Another one of my peeves when driving. I'm on the freeway, driving along in the right lane. As I approach an on-ramp that is coming up on the right, cars joining freeway traffic need to merge with the existing cars on the freeway.
What often happens in these situations, it becomes a competition for the cars coming onto the freeway. They just have to speed up to the extent that they "beat" the nearest car to the merge that is already on the freeway. They can't simply try to match speed and dovetail in behind the car already on the road. Oh no, that would put them ONE CAR BEHIND someone.
The law in Wash. state is slippery on this one, in my opinion. The closest thing that I can find (and it is referred to online by ambulance chasing lawyers) is
Could this apply:
I did find this online article: https://www.king5.com/article/news/...ably/281-ea82df4c-af5f-4ffd-aa45-323b99d73de1
Which is one WSP person's opinion, seems like. In "Lesson 2" she mentions the regular merge yellow sign. That the thicker line is the "boss" - traffic in that lane has the right of way and that it's the responsibility of traffic joining you from the thing line to merge over safely. I never knew this, if it is indeed fact or did the WSP officer just make it up. Because if you look at one of these signs, you can barely tell the one from the right side is actually smaller.
Here is another link, from the same TV station, that describes the confusion:
I've had a couple of experiences where I was driving along in the right lane on the freeway, maintaining my speed, and there was a car that was way back behind me along the on ramp. The driver of that car stepped on the gas, shot up to alongside me, then blew they horn at me when I wouldn't brake, slow down, and let them merge ahead of me. It wasn't a close thing, it wasn't iffy, they were WAY back there, it's just that they subconsciously wanted to make it a contest.
It would be nice if Wash. state legislators would codify this issue as it seems to be of interest to others beside myself.
What often happens in these situations, it becomes a competition for the cars coming onto the freeway. They just have to speed up to the extent that they "beat" the nearest car to the merge that is already on the freeway. They can't simply try to match speed and dovetail in behind the car already on the road. Oh no, that would put them ONE CAR BEHIND someone.
The law in Wash. state is slippery on this one, in my opinion. The closest thing that I can find (and it is referred to online by ambulance chasing lawyers) is
RCW 46.61.205
But I can see this being challenged, due to the reference to "private road or driveway." A freeway onramp is not private.Could this apply:
RCW 46.61.180
Which to me doesn't make any sense, because it requires vehicles on the LEFT to yield the right of way. With traffic merging onto the freeway, VEHICLES ON THE LEFT consist of the on-going traffic already on the roadway. Under some circumstances, this could cause serious slow-downs in on-going traffic.I did find this online article: https://www.king5.com/article/news/...ably/281-ea82df4c-af5f-4ffd-aa45-323b99d73de1
Which is one WSP person's opinion, seems like. In "Lesson 2" she mentions the regular merge yellow sign. That the thicker line is the "boss" - traffic in that lane has the right of way and that it's the responsibility of traffic joining you from the thing line to merge over safely. I never knew this, if it is indeed fact or did the WSP officer just make it up. Because if you look at one of these signs, you can barely tell the one from the right side is actually smaller.
Here is another link, from the same TV station, that describes the confusion:
Expecting drivers to let you merge? They don't have to
Washington state law does not require drivers to give you room to merge. Merging is also not on the state driving test.
www.king5.com
I've had a couple of experiences where I was driving along in the right lane on the freeway, maintaining my speed, and there was a car that was way back behind me along the on ramp. The driver of that car stepped on the gas, shot up to alongside me, then blew they horn at me when I wouldn't brake, slow down, and let them merge ahead of me. It wasn't a close thing, it wasn't iffy, they were WAY back there, it's just that they subconsciously wanted to make it a contest.
It would be nice if Wash. state legislators would codify this issue as it seems to be of interest to others beside myself.