We all want to get to work quickly, safely, and enjoyably. After several years now of driving on San Diego’s freeways for the morning commute, here some tips I’ve come up with based on my daily observations.
- When merging into evenly-spaced traffic, slow down to 40mph. This makes it safer for everyone – the cars on the freeway who have to brake to let you out, and everyone behind you who is now worried about how they are going to get out of the on-ramp at such a slow speed.
- When merging into tightly-spaced traffic, accelerate quickly past any space that someone opens up for you. Only the very last 10 feet of the ramp is actually available for merging. It doesn’t matter that you will have to make someone brake hard to let you out. They should have been making a space for you anyway, the rude monkeys!
- When merging into light traffic, be sure to merge in the first 5 feet of the ramp. The dashed white lines between you and the freeway indicates the “bad driver” zone, only bad drivers need that much space to accelerate and move smoothly out.
- If it’s 6am in the morning and pitch black outside, you must be wearing sun glasses so that everyone knows you are a prick. The exemption to this rule is if you are driving a BMW, we already know you are a prick.
Following these rules will make your’s, and my, life on the road much easier. Note though that these are more advanced rules, I am already assuming that you are talking on your cell phone, changing lanes without notice or space to do so, blocking people from pulling out etc. If you aren’t already doing those then I suggest you master them before moving on to the 4 steps above.
Nice. I’ve been working up my yearly drving rant lately. People are such idiots on the road!
It must be so nice to drive in San Diego!
Around Boston, it is customary to come to a complete and total stop on the onramp. Preferably as close to the end as possible. That way those entering behind you that think they are smart to try to enter the same speed as traffic get to slam their brakes once they come around the curve and see you. Also, because of the breakneck accelleration speed of your Toyota after you finally tire of waiting 5 minutes for a giant gap in right lane traffic, everyone in the travel lane also get the opportunity to slam their brakes as you pull in to a 75mph highway at 15.
As soon as you have successfully entered the right lane, ignore the pileup behind you, and immediately cut into the left lane. Thereby those drivers may also experience the joys of slamming their brakes! Proceed in the left lane to your destination, and be sure not to pass any vehicle in the right line.
Thanks, Josh – saved me the bother, and you wrote it much better than I would have done 🙂
1.) How about those who race down that lane that connects a “off ramp” and a “on ramp” at 100 mph cutting off those getting on to the freeway to gain that 10 car length in dead stop traffic?
2.) And how about those who use the off ramp lane to speed to the end and then cut back in?
3.) How about those motorhome trailer draggers that need to be in the left lane, here in Cal you can only be in the right two lanes with a trailer, on a 4 laner or for that matter why are they in the left lane ever?
4.) Those who use the Commuter Lane as there personal advancement lane, dodging in and out as they come to slower traffic, sometimes ignoring 4 solid yellow lane stripes.
All good ones! Thanks guys.