Drivers stumped by simple merging quiz
A surprise quiz on an Aussie subreddit has brought back memories of the dreaded driving learner’s test for thousands of Melburnians.
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A surprise quiz on the Melbourne subreddit brought back memories of the dreaded driving learner’s test for thousands of Melburnians.
The picture shows a picture from a Queensland government driving test of a car trying to merge into a lane to its right as its current lane is ending. A second car, trailing it slightly, is already on the lane to its right.
The question teases out the difference between a zip merge and a lane merge.
Under road rules, the orange car on the left – that is, the car that is trying to merge – would have right of way prior to the blue car to its right, given that the picture shows a zip merge.
A zip merge is signified by the ‘form 1 lane’ sign and the lack of dashed lines on the road. In such circumstances, the forward car has the right of way.
The other scenario is a lane merge, where the orange car would be passing over dashed lines to enter the lane to its right. In this case, the blue car would have right of way since the orange car has to give way before performing a lane merge.
This sparked a lively debate in the comments.
“No. The blue car should continue to [plough] ahead, causing multiple fatalities and block up the freeway for an hour,” one wrote sarcastically.
Another replied, “You’d love Perth,” invoking the great Australian tradition of provincialism.
“The car with more panel damage has right of way!” Another quipped.
Merging incorrectly can have serious consequences for both the person merging and those around them.
NRMA spokesman, Peter Khoury, had previously told news.com.au that even if a bad merge didn’t cause an accident, it could slow down already heavy traffic.
“Merging incorrectly can be really dangerous. You could rear-end someone, cause an accident or slow everyone else down,” he said.
“Drivers are often merging at speed onto a motorway, so it is really important that it is done right.”
Originally published as Drivers stumped by simple merging quiz
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