Originally Posted By: HerrStig
The law in many states is that unless otherwise posted the MERGING car has the right of way on a limited access highway.
In practice, the brain dead will run you right into a bridge support rather than yield.
Got a cite? I've always known it as, established traffic has right of way. Quick look reveals the same.
I found
this article which pointed out two states with interesting bits:
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Most states are like NASA and SCCA racing, where there are specific rules giving the right of way to one lane. But Illinois is like LeMons racing, where both lanes are expected to cooperate.
Then there's Texas, which specifically allows merging traffic to drive on the shoulder after the lane, and to accelerate on that shoulder, if it's necessary to secure a spot in traffic.
...
The discrepancies in state law aside, I think that if you asked most people, and particularly most people who identify as "car guys," they'd tell you that safely merging onto a freeway is the absolute and complete responsibility of the cars arriving from the on-ramp. Most of us have a particular loathing for drivers who aren't paying attention, and the typical uncaring merger is the poster child for that sort of behavior. It's frustrating to have to hit the brakes just because the idiot in the CUV coming onto the Interstate isn't paying attention.
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Yet the older I get, the more charitable I'm inclined to be towards those incompetent on-rampers. If you think about it for a moment, you'll realize that merging onto a freeway is the most demanding task most drivers will ever face. They are accelerating up a hill into a situation that requires they look both ahead and behind them. Yeah, a competent operator can look well ahead, observe the position of every vehicle in the lane, and slot right in, but most people aren't very good at looking ahead on the road.
If you want an idea of how far most drivers look ahead on the road, wait until the next time you see a state trooper on the median and watch how late people are hitting their brakes. It's rare to see them display more than forty or fifty feet of forward awareness.
Have to say, that can be pretty true. I can usually tell who's a regular on I89, there are a couple of meridians where troopers like to hang out--regulars do a brake tap, slow down or at least gawk as they go by.
