A classic example of a Texas driver refusing to zipper merge for some odd reason.
Presumed Texas resident and Redditor /u/NeighborhoodNo2921 shared dashcam footage taken earlier this week (Feb 13,2024) showing the asinine moment a driver in a Honda Pilot on an I-10 West on-ramp in Houston absolutely refuses to let another driver cut in front of them.
Check out /u/NeighborhoodNo2921’s video below.
[OC] Driver took it personal
byu/NeighborhoodNo2921 inIdiotsInCars
The incident took place on an I-10 on ramp off of I-69 in Houston, TX (Exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As OP’s dashcam footage shows, he’s in one of two lanes merging into a single lane on this I-10 West On-Ramp.
A sign can be seen showing that the left lane ends so, naturally, traffic must plan to merge accordingly.
As this screenshot of the video shows, the cargo van, Volvo SUV, and Honda Pilot are set up to zipper merge.
In a perfect zipper merge situation, cars take turns from either lane, going in front of each other at the point where both lanes end.
This, of course, is not a perfect situation and the driver in the Honda Pilot absolutely refuses to let the Volvo SUV in, so much so that they’d rather risk rear ending the cargo van in front of them.
We see the Honda Pilot “glue” itself to the back of that cargo van, accelerating and braking in short bursts.
With practically nothing to gain, forcing a zipper merge on another driver that doesn’t get it, the driver in the Volvo slots back behind the Pilot.
With traffic going at a crawl, the Honda Pilot driver practically gains no advantage refusing to zipper merge other than the satisfaction that the Volvo didn’t “cut” in front of them.
“When you absolutely, positively don’t know what a zipper merge is,” /u/appa-ate-momo commented.
“One foot on each pedal, because that’s very safe. Oh, by the way, congratulations, you shaved off .000001 seconds on your commute Honda Pilot driver,” /u/TarnishedDungEater sarcastically added.
“I knew I recognized this exit! Yeah I take this merger home from work all the time. Houston is butt-fuckingly bad at zippers, it baffles me how petty people can be,” /u/PM_ME_YOUR_COOGS replied.
According to Houston Public Media,
“To a lot of drivers, it doesn’t feel natural to drive all the way up – essentially cutting off an entire line of cars (and implying your time may be more important than theirs). But the late merge system works efficiently only if there’s a large-scale public buy-in.”
HPM also states that,
“The late (zipper) merge has a long track record of cutting down on congestion in states that have pushed the technique. “
Large Texas cities like Houston are notorious for its traffic, despite freeways with multiple lanes.
It would behoove all Houstonians and Texans to use the zipper merge, as a simple shift in mindset would collectively save countless hours behind the wheel.
As this Honda Pilot’s reluctance to shows, some drivers need a bit more education to the zipper merge’s benefits.
Amazing for the new names they come up with to justify actions that for years and years have been called ( self centered , reckless, bad , stupid ) cutting in line has always been wrong , will always be wrong no matter what you call it “ zipper merge “ what a joke . Pre plan your drive , stay off your cell phones , be courteous . Next the will be calling cutting in line at the grocery store , movies , anywhere there is a line “merging of some sort to justify their incompetence and make you out to be the bad guy .
This is a horrendous take. Always has been, and always will be. I hope you end up doing that, and the person in front decides to come to a complete stop for no reason other than you being too close. When you’re already set up to zipper merge, YOU DON’T TAILGATE THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU! Nor should you ever, for that matter.
It’s assholes like (presumably) him that gives Houston a bad reputation.
This is a horrendous take. Always has been, and always will be. I hope you end up doing that, and the person in front decides to come to a complete stop for no reason other than you being too close. When you’re already set up to zipper merge, YOU DON’T TAILGATE THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU! Nor should you ever, for that matter.