On 10/08/2015 09:00 AM, Moe DeLoughan wrote:
Actually, you're screwing up traffic when you do that. To maximize
traffic flow, everyone's supposed to use all open lanes as far as they
can, and then perform what's called a zipper merge, where the cars in
the lane next to the closed lane take turns letting the cars in the
closed lane merge. When people are accustomed to doing that, it goes
very smoothly. There's a left-hand zipper merge spot on my evening
commute, and it's no trouble. If you resent other drivers merging in
ahead of you, move into their lane and move on up.

When most people have merged into two slow moving lanes and someone
passes by in the lane that is closed confident he can force his way
ahead of the more orderly drivers it sometimes leads to a situation
called road rage.

The zipper merge works well when all available lanes are moving at the
same speed.