Or the zipper, as it’s known in Europe.
Cant’ sleep, so will give you another rant 
The situation from the last week. Roadworsk on A9. I had a drop in the village before it, but I had to stay in the queue on the left lane, as they are queued in one lane only and queue was so long that it stretched well before my exit. Finally, I decided to go to the right lane, go forward this 400 metres and then turn left from the right lane - thanks to nice car driver, who let me go. Saved myself a two minutes or so. So we can see one thing:
If the queue would be on the both lanes, it would be twice shorter, therefore it will start AFTER exit for the village, therefore the people who go to that village would not need to queue, therefore the queue will be shorter!
Ok, but what happened next?
I rejoined the road and there was a queue still. I came to the right lane and go on that lane willing to do a zipper. But the ARR CRAIB driver decided that I should to queue on left lane as well, and he have to punish me for being smarter than he, so he cut in front of me forcing me to brake sharply.
I then had to stay behind him. OK, the traffic in front of him was then smoother, but it does not helped behind us, as people who were on the right lane saw him blocking the whole road and decided to joing the left lanes where they were at the moment, causing chaos and delays for people already on the left lane.
I’ve been so ■■■■■■ that I did something I maybe should be ashamed off - I overtook the CRAIB lorry after the roadworks, then pulled in front of him and slowed down to 40mph before the hill. If he slowed me, I slowed him. But maybe that’s the way to teach idiots to go their own way? If you want to queue on the left lane, do it, but let others drive in civilised way using the zipper method. If the people who do roadworks would like us to cut to the left lane miles before the roadworks, they would put the signs “Merge in turn NOW” miles before the lane ends, not at its end.
But if you are not an idiot, look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jTgv1eL4IY&feature=player_embedded#!
It’s in German, about experiment done to show how it should look like.
Look from 3:20.
You have how it should be done. Both lanes are used to the end, then cars are pulling to the one lane in the same place (ignore cars in the back, they don’t take part in experiment).
See how smoothly it’s going?
Look then from 4:50 or 6:10
You have how it looks in reality:
Cars are cutting to the right whenever they think it’s needed. Agressive drivers from the right lane don’t want to let the “smart ones” get in front of them.
In result you got complete mess, and if there would be more participating cars in experiments, the fluctuations would slow and slow traffic until it will hold to stop. Typical British (or Polish) situation.
Most drivers then would try to stay on the left lane, when some “smart ones” will try to go to the end of the right lane (or opposite, as it’s in Germany) and when pull to the main stream, cause the others to brake.
Now:
I am always trying to use the ending lane to the end. Why?
- if we all change lane in the same place, the left lane would move much smoother, as there will be only one place when fluctuation will occur - the end of the lane - and the disturption for the left lane will be regular - one car vs one car. When we change lane before, there would not be the same place for everyone, as one will realise that he needs change the lane in different place than the other. Therefore if you are on the left lane, you’ll never know how many cars will pull in front of you. Therefore many people would not let the right lane cars to change lane.
- if we queue on the both lanes, the queue will be twice shorter. It’s important for the people who would like to leave the motorway before the road narrows.
- if you want to queue on the left lane, you are free to do so. But if you want to join me on the right lane, you are free to do so also. If every second car will do what I am doing, there will be no issues of “smart ones jumping the queue” as the zipper at the end will work and everyone will go through the obstruction in order.
We in britain pride ourselves on our queueing skills. In 2012, at the London olympics, we expect to get at least 3 gold medals for the best queues in the world. When we queue for say, roadworks, it is our natural instinct to follow the person in front of us, if someone “pushes in” whether in a Post office queue or a road queue, we consider it to be, “not quite the British thing to do” Take a look at the old films of Dunkirk if you don’t believe me.I’m sorry but, having seen queues in other countries around europe, especially russian queues where elbows and knees are used as deadly weapons, I think we are quite civilised!
