenever I see someone do that, I pump my fist in the air and give a prompt, audible "**** yeah!"

I hate people that try to get a few cars ahead by doing that.