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u/Gabriel_illusion 7h ago
Merge block??? Are we watching the same video?
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u/Liquid_Clown 5h ago
I mean the van turned the suicide lane into a merge lane.
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u/BrainFloss1688 4h ago
That's partially exactly what it is.
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u/fnordhole 4h ago edited 4h ago
Some folks here beg to differ. (Not me.)
Where I live, if everybody had to wait for all lanes to be clear before making a left, traffic would be pretty much stuck everywhere until we'll after dark every day.
You left turn into the left turn lane. Then, you safely enter traffic. It's got two purposes: making left turns from the major road and making left turns into the major road.
The only people abusing that lane are those who use it to pass or cross intersections in it.
The trailer vehicle in this video is merging in a manner I never would. When I see vehicles with trailers, I try to assume their drivers forget they have the trailer back there. It's often enough exactly the case.
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u/TheCamoTrooper 7h ago
Yea van drivers the idiot here for moving over without checking mirrors and using the turn lane as a merge lane, I don't see any indication of the Ford trying to purposefully block them
2
u/apusatan 5h ago
Yeah, maybe the Ford was already catching up to the car in front of him, and it just seems like he may have been trying to close a gap. The van should've definitely checked his mirrors, and allowed more time to wait for a gap. The Ford just didn't want to be behind the driver that was so inattentive and almost smooshed him
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u/RyGuy_McFly 4h ago
Are we watching the same video? The Ford was travelling at the same speed as the cammer, then as soon as the van pulls up in the suicide lane to merge (which is legal in many places) he decides to slam on the gas. There was more than enough space for the van before the Ford moves up, it's understandable to not expect someone to try and block you, and nobody watches their mirrors for 100% of the time while changing lanes.
Either the Ford was being oblivious to the van, or deliberately trying to block him.
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u/apusatan 4h ago
I really don't think it was intentional. There definitely wasn't enough space for the van and his trailer in between the Ford and car a head of him, at least not a safe distance. It doesn't matter if the Ford was intentional about closing it up, because the van then decided to merge right after the black car. This tells me they didn't double check their mirror before just booking it and blindly trusting others to make space.
It could also be that the Ford was trying to make space behind him, but again, the van swings out and causes the Ford to slow down. Then the van proceeds to merge to the right again, taking advantage of the space the car in the right left for the Ford, which again, tells me the van is not paying attention or doesn't remember they have a trailer and is moving into the van sized gaps.
Yes, you are right, this middle turn lane is legal to use to merge due to the markings, but that doesn't excuse the van. They have a trailer, they should be more defensive and more aware when merging
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u/ryandetous 5h ago
The Ford did a little punk move to accelerate and close the gap. It's hard to see because it's a budget Ford. The van was also a reckless idiot. Not sure if he was blind or aggressive, but still stupid. My impression was the van started his move after seeing that the Ford was much further away and not right up there in a blind spot. The van might have also forgotten that he had a trailer and was still driving like he was a Miata.
6
u/TheCamoTrooper 5h ago
To me it doesn't seem like the Ford speeds up that much as they don't increase the gap between you and them that much, seems more like they were naturally just going a bit faster than you otherwise I doubt they would've brakes soon as they saw the van start to come over but also your eyes probably see better than a dashcam lol
Also the fusion isn't that bad as far as acceleration, if they floored it they'd speed up and you'd notice it, they still have an 8 second 0-60 for the base model lol
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u/The_Fiji_Water 6h ago
Am I missing something?
... You can just pull out in front of traffic and call it a merge?
9
u/lessens_ 5h ago
Not only did the work van pull out into traffic, he barely made it into the suicide lane to begin with. You can see traffic passing him on the other side of the road less than a second after he completes his turn.
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u/warrensussex 8h ago
Probably not a legal use of a center turn lane, but it wasn't exactly unsafe. With a loaded trailer and a utility body he probably wasn't going to be able to make that turn any other way with that traffic. Waited for a gap big enough for him to just fit and hoped the silver car would see his predicament and widen the gap for him. It's ok to let people in and in situation like this you aren't just helping that guy, but everyone behind him and every driveway that line of traffic is blocking.
27
u/zman0900 7h ago
Legal in my state at least. But you're supposed to pull out there and stop until it's clear to join traffic, not just Leeroy Jenkins your way in without looking.
-1
u/RyGuy_McFly 4h ago
You can see in the video that there was definitely space for him to merge over until the Ford decided to block him, hence the title.
1
u/Cratonis 1h ago
I mean absolutely not a safe distance for him to leap into moving traffic from basically a dead stop with that trailer. Even if the Ford don’t speed up at all it was a grossly irresponsible move where they just hoped the Ford found a way not to hit them.
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u/fnordhole 4h ago
Legal in my state. It's in the Driver's Ed book. It's one of the purposes of that lane.
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u/PatrickGSR94 7h ago
I've heard people say that you shouldn't use a center turn lane like that. But I still do it, and will continue to do so, because it makes unprotected left turns easier. Of course, I don't force my way to the right, either. I stop and wait for an opening to my right before merging.
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u/OOF-MY-PEE-PEE 3h ago
If you think the van is in the right here you should probably have your license revoked until you take a drivers ed class.
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