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I Merge, You Merge, He/She Merges, But Are All Merges Created Equal?

We learn how to tie our shoes from an early age and, once we master this life-long-useful skill, we tend not to look back on it or think there are ways to improve our execution. It's mostly the same with merging on a highway.
Merge of the Month 6 photos
Photo: Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency / YouTube screenshot
Merge of the MonthMerge of the MonthMerge of the MonthMerge of the MonthMerge of the Month
We're definitely not four of five the first time we perform a merging maneuver and you'd think that, by that time, we would have learned that there are many ways in which you can do something (some better than others), but do we really stop to give this apparently very simple procedure any thought, especially as long as the end goal is reached?

Well, if your laces stay together, do you bother to look for better, more efficient ways to tie them, or do you just keep doing things the way you've been doing them all along? In the absence of a peer-reviewed scientific study on how people tend to tackle this problem, we'll have to go by the empirical evidence anyone can gather by standing only a few minutes next to a merging lane. And the answer is "no".

We'll go out on a limb here and assume everyone has used a zipper in their life. This is the simplest analogy when it comes to merging, and that's because both situations revolve around two elements coming together in an interlocking pattern. However, zippers tend to feature a lot fewer variations.

In fact, the zipper gets mentioned simply because that's what a perfect merge would look like: even spaces, matching speed, all happening in a fluent, continuous motion. Are you familiar with the "expectations versus reality memes"? Well, if the expected highway merge looks like a zipper, the real one looks like two pieces of rags sewn together by me using a dull knife for the needle and chewing gum for the string.

All is not lost, though, because the perfect merge does exist, and it's been caught on video. The New Zealand Transport Agency does its best to educate road users on the good habits they should have behind the wheel, and since nobody likes to be lectured, it chose to do it in a much more lighthearted manner: with humor.

The governmental agency runs a YouTube channel where it posts various clips, from the "we've opened up a new segment of highway" ones, that mean nothing to the rest of the world, to others that are much more entertaining-yet-educational – as well as universal – such as the "Merge of the Month" one you'll find embedded below.

Not only are you going to see a lot of bad, sometimes even comical merges (though they are nothing to laugh at since a bad maneuver can very easily turn into a dangerous one), but you will also get a few simple and clear tips on how you can improve your technique, if needed. Now, if only I could find a clip with "shoe laces tying of the month".

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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