Let’s face
it, we don’t have the greatest traffic patterns here in Albuquerque. If you’ve
been living here for a while, you’ve probably accepted that the semi-daily
gridlock is just part of life here.
But if
you’re in a tough traffic situation, it’s important to know how to navigate
through them safely, and with minimal stress.
Changing
lanes is one of the most frequent, yet risky moves to make when you’re behind
the wheel, and different people use different techniques. There are those that
merge early (lineuppers) and those that zoom by at the last second
(sidezoomers). If you find yourself in a tricky lane-changing situation, Lifehacker.com
recommends the following techniques:
- Stay
calm
- Slow
down a bit
-
"Zipper merge"
In the
zipper merge, we take turns getting into the lane and use up all available road
real estate:
All cars
remain in their lanes, using all the real estate. (On the question of frontage roads
and exit-only lanes, the experts waffled; those are arguably part of the real
estate, they agreed, but they are meant for a different purpose, and this
scenario relies upon everybody buying into the same rules. So no frontage-roading
or fake-exit-laning, unless there's a sign specifically instructing otherwise.)
People in the narrowing left lanes refrain from shooting ahead, while people in
the right through lanes — this is hard to swallow, for those of us inclined
toward vigilantism, but crucial — leave big spaces in front of their cars for
the merging that is about to commence. We resist the freeze-out-the-sidezoomer
urge. We prepare to invite them in.
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