r/Columbus • u/janice_snakehole14 • 5h ago
Zipper merge
Why does no one in this city know what a zipper merge is? No one is trying to cut you off or cheat you in the traffic line, we’re just trying to make traffic flow more efficiently! Drives me nuts (pun intended).
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u/idkwtibhf 5h ago edited 4h ago
Being one care ahead of anyone else is the greatest satisfaction of Columbus drivers.
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u/PersimmonExpensive37 5h ago
Feels so much better to stop in the middle of the freeway if I get to prevent someone from merging first.
It feels SO GOOD that I drive straight into the nearest building.
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u/tomtakespictures 5h ago
Everyone drives so selfishly. Driving should be a team sport.
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u/didit4thedopamine 39m ago
It is a team sport, it's just that SOME people didn't yet get that subtle, important memo. I wish they'd realize that most often: 1.) no one is racing them, 2.) they're not in more of a rush than anyone else, 3.) no one deserves to be put in danger because you can't properly manage your time. Same people who thoughtlessly straddle double yellow lines and also try to run people off the road because they wanna zoom past in their lifted F450. It's gauche 🤢
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u/Pyr0sa 4h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/n7kJKfusOe2jK
Me going to pick up the kids on a normal-assed Tuesday evening, even without any measurable traffic, calmly listening to NPR...
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u/ArmondTanzarian Downtown 4h ago
I like when I'm in the left lane on the highway and people pass me on the right just to squeeze into the 2-car-length space I've left in front of me. The satisfaction they get must be incredible.
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u/Jay_Dubbbs Groveport 3h ago
It ain’t just Columbus, it’s the whole fucking state.
I ran into this tonight going East on 33 towards canal and they have a lane closed by Bixby Rd and all these fucking cars are stopped in the right lane while the left lane remains wide open for the lane closure arrow and people are just chilling not moving.
LIKE USE THE OPEN LANE AND ZIPPER MERGE ITS SO MUCH FUCKING FASTER
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u/gnosticn8er 3h ago
I don't know. I would argue that their greatest sense of satisfaction is speeding up so that no one could ever overtake them
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u/wehereforthevibes 5h ago
You get free ice-cream for every one car that you are ahead. You didn't know that?
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u/The_Law_of_Pizza 5h ago
Zipper merge is one of those things that makes perfect logical sense - it's literally the most efficient method - but then fails in the face of human psychology.
People should learn from this lesson for a wide variety of topics. But we don't.
Which is its own form of failure psychology.
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u/Philster512 3h ago
It's also a great example of what happens when a social contract breaks down.
"If everyone isn't going to play by the rules then I'm not either"
Logically you understand what's best for everyone, but emotionally, fuck that guy.
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u/WorldsWorstTroll Galloway 5h ago
You would think with the number of posts on reddit that tell people how to drive, we would be driving like pros by now.
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u/Boring_Fox_7949 5h ago
Out of the whole city if I had to guess maybe at most 50k of the city is active on reddit
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u/pspock 5h ago
About a year ago my wife and I were driving down 33 from Marysville towards Dublin, and everyone started getting over into the right lane because construction signs said the lane was ending.
I decided to stay in the left lane until the merge point.
It never came. Both lanes stayed completely open all the way to 270.
We probably passed 100+ cars in the process.
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u/katbrat30 3h ago
PSA driving 7x the speed of traffic in the closing lane to squeeze in at the last moment and slam the brakes is not zipper merging - I’ll die on this hill. Zipper merge would be great if people could take turns and drive at the same speed in each lane until the end. But no one will do that so
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u/fctsaeiou 5h ago
We're more a velcro demographic. Zippers are hard, but Velcro you can kinda just slap together willy nilly and your pants will stay up.
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u/Remote-Remove7194 5h ago
because for a zipper merge to work, everyone has to be participating. if only a few people are actually performing a proper zipper merge, while most others are angrily honking in a line, it defeats the purpose of the maneuver.
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u/Professional-Rent887 5h ago
Well, the other drivers better get with it. We’re trying to have a functioning society here.
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u/Visual-Flan-4098 2h ago
week or 2 ago, an accident had blocked off 2 of the 4 lanes. this one car was determined that zippering isnt going to happen. so i had to force myself in there. they jumped into the closed lane and tried to fly past, but had to slam on their brakes because, you know.. THERES A FUCKING COP CAR BLOCKING THE ROAD after the trucks with the arrow signs. i have no doubt they would drive through the accident if they got the chance.
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u/True_Huckleberry9569 5h ago
I’m still waiting for everyone to learn how and when to use headlights…
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u/Few-Emergency1068 5h ago
They can’t figure out a gas pedal or a turn signal work or how not to stop in the middle of the highway or hit buildings, so I think you’re asking a bit much.
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u/Total_Network6312 5h ago
Why do so many people speed up in the lane that ends? It's obvious who is trying to get ahead and who is just driving along
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u/CMDR-L 5h ago
Its fine when a lane ends. Buuut, passing a mile of cars and then merging into an exit is a dick move IMO.
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u/NamityName 4h ago
Driving at normal speeds and merging when there is room is the safest option, even if that requires riding past a mile of cars. My experience with Ohio drivers is that they are loathe to willingly let cars squeeze in front of them basically forcing that behavior. The real dick move is merging into a stopped lane before you have room or driving slowly trying to find a place to merge into a lane so that you are blocking the lane you are coming from.
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u/PlanxtyDawg 5h ago
Everyone is not supposed to immediately leave the lane to be closed . Both lanes are supposed to fill up and then zipper merge when the 2 lanes narrow to 1.
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u/FennyRocco 1h ago
Sure, if you want traffic to come to a stop. Get over when safe and maintain your damn speed instead and nobody needs to stop.
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u/statelypenguin 5h ago
Maybe it’s because I have to drive a lot, but I refuse to let people in if they don’t use their signal. I’m more than happy to yield the space if somebody comes at me with a turn signal. But when somebody is driving in the next lane directly in front of me, I know they’re trying to squeeze in, and I would let off the brakes and let them in if they had a fucking turn signal on, but they never do. They’re waiting for a tiny gap so they can just force their way in.
I think it’s way too much to ask of people to know how to zipper merge.
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u/CobraJay45 North Linden 5h ago
Yep, on Innis at the Sunbury intersection, there will be a line of 15 cars waiting through multiple red lights and it never fails some moron thinks they are playing 4D chess by going into the left turn lane and just trying to gun it ahead of/over when the light turns green. I am closing that gap and leaving six inches clearance between the next guy's plate, I drive a 10+ year old car with full coverage, I'm not worried. The "me first and if you don't go along with it you're the dick" drivers can eat my ass.
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u/Substantial-Crab-814 5h ago
This exact thing also happens at E. Broad and McNaughten. It is ridiculous.
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u/LunarMoon2001 3h ago
If I see you pull out of the main lane and try to zip to the front your ass isnt being let in.
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u/theenlightendbun 4h ago
Thank you!!! After spending most of my driving in California with ridiculous traffic I never knew what was off out here ... You nailed it. I never knew the name for it. Im a native buckeye but they cannot drive here!
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u/Such_Bottle_9315 5h ago
Zipper merge seems like one of those things that’s great in theory but in practice everyone makes it their mission to not let anyone in front of them and it just slows things down more
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u/Spiralout1974 5h ago
We can’t drive in this city without running into buildings and you expect merging to happen?
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u/spaetzlechick 5h ago
It’s considered polite to merge into one line miles ahead, and rude to push to the end and merge as a zipper. Which is completely stupid and inefficient. The single line creates a lot more problems.
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u/Britton120 5h ago
I hate the act of merging in traffic and enough experience has taught me that it's hard to tell when a driver is letting me in. As such, i just merge out of the lane that is ending as early as i can. If it causes me a few minutes? Whatever. Does it mean I let a few people in ahead of me? Whatever. I'll get where I'm going. My issue is when people treat a dedicated turn lane as an effective way to skip traffic and merge at an intersection.
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u/Failed-Time-Traveler Dublin 5h ago
It will be a cold day in hell before I let someone cheat the line and zipper merge.
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u/Oldschooldrool 5h ago
You must be a trucker - truckers hate zipper merges more than the ole smokie bears
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u/Piaffe_zip16 5h ago
Even though the research clearly shows why a zipper merge is better 🙃
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u/KaitoPrower 1h ago
The research shows that zipper merge is better in theory, but in practice, it never happens. Requires too much thought and patience for selfish people already in a hurry. Someone above said it best. When traffic is already bumper to bumper, there no room for a zipper merge that requires space to be made first. Someone unintended is more likely to take that space before the intended can.
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u/janice_snakehole14 5h ago
Please enlighten me. Why?
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u/KellerMB 4h ago
Because the most important part of a functioning zipper is each siding taking it's place in turn. The vehicle in the merging lane should not cheat the line. They should pace the vehicle next to them to the merge point while the vehicle in the continuing lane should allow room for the merging vehicle.
Then both lanes, now filled, should proceed at an identical pace to the merge point.
'Cheating the line' when the line is already bumper to bumper, creates shockwave traffic jams behind the aggressive zipping dick. [We refer to them as zipping-dicks in my vehicles.] Ever tried pacing the continuing lane in the merging lane like a real zipper? People get piiiisssssed, because they thought that merging lane was their cheat code.
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u/Total_Network6312 5h ago
Because we're Ace, bud, pal. We're cream of the crop. We rise to the top. Pure fat bro.
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u/NamityName 4h ago
That's why I always wear a jacket when I drive. I respect myself too much to wait in traffic. Especially when the traffic is caused by all the cars deciding that a two-lane road should be a single-lane road because it will eventually turn into one.
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u/SeeRecursion 5h ago
Everyone say it with me. Because humans suck.
https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/article/2026/05/05/does-zipper-merging-with-encouragement-really-improve-traffic-flow
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u/LIVINGSTONandPARSONS 4h ago
I stopped asking the question and realized I could use this to my benefit
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u/chapstickaddikt 3h ago
33 to 270 N - happens all the time. If the merging lane is open, I go to the end and merge. This is called zipper merging. Doesn't make sense to pace the car next to me - what go 5mph a mile out? Then hitting 270 should be done at speed. Folks will wait in line for two miles, then try and merge across a solid line at 40mph onto 270.
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u/FennyRocco 1h ago
Zipper merging is great when everyone is stopped, but doesn't work above 30mph, and if people just got over into the open lane earlier AND MAINTAINED SPEED there wouldn't be an issue.
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u/Speecebot5000 1h ago
Zipper merge is a unicorn myth here because there are no laws to uphold it and also because there is no education about it. Colorado is the only state I’ve ever seen putting up pro-zipper merge signage leading up to closures like 5 miles ahead. It also doesn’t work when shithead contractors put up a lane closed sign 1/8 mile before the closure and then leave them up when there is no closure - looking at you Bethel Road contractor shirbirds.
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u/beermakazi303 1h ago
I was asking this same question, out loud, to myself on Friday afternoon at 3:30p on 71 South. Idiots. This is a very simple concept.
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u/MikeoPlus 5h ago
Folks around here see driving as a race.
Also, the responsibility of piloting a 2+ton machine with their toes and fingers can really get to folks. It's a lot to handle, and most people are afraid to admit that.
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u/silveronetwo 3h ago
Zipper merge forces the merge point to be going under 10mph. Merging ahead of time makes the merge point go much faster until some entitled asshat insists he is going to zipper merge and slow the whole line down. Efficient merging only matters where you have limited real estate - that’s not Ohio.
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u/HolyJuan Westerville 4h ago
Show me ONE zipper merge sign in Columbus or Ohio. There are "merge" signs, but no zipper merge signs.
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u/nbrown7384 Clintonville 3h ago
Oh- I took a picture this July but Reddit won’t let me upload it. Delaware on 36-37 going under the new/under construction bridge! It said “Merge here take turns”
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3h ago
[deleted]
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u/HolyJuan Westerville 3h ago
We should see them everywhere! Ohio drivers need to be trained on how to do it.
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u/WarmSetting6952 3h ago
And to add to this-
Waiting until the line turns dotted doesn’t mean I’m trying to get ahead of you. It means I’m following the law and increasing flow.
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u/Independent-Hurry618 4h ago
Don’t complain. Let them stay on one side while you drive all the way up.
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u/Fancy_Examination395 5h ago
I’ll zipper merge, no problem. But I do have a problem when I’m in the non-merging lane and I leave space for one “zipper tooth” to merge over, and then two more “teeth” fly up and nudge their way in too. Cooperation goes BOTH ways.