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Highway Lane Closures – Do You Merge at the Last Opportunity or Do You Merge as Soon as You Can After Seeing the Sign?

On Behalf of | Oct 26, 2014 | Crosswalk |

Many people would argue that drivers that merge at the last opportunity before the lane closure are committing a “Jerk Merge;” however, writer Tom Vanderbilt would disagree. Vanderbilt’s book entitled: Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What it Says About Us), argues that if drivers did not leave the soon-to-be-closed-lane until the very point that it actually closed then there would be an orderly and alternating merge that would be as much as 15% faster. Furthermore, he argues that the queue of vehicles stretching back from the closed-lane-construction-site would be smaller.

What do you think Michigan Drivers? Is the last-opportunity-merge a better option for Michigan Road Construction sites and does it offer any safety advantages?