Carpoolers diverge on merging strategy

DEAR AMY: Please help me settle a dispute. I carpool with some people regularly, and we disagree about how to handle a common traffic situation. When two lanes merge into one, what is the best and most efficient way to merge? One fellow commuter thinks it's best to merge as early as possible.

I disagree. Why move over early, leaving an essentially empty lane next to you? I say drive to the end of the lane and then merge into the other lane.

What do you think?Curious Commuter

DEAR COMMUTER: Your question provides a nice relief from my usual queries from jilted lovers, upset mothers-in-law and depressed fetishists.

When I posed this refreshing question while driving on a road trip with my own family, however, it created some dissent -- plunging me right back into the vortex of dysfunction from which I had been seeking relief.

I ran this past Karen Brewster, spokeswoman for Caltrans, the state agency responsible for the entire transportation system in California.

She responded: "It depends on the situation. When two lanes merge, if a motorist is able to merge early, she should do so at an appropriate speed for the situation, similar to that of traffic in the adjacent lane.

"If vehicles are completely stopped in both lanes, then drivers may wait and take turns merging at the end into the lane that continues.

"Caltrans asks drivers to stay especially alert in work zones to protect highway workers and travelers alike. Drivers should slow down and move over when safe to do so when they see vehicles with flashing amber lights."

So, yes, it seems your fellow commuter and my husband are correct. If you know you are approaching a merge point, move over early when you can do so at a normal traveling speed, avoiding a bottleneck at the merge point.