My vent for the day...

[Hi Lo Silver]

I think you're right Eric.

If I am travelling the speed limit in the far right lane next to a merge lane, I will NOT slow down or speed up for you to merge.  You should be up to speed and driving to merge safely.  I think if you merge into me, I wont be held at fault.  This is a huge problem coming off of Anderson coming onto Mcleod, people in the far right lane try to merge into the left as the offramp turns, why do people think its ok to merge in the middle of a turn?

This is exactly what I'm referring to. But I also want to point out that part you said about me merging into you and being at fault. I said I don't shoulder check but I do use convex mirrors. My reason for where the accident will occur and the two vehicles hit will determine who would be at fault as far as I'm concerned. If I merge into you I'd be at fault. I agree. If I hit your vehicle from the center to the back then I've merged into you and should have slowed down to enter behind you. My fault.

If you hit me while I'm merging from the center of my vehicle to the back then as far as I'm concerned you'd be at fault for not eazing off that little bit knowing that I was ahead of you already. Not slowing down but eazing off a bit. Smal difference in my book. Your fault.

I constantly have people trying to merge off Macleod and onto Anderson daily. I leave room for the one person that may have the lead on me but if people are tail gating that person they'll find themselves squeezed back into the merge lane or hitting the curb at the end.

Now while I'm merging though, I've jumped the curb on 2 occassions to burn around a person that's stopped away from the end of the merge lane. That's my risk, but I hate hitting the binders because some foul have lost the nerve to blend in and has now lost the speed to do so savely.

I must be doing something right with my methods, because I've only ever been flipped the bird by someone about 5 times and all five would have been thier fault without a doubt. Not bad for 0ver 30 years of  of driving. I just put those five drivers off as probably originating somewhere other than Calgary. One of those ended up with a caved in door from my boot, when they sped past me on the curb to get away.  Then I notified the police that they may have a complaint coming in soon. Never heard from them at all. That was also when I was about 18 years old. 2 of the others I explained to them how their fingers could get broken if they flip off the wrong person.

[dunl]

If you hit me while I'm merging from the center of my vehicle to the back then as far as I'm concerned you'd be at fault for not eazing off that little bit knowing that I was ahead of you already. Not slowing down but eazing off a bit. Smal difference in my book. Your fault.

You're going to have a hard time proving in court that you judged the distance correctly....it is YOUR responsibility to merge into an opening in traffic that allows you to merge.  It is not your choice to merge in a point where you think it is reasonable for others to ease off and let you in.

That being said, of course, if some idiot decides to close a safe gap, their fault.

[Rubi03 jef]

You're going to have a hard time proving in court that you judged the distance correctly....it is YOUR responsibility to merge into an opening in traffic that allows you to merge.  It is not your choice to merge in a point where you think it is reasonable for others to ease off and let you in.

That being said, of course, if some idiot decides to close a safe gap, their fault.

merging is the full responsibility  of the person merging .  im sure i read it somewhere that to properly merge  into another lane you must signal speed up match speed and enter in a space bigg enough with out causeing any disruption in the other drivers in that lane

that being said ..
i know if im on the high way and theres a space in the middle lane then i move over because it makes everyone elses life easyier . same for all the bigg riggs if i see there flasher on ill make sure they have more then enough space  even if i have to slow down and because we all know thoses things dont get up to speed as easy as someone in there rig rocket or little G35

[Hi Lo Silver]

I'm really not sure how long you guys have been driving in Calgary. A number of years ago the city of Calgary actually had signs posted at various locations along merging lanes. It was a sequence of about 4 signs spaced out so people could read them safely as they drove by.

The signs started where the merge lane started to come into traffic. The entire lesson they had on the signs even stated. At these signs both drivers have the same  rights. I think they also stated to speed up to traffic.

One more thing to remember if you're going to be really stubborn about it, remember the driver to your right has the right of way at an uncontrolled intersection. If you come down to it a merging lane might just be classed as uncontorlled. No stop sign, no yeild sign, and no lights. Keep that one in mind. Different situation maybe but it still may hold in court too.

So with your attitude towards merging lanes I guess if the middle lanes are going slower than the posted speed limit and traffic is backed up (and we all know that happens) then I guess the people in the merging lane will have to wait till after rush hour because you won't slow down to let people in. Welcome to Calgary. That's the way it is now that original Calgarians are rare.. 

[Immortal]

At these signs both drivers have the same  rights.
One more thing to remember if you're going to be really stubborn about it, remember the driver to your right has the right of way at an uncontrolled intersection. If you come down to it a merging lane might just be classed as uncontorlled. No stop sign, no yeild sign, and no lights. Keep that one in mind. Different situation maybe but it still may hold in court too.

Contradiction?

Merge = both drivers having equal rights.
Yield = vehicles in main flow of traffic have right of way.

[Hi Lo Silver]

In this situation both lanes are main flow. One lane just happens to end prior to the other, forcing the merger to move over.

Anyway, I finally found a file that would prove my point  of both drivers have equal rights. Page 6 in this file.
http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/roads/2008_traffic_tips_booklet.pdf

[LifesGrand]

In this situation both lanes are main flow. One lane just happens to end prior to the other, forcing the merger to move over.

Anyway, I finally found a file that would prove my point  of both drivers have equal rights. Page 6 in this file.
http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/roads/2008_traffic_tips_booklet.pdf

My thought has always been, there should be sponsored commercials ran by the Gov or AB registry with traffic tips (traffic law) as refreshers for those whom seem to forget.  i.e. right of way...  Just like this link ^^^ Or like those old signs on the road explaining how merge works, just little traffic tip reminders for those who passed but should have failed!!! Instead I see useless, uninformative commercials like that greasy dude on the Poppa Johns commercials or the annoying TELUS commercials over & over & over...

[JackstandJohnny]

Silver i definitely agree with ya on a few things, first off:  your right, not many people driving here have been driving in Calgary long; this city has changed 100 fold in the last 10 years.  and second: no there are not many Calgarians left. they are indeed a rare breed. infact everywhere i go, people ask where i'm from, and i say 'Calgary' and i get 'oohs' and 'ahh's  i half fawken expect some damn Japanese tourists or something to start snapping some pics.

You're going to have a hard time proving in court that you judged the distance correctly....it is YOUR responsibility to merge into an opening in traffic that allows you to merge.  It is not your choice to merge in a point where you think it is reasonable for others to ease off and let you in.

That being said, of course, if some idiot decides to close a safe gap, their fault.

just to reiterate, if you turn your wheels and drive into me, your fault. i don't really care if you ran out of merge lane or what not. if u expect me to hit the brakes to let you in instead of u accelerating into an open spot, enjoy that one in court.
if i speed up to close a gap that you are clearly merging into, i rear end you....... my fault. simple.

[hps4evr]

funny how us as responsible 4 wheel drive enthusiasts we do our best to drive in a careful manner so as not to attract anymore attention to ourselves. we all know if one guy in a jeep drives up over the curb to pass someone we all get labeled as the type to do that sort of thing. and it will just add fuel to the fire. yet someone like this guy in the mustang obviously has no clue what kind of image he is imposing on everyone around him. next time you see someone in a mustang you'll think hes going to pull some lunatic driving technic. which results in everyone in our society thinking the same way, kinda like sheep ya know;) we as jeepers know this all too well. or, like BMW drivers that have no idea what the turn signal thingy is...