This pickup truck driver was forced into a lane with traffic drums because this Mazda wouldn’t let them zipper merge.
Davis County commuter and Redditor /u/Zokar1 shared headshaking dashcam footage from the Legacy Parkway from earlier in September to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit showing two drivers going at it behind him, with one driver in particular refusing to let a pickup driver zipper merge in front of them.
Check out the mayhem that ensues in the embedded video below with the original Reddit thread linked here.
The incident happened on the 67 as the Legacy Parkway Overpass goes over the 15 (Exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As the dashcam shows, traffic on the 67 starts to funnel into one lane due to road construction up ahead.
In a lot of US States, Utah included, when traffic is faced with a congested merge point, drivers are legally required to Zipper Merge, or take turns, alternating into a single lane.
In Utah, Zipper Merging is defined, violation with infraction included, in the state’s Traffic Code under 41-6a-903.1. Right-of-way — Zipper merge.
In OP’s rear-view dashcam, we see a driver in a Mazda flat out refuse to let this driver in a Chevrolet Silverado get in front of them.
The Mazda driver actively blocks the Silverado driver by speeding up and slowing down, blocking their merge.
Faced with traffic drums, the Silverado driver is forced to overtake OP on the left, ending a needlessly dangerous traffic situation.
“That Mazda is a j*rk-off. Probably feels offended that they are 15-20 further back in a moving line of traffic than they feel they should be,” one of the top comments from /u/DaveCootchie reads.
“Good on you for leaving enough space for the truck. Need more drivers like you around, it’s not a f***in competition,” /u/HoboSkid added.
“This is why zipper merging doesn’t work in reality. People refuse to bend or budge,” /u/Blacknesium conceded.
Many of the top comments also asked OP what his dashcam was, to which he replied,
“A Wolfbox G900Tripro.”
As mentioned, zipper merging is the law in the Beehive State, with violators facing a fine that can total up to $750.
