The Enquirer’s Just Askin’ series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, not even Google.
It’s every driver’s pet peeve.
Bright orange barrels and signs emerge into view. A wave of brake lights flash ahead. Before you know it, traffic is slowing down to nearly a halt, and you’re officially in a construction zone.
About a mile ahead, the left lane is closed. You’ll have to merge into a freeway-turned-parking lot. By the time you get over and continue to sit in traffic, suddenly a car zooms past you and slides into your lane at the last second.
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For patient drivers who feel they’re playing by the rules, it may be infuriating. Turns out, their road foes are doing the right thing, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Is lane-cutting legal?
It may seem like cutting in line to some drivers, but ODOT prefers to call it zipper merging. It’s not illegal, and in some instance’s it’s preferred,, according to ODOT public information officer Mandi Dillon.
The zipper merge movement is primarily used in construction areas. In certain circumstances, motorists should drive closer to the point of closure in order to use both lanes as long as possible, which relieves congestion.
When a freeway lane closes, drivers should use the zipper merging technique, according to ODOT. Drive closer to the closure, then merge into the next lane in an alternating fashion. That allows cars to use both lanes as long as they can, helping relieve traffic congestion.
The idea is to allow cars to use both lanes as long as they can, then move forward into one lane by taking turns. That allows the closing lane drivers to merge in, alternating by every other vehicle.
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That’s where the zipper imagery comes into play. You can also think of it like ordering at a fast food restaurant with two drive-thru lanes that merge into one, and end up at the same pay window.
Dillon noted motorists should distinguish between situations where there is a yield sign versus a merge sign. Yield signs may require drivers to stop and yield to oncoming traffic, rather than zippering into a lane as is done in a merge situation.
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Zipper merging, lane cutting: What do you do in a construction zone?
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