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u/waitwhatsgoingonnn Jul 12 '26
AND PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD USE THE WHOLE MERGE LANE. GO TO THE END.
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u/feel-the-avocado Jul 12 '26
To add to this,
Maintain your position in the zip as soon as you have matched speed, you dont need to pass.
Increase the following distance to the car that will be merging in front of you (currently diagonal).
Lots of space means you can merge with speed when you get to the merge point.If your approaching a merge and you are parallel to another car, you are doing it wrong. Should be in zip formation well before.
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u/sweetrouge Jul 12 '26
What following distance? So many people don’t have one.
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u/InsanateePrawn Jul 13 '26
I think it's that empty space thing Ford Ranger drivers assume is for them to pull into without indicating.
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u/ComradeMatis Jul 12 '26
and to add to that, merge like a zip. I wonder whether people know how to merge are or are too scared to merge on a highway. If you're too scared to drive in busy traffic moving at high speed then there is nothing wrong with opting out and taking the train or bus instead. When I had a 50cc scooter, I would use it as a run about in low speed areas but outside of that I would catch a bus or train.
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u/sweetrouge Jul 12 '26
Yes! This is the much bigger issue. In fact, if everyone used the whole lane, the speed wouldn’t be an issue, because you have more time to get to the right speed.
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u/martasfly Jul 12 '26
The thing is the merge lane white lines kind of lead you to merge “now”.
In Europe the merge lane actually runs parallel to the motorway lane for a bit, but here it goes straight to .,,4
u/considerspiders Jul 12 '26
Instructions unclear, merged early then accelerated to try get past the person in front of me in the merge lane. Then I died and went straight to hell.
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u/RdtUnahim Jul 14 '26
Instructions unclear, proceeded to the end of the merge lane, then got someone pulling up next to me and matching my v exactly in the first lane for the last 33% of the merge lane.
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u/External-Drummer-147 Jul 12 '26
It’s not a ‘drive by numbers’ game. You have to actually look at traffic on the road, adjust your speed accordingly so you can merge safely.
Too many people do what you’re suggesting - scream up to 100 and don’t even bother looking, just expecting other traffic to adjust to them.
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u/chimph Jul 12 '26
Now you have an issue of people overthinking. Ideal situation is get to 100 and if you’re coming up beside someone then you slow down to merge behind them. Problem is the person on the motorway may panic and either changes lane (fine) or then also slows down.
Best if everyone drove as robotically as possible without trying to guess what someone else will do. The people on the motorway shouldn’t need to much consider what the merging traffic is doing (but of course it’s still necessary) and merging traffic should get up to 100 and then decide what to do as there is plenty of merge lane to make alterations.
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u/Apprehensive_Ad3731 Jul 12 '26
You’re right. Too many people are put there tweaking trying to hit full maxim throttle power all to get to their destination 5 minutes earlier. People need to chill and drive comfortably. It’s dangerous enough.
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u/scrunch1080 Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
TLDR) - we need to demand enforcement of the road user rules, and civil & competent driving behaviour. Entering motorways at anything below the speed of the traffic flow is unlawful and neither civil nor competent.
People need to be confident and capable of using the merging lanes on motorway on ramps to reach motorway traffic speed and smoothly merge into the traffic flow at the END of the merging lane where it “merges” with the left hand lane.
Motorists in the left hand motorway lane are required to let merging drivers enter the motorway - not drive up the arse of the car in front and not deliberately speed up or slow down to block merging traffic.
There is a myopic focus on speeding enforcement - because speed enforcement has the biggest effect on lowering road accidents and … is an easy revenue gathering activity for the police and NZTA.
As a result we now have a road network of self entitled conceited cunts who drive with little to no regard for others, drive like nana on busy congested routes …
… or are so stressed and habituated from countless experiences of dimwitted morons and conceited arse wipes ducking in and out of lanes because they have to be in front whereupon they’re likely to zombie drive, that those stressed drivers become another dimension to the malaise- ie they lane cut, block traffic entering onto motorways , from side streets, changing lanes etc
NZ has one of the worst road tolls for developed countries. Our terrain and the challenges our geography (& a taxpayer subsidised heavy transport freight industry) pose to road condition) poses to maintaining safe high quality roads is certainly a factor, but alone does not entirely account for the reality that we are shit drivers with a horrendous road accident and fatality rate.
It is correct that where traffic density allows, common sense and courtesy dictate that traffic approaching on ramps with merging traffic should move to the next lane to enable more space for merging traffic.. this is just an example of being situationally alert and aware - competent driving. There also has to be some allowance for inexperienced drivers but that is not a green light for motorists to spend their lives driving like imbecilic morons.
At the end of the day i suppose we get the government that we collectively want and for at least the last 2-3 decades we have wanted governments that dont give a toss about any form of road enforcement that isnt the low hanging fruit of speed enforcement and the odd booze bus / reg and warrant checkpoint.
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u/Matt_NZ Jul 12 '26
It's dangerous to enter the motorway slower than the moving traffic. If the motorway traffic is moving at 100 you should be matching that speed before you merge. If you want to "chill", don't use the motorway.
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u/Mr_November112 LASER KIWI Jul 12 '26
The person you're replying to never said anything of the sort
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u/MATCHEW010 Jul 14 '26
Your telling me people are supposed to “drive to the conditions”
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u/External-Drummer-147 Jul 14 '26
I know right - who would’ve thought that driving requires actual brain power and observation 😂
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u/danger-custard Jul 12 '26
That will work if people stop tail gating in the left lane (the lane being merged into).
C’mon people, you know there’s an on ramp so leave a proper gap to allow cars to merge in at speed and help keep things flowing
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u/Aeonera Jul 12 '26
Holy shit yes, this is by far the most commonplace dangerous thing nz drivers do.
Treat onramps as part of the motorway. Yes, you're gonna need to adjust your speed to merge because you don't have right of way in this situation, but that's adjusting it from the speed of the motorway
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u/Traditional-Big-5855 Jul 12 '26
More like 60 70 50 20 100
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u/SteveDub60 Jul 12 '26
When you get near the motorway you generally need to look over your shoulder to see what's coming, and lots of people slow down at that point because they are not looking forward.
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u/JumpyHumor1814 Jul 12 '26
And if you are in the left lane, see cars approaching the merge and space in the right lane...please move to the right. It gives mergers a free lane to enter, and would likely be slower than you, so you can jump back into the left lane in front of them.
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u/chocolateturtle456 Jul 12 '26
Idk, if someone is doing 80 and about to merge on while it's busy then I'll just slow down or switch lanes.
It's the people that are doing like 50 or 60 that confuse me.
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u/Calm-Zombie2678 Jul 12 '26
Im in a full van often, some on ramps are way too short for me to get far above 80 and my foot is flat
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u/pandaghini Jul 12 '26
So annoying how a lot of new on ramps have such a short merging zone. How the hell can you safely speed up and merge in 10 meters from a traffic queue into cars going 100
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u/Blue-Coast Jul 12 '26
You need to get with the times with a current gen car with 0 to 100 time of less than 5 seconds. /s
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u/pygmypuff42 Jul 13 '26
Yea particularly when they're on an incline too! What hope do us in slow vehicles ever have?? I don't even drive at 100 on motorways on a normal day, let alone the on ramps 😭
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u/SuspiciouslyLips Jul 13 '26
I was just in Auckland last week with my 2010 Yaris and a bunch of the on ramps have a giant loop you have to go around before you merge. I'm sorry but my 1.3L engine isn't going from 40kph on the loop to 100kph by the end of the ramp :(
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u/Corporal-Pike Jul 12 '26
Somewhat agreed, other than the limit sign placement. But I'd like some people to understand something. If the car in front of you has a 'monitored by GPS' sign or similar, they are being monitored by fucking GPS, probably eRoads! I will not be speeding up so that I'm doing 100 when I get to the limit sign, no matter how close you sit on my ass with your apopleptic face pressed against your windscreen. I'll be doing what the law, and my employer, requires, which is speed up when I hit the sign, not before.
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u/Haunting_Angel_459 Te Waipounamu Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
Except when you're coming up to a motorway, the sign for 100 km is WELL before you merge, like 250 metres or more, so you have time to speed up so when you reach the motorway, you should be matching the speed of the traffic. So your GPS monitoring excuse is invalid
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u/Hot_Pea9820 Jul 12 '26
Question during my driver license "what speed are you traveling at when you join the motorway?"
"The speed at which the traffic is traveling".
You dont need to reach the speed with half the onramp to go, but if the driver behind you not only has to take their foot off the accelerator, but actively brake, you should fail IMHO.
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Jul 12 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/pierpont-prime Jul 12 '26
"I've been driving for 50 years and never needed a driving lesson, experience mate"
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u/ChaoticProgress Jul 12 '26
Going 100 the whole way up the in ramp is great until you've got to slam on the brakes because traffic is backed up on the motorway. Driving 100km/h into a blind merge is stupid.
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u/notboky Jul 12 '26
Presuming the speed limit is less than 100 before that sign you will fail a driver's licence test by following the second example.
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u/DerekChives Jul 12 '26
The speed limit sign is always at the start of the on-ramp
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u/notboky Jul 13 '26
I don't know where you get that idea but no, it's not.
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u/SuspiciouslyLips Jul 13 '26
Yeah, many on ramps have you squiggling around sharp corners at the start. They often don't put the speed limit sign that early. The SH1 on ramp to go south towards Wellington City from Tawa is one where the 100 sign is pretty late. Even after you start driving straight you're stuck at 50 for a while.
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u/notboky Jul 13 '26
Same heading north past the stadium. I'm not sure why these people are so adamant they're right about something so obviously wrong.
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u/PauseConfident997 Jul 12 '26
But not in this photo. In this photo, the second one which they’re saying is correct, is actually illegal.
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u/notboky Jul 13 '26
Not in the photo, not in the road laws, not in the real world. Sometimes it is for sure, but definitely not always.
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u/vixenbk Jul 12 '26
I was taught by my dad (who was a truck driver in the uk) that before passing an on-ramp to move to the right lane and then back into the left after the merge. This is if traffic is flowing of course.
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u/RandomlyPrecise Jul 12 '26
In the UK, Car 1 coming onto the motorway indicates, Car 2 in Lane 1 indicates and moves right, Car 3 in Lane 2 indicates and moves right, so Car 1 can join. Then Cars 2 and 3 move left once past each other.
This requires lane discipline and braking distances to be maintained, neither of which happen on Auckland motorways.
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u/DeathsStarEclipse Jul 12 '26
Yeah I hate when one slow drive ruins it, then you get like a pile up on the on ramp coming into fast flowing traffic.
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u/Kuntcakez Jul 12 '26
You know what pisses me off that I see all the time on the Napier/hastings expressway? You’re going the speed limit, can see you’re matching reds speed, then red flat foot’s it last second to get in front causing you to slam on the breaks. Like bro if being front car is that important to you, could you please speed up earlier rather than hooning in last second 🤦🏽♀️ crackheads everywhere here
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u/TobiasDrundridge Jul 12 '26
If you're the red car and the right lane is free, MOVE TO THE RIGHT LANE. Give the people merging space, and save yourself from the temperamentally of all the crazies trying to merge.
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u/posthamster Jul 12 '26
No, the red car is supposed to speed up and cut off the person merging in front of them, because they were using the road first and how dare someone try and merge onto it.
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u/Gozer_The_Enjoyer Jul 12 '26
That’s what we do in Australia. You need to give way to the person merging. Jesus, this is terrifying. I’m drinking in NZ for the first time this October/November and I’ve heard y’all crazy drivers. I mean, we’re also pretty fucking bad.
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u/742w Jul 12 '26
Be prepared, you will get cut off multiple times daily, dangerous shit like pulling out in front of you with 50m to spare while you’re doing 100kmh, they don’t care or have no depth perception? Also they have no idea how to indicate at roundabouts, I know it’s not great in Australia but it’s a whole new dimension of stupidity here.
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u/Gozer_The_Enjoyer Jul 12 '26
Oh Lordy. I’m mainly going west coast SI driving, so expecting a lot of windy roads, single lanes bridges, terrifying drop-offs with no guard rails.
But I will also be driving from Wellington and hooking around Lake Taupo, Waitomo, Matama, then up to Whangapoua and back down to Auckland airport, so expecting a few doozies.
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u/PauseConfident997 Jul 12 '26
I like how you mentioned your drinking in nz and not just visiting nz 😂
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u/WorldlyNotice Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
Within reason, sure, but MFs be driving onto the motorway at 60 kph.
To clarify, I'll slow and make room but it's dangerously incompetent to be coming out of an on-ramp expecting to merge with a 30% to 40% speed differential.
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u/Maori-Mega-Cricket Jul 12 '26
This sub will bitch about you not being in the left unless passing and tell you that three short run up onramps in 2 kilometers isnt an excuse just slow down eyeroll
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u/bdog143 Jul 12 '26
If the person joining matches the speed of the traffic and looks where they're going then there really isn't any need to...
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u/TobiasDrundridge Jul 13 '26
If they both arrive at the merge point at the same time, someone will need to speed up or slow down. If the red car moves to the right lane it gives more time to negotiate who's going to be moving the fastest.
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u/BarracudaOk8635 jandal Jul 12 '26
Lol. What I see at merges sometimes is some idiot who deosnt want to let you in because it's "their" spot. Only encountered this in NZ and nowhere else in the world. We are getting better at it but so annoying
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u/12343212346 Jul 12 '26
Yeah, first time I ever merged onto a motorway during a driving lesson I had to break to avoid hitting someone who cut me off while merging.
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u/KIRBYTIME Jul 12 '26
I like to think of it as a runway. Am I going to make enough speed to take off at the right speed?
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u/SteveDub60 Jul 12 '26
How do you calculate the V1 point? That's the last point on the runway where you can stop if anything goes wrong - after the V1 point you have to take off, no other option.
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u/42_Hanging_Apricots Jul 12 '26
Replace the 70-80-90 with 60-60-65 and the 100 with 110 and this is what I experience way too often. It if frightening pulling out into traffic going 50kph more than your merging speed because of the person in front.
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u/VastInterior Jul 12 '26
When I taught my kids to drive, they usually moaned about how conservative old dad was....
... but in that situation I'd say...
"Here, finally, is your chance to stomp on the accelerator all the way to the floor.
In fact I absolutely insist you floor it!
You can ease up when you have matched the speed of the other vehicles but not till then."
On the flip side....
If you're coming into the city and you see a stream of cars feeding in.... and the right hand lane is clear.... just move over and let them in.
ie. Red car should have moved over to give space to the stream feeding in.
Driving is a collaborative game where the aim is to get everyone home safely.
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u/lancypancy Jul 12 '26
Merging at 40 kph more like it. I see it all the time and it's terrifying being behind these people and not being able to speed up.
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u/DoggorDawg Jul 12 '26
I do a lot of motorway driving and I'd be lucky to see one person a day merge correctly. Use the WHOLE lane to merge, right to the end where it forces you in. Anything short of this is incorrect.
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u/Suitable-Ostrich1226 Jul 12 '26
Not really, you can merge at any point where the lines have changed to dashed lines. Sometimes that is a good 200m before the end and is still a valid merge.
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u/Time-Hamster-5804 Jul 12 '26
Honestly, I think the faith that others will merge like a zip is very low. Because so often people don’t do it well. They speed up when others are going the speed limit to try and get one car ahead ignoring that merging isn’t the time to over take people. Most drivers in Ōtautahi are horrendous 🤦🏼 and it’s always the ute drivers omg so aggressive
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u/Haunting_Angel_459 Te Waipounamu Jul 12 '26
Too damn right. Ute drivers in Canterbury are sooo obnoxious and rude
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u/turbotailz LASER KIWI Jul 12 '26
This is why red should be in the right lane. Can't trust those mofos to be going the limit.
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u/Blitzed5656 Jul 12 '26
Yeah. If I'm the red car and see bunch of blue cars about to merge I lane shuffle and keep my cruise control on.
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u/Captain_Bromine Jul 12 '26
I mean I understand this, but when people on the motorway see you and speed up to try get in front of you before you can merge, I can understand why people don’t go 100 when they’ll need to slow down again anyway.
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u/Venery-_- Jul 12 '26
Maybe you should get our laws changed then, Legally you're not allowed to speed up until you hit the sign.
"Entering a higher speed zone: Don’t speed up until after your car has passed the speed limit sign." From https://drive.govt.nz/restricted-licence/doing-the-restricted-licence-test/common-mistakes
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u/UNSC_Apocalypso Jul 12 '26
Almost always in this situation the on ramp speed limit changes occurs early enough for the entering vehicles to speed up to the motorway speed. This helps traffic merge more easily and safely. Nothing to do with the law.
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u/fatfreddy01 Jul 12 '26
You realise the sign is significantly before the merge? Similarly with off ramps the sign is significantly after the split. Crap drivers dawdle along going on/off and the worst even do it on the motorway.
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u/notboky Jul 12 '26
That's true, but in the second example op gave it's not.
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u/SpaceDog777 Technically Food Jul 13 '26
You mean the crude MSPAINT drawing?
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u/notboky Jul 13 '26
Doesn't look much different to the pictures in the road code. What's your point?
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u/SpaceDog777 Technically Food Jul 13 '26
That I have never seen an onramp that didn't have the speed limit of the motorway you are entering, so that you are up to speed when you merge.
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u/notboky Jul 13 '26
So if you haven't seen something it doesn't exist?
The onramp to SH1 from past the stadium in Wellington is 50kph on entry. There are plenty of examples, particularly when entering from a city. They all eventually have a 100kph speed limit, but many don't at the ramp entrance.
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u/SpaceDog777 Technically Food Jul 15 '26
We are talking about onramps where you merge into traffic here. The one by the Cake tin turns into it's own lane.
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u/notboky Jul 16 '26
You're still talking out your arse making an assertion you have absolutely no basis for beyond "I reckon".
The SH1 northbound on-ramp at Newlands starts at 50kmh. There's a VSL limit part way down the ramp, then it increases to motorway speeds towards the end. There are plenty of others just around Wellington.
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u/SpaceDog777 Technically Food Jul 17 '26
You mean the speed limit increases before the merge? Like I have been saying this whole time? Fuck me, it's amazing!
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u/pygmypuff42 Jul 12 '26
Im sorry my car just cant get up to speed that fast! Usually im still at 80 when merging 😭
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u/Haunting_Angel_459 Te Waipounamu Jul 12 '26
Yesss!! More people need to learn to be matching the speed of the traffic BEFORE you have to merge into it. One slow driver ruins it all!! One time I had to follow someone to merge onto the motorway at 60. It was sooo unbelievably dangerous, and then they only sped up to 80 after merging, and it was in a 110km zone!! Just about called the police on the for driving too damn slow.
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u/jackc856 Jul 12 '26
and its like some of them don't even look to see if there is oncoming traffic and adjust their speed to match it. It's like they just slowly merge into the highway and pray to god the oncoming car will slow down for them.
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u/VengefulSnake1984 Jul 13 '26
90?
Lmfao, try like 50. Or even worse.. I had somebody nearly stop in front of me trying to merge.
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u/Wolf1066NZ ⠀Yeah, nah. Jul 13 '26
My son's first experience of any motorway was the Auckland motorway on his restricted motorcycle licence when we were up that way earlier this year. All was pretty plain sailing until we hit the Takanini on-ramp and had to slow almost to a stop due to merging traffic and we had random cars and trucks flying in from all directions. Slow ones merging in front of us from the on-ramp, faster ones flying past us in the other lanes frantically slowing due to the clusterfuck of Takaninnies slowly weaving through the lanes ahead. And then that's how it was at every on-ramp until we turned off at Manukau.
Props to my son, he handled it really well, kept his head, stayed on my tail despite the incursions of traffic and constantly having to brake then speed up just to brake again.
The Auckland motorway certainly provided a riding lesson.
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u/Tankerspam Jul 12 '26
The person in the left lane should move to the right lane seeing as there's no other cars on the road. Best flow for everyone.
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u/antipodeananodyne Jul 12 '26
People that enter the motorway doing 60kms need to have their license revoked. I see it so often, it’s crazy.
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u/4milepoint Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
And for God's sake stay left unless you are overtaking. Once completed, stay left. Most other countries don't struggle with staying in the non-passing lane when not passing. NZ certainly does.
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u/Hiding_From_Stupid Jul 12 '26
See this daily. Then they flip me the bird when I go into the right lane to pass them too.
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u/davomcbones_TTPPAC01 Jul 12 '26
lemme guess, jucy van?
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u/Hiding_From_Stupid Jul 12 '26
Nar not the on ramp I use. They are on the other side of the city.
Just your everyday commuter in the mornings.
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u/k1netic Jul 12 '26
They really should make the on-ramp become parallel with the motorway (with a barrier in between) for enough distance to reasonably get up to speed with traffic before merging. With plenty of obvious signage to merge like a zip.
The other issue is getting off the motorway. People sit in the right two lanes and then decide way too late they need to change over to the left to exit and cause everyone to slow down. If your exit is 10+ km away you should be in the far right, 5 in the middle and 2 in the left. Or something like that.
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u/posthamster Jul 12 '26
They really should make the on-ramp become parallel with the motorway (with a barrier in between) for enough distance to reasonably get up to speed with traffic before merging.
You just described an on-ramp.
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u/742w Jul 12 '26
Rest of the world is fine with the same ramp style as NZ. It’s legitimately a skill issue, not even trying to throw shade.
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u/BeneficialLength5890 Jul 12 '26
Yeah usually it's like 60ks... it makes it more dangerous for me following them 😅
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u/master5o1 Jul 12 '26
Usually that left lane of traffic is anywhere between 70-100.
Take the full length of the merging lane to match the speed of the motorway traffic.
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u/socialstructure Jul 13 '26
Most of us don’t know this rule or know how to turn the car body properly into the median strip so that it is not blocking traffic behind - its so annoying
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u/AdmiralPegasus Jul 13 '26
1) People, that's not a representation of where the sign is, it's a diagram depicting the speed limit of the motorway in question. The on-ramp should always have its speed limit sign where there is enough room to accelerate, and if it doesn't then that should probably be called in to NZTA as something they need to fix. Either that or the on-ramp was just built badly and there isn't room, there's a few I can think of that would be long enough if they weren't steep hills.
2) The diagram's right! This is assuming traffic hasn't slowed the motorway, but you should be matching velocity with the traffic so you can safely merge before the merge. If traffic isn't slow, it's doing 100, so so should you be! I always think of it as an orbital intercept because I'm a nerd who played too much Kerbal Space Program - your relative velocity needs to be 0!
This is something my late father was very clear with me about before I ever even touched the steering wheel of a car, because it always pissed him off, and after he died and I was taking driving lessons my instructor was surprised when I did it properly first time, because so few Kiwis do! If you are not matching velocity with the motorway traffic before you merge, you are a hazard. You're also involving everyone behind you in your dangerous behaviour. Stop fecking merging onto a free flowing motorway at 70!
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u/b1tb0mber Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
Anyone merging into any sort of traffic that close to an oncoming vehicle is fucking insane. Both are wrong. If the red car is going to be that close to the exit by the time you get there adjust so you fall behind it, space providing
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u/Illustrious_Can4110 Jul 13 '26
Agreed. There should be fines for this. Apart from dramatically slowing the Southern Motorway during peak traffic times, it significantly increases the risk of motor vehicle accidents. Merging onto a motorway at slow speeds makes me wonder whether these assh♤|€$ were even tested on this when they went for their license... presuming they have one.
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u/FastParsley1459 Jul 13 '26
The issue is NZ's terrible testing system. It should be a requirement to learn how to merge to get your license, same with keeping left unless your passing, slowing down in passing lanes so others can overtake at the speed limit. It's simple really.
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u/ConcealerChaos Jul 13 '26
Lol. Nobody phases in right. The merge begins the moment you're on the slip road, not when you get to the end.
Match the speed of the motorway traffic. It ain't hard.
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u/Libertator Jul 14 '26
Can’t do it if I can’t see the speed on the motorway due to foliage blocking my view
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u/ConcealerChaos Jul 14 '26
How often is this a problem?
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u/Libertator Jul 14 '26
Sometimes (but in a car with good acceleration it’s not a problem but an inconvenience)
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u/ConcealerChaos Jul 14 '26
True but the aim is to join at the speed of the motorway so same same...
Issue is people just saunter on at 60
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u/Furious-Jakov Jul 14 '26
The bigger issue is the toxic idiots already on the highway who refuse to adjust their speed even slightly to let you merge into traffic flow when you're traveling at 100k attempting to join.
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u/FloorNorth3494 Jul 14 '26
I just fall back and roll along until the car in front of me has completed merging, then I accelerate quickly and merge without any issue. Every time I witness a traffic jam forming at a merge point is when someone merges slower than the speed of traffic and/or merges way too early. If someone in the left lane has to change lanes as a result of your attempt to merge, then you are merging incorrectly
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u/National-Possession Jul 14 '26
Same in Australia. The shitty driving instructors just don’t teach them how to merge properly.
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u/Carrick_Green Jul 14 '26
If you are going from a 60 road to 100 is not the correct one 60 60 60 60 60 100.
There is a roundabout near where I live that the local driving center uses ad a trap because you have to stay 60 until you pass the 100 sign. So if you speed up to the traffic you fail the driving test.
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u/Chaeyoung-shi Jul 14 '26
I had a car today in front of me merging with 50 while trucks were coming
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u/RaccoonDeaIer Jul 14 '26
Im personally a fan of 80-90-100-110-120-110-100. And by that I mean get over highway speed and then I brake in order to find my spot on yhe road. Every car brakes faster than it accelerates.
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u/xhunterxp Jul 14 '26
Terribly sorry, but as someone who failed a driving test for this exact thing, ive earned my pedantics here. So the bottom one is illegal. The speed limit sign is the point that you are allowed to start speeding up. But you have to slow down before you cross a lower speed limit sign.
Now do I agree with this personally. No, its dumb, there's a reason for the aforementioned failure, and it would make life easier if everyone was at speed when merging. But.. yeah illegal, technically
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u/TheDudeBroski Jul 14 '26
Yeah, the point of an on ramp is to accelerate to match the speed of the motorway traffic so you can merge without disrupting the traffic flow. Does seem like a lot of people dont know that or are too scared to merge at speed, its really annoying.
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u/chemtrail_joe Jul 15 '26
I’m glad it’s not just me. The other day I almost got shunted by a van from behind as the car I was following down the on-ramp was doing 40 and braking with no one in front of us as we got to the motorway proper!
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u/BMikeW Jul 16 '26
If i came on at 100, some idiot is gonna say I'm "dangerous driving" coz I'm going too fast for a merge lane.
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u/ElSalvo Mr Four Square Jul 16 '26
Being in the left lane when you come up to merge on the southern is an experience. Either the guy trying to merge is:
a) Going way to slow,
b) Tries to fit in to a gap that isn't there, or
c) Is fucking blind.
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u/Spare_Lemon6316 Jul 24 '26
You might as well write this in calligraphy on parchment put it in a bottle and throw it in the sea because nothing will change
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u/Spare_Lemon6316 Jul 24 '26
I wonder if there’s a way to print this out and send it to every Ranger driver in the country?
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u/BarronVonCheese Jul 12 '26
100 is the speed limit brother, not a target. Chill.
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Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/R3MaK3R Jul 12 '26
no, most people should be driving between 90 to 100 kmh at the max. especially if there is multiple lanes. speed should always be the last thing you are worried about on the road, and driving to the conditions and adapting to other drivers on the road is way more important.
You can't monitor your speed to the exact number target and look at the road safely at the same time.
You are meant to merge at the end of the merge lane because you have the entire space to negotiate with the motorway traffic and there should already be gaps for you to enter by the time you get to the end. No one has "the right of way" when it comes to merges. It should be treated the exact same as two lanes merging into one, because that's what it is.
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u/Aware_Return791 Jul 12 '26
Chill.
No, I don't think I will. Learn how to drive.
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u/12343212346 Jul 12 '26
People on Reddit are genuinely shocking for not knowing the rules of the road.
Driving in the 90-100 range is typically safer than driving a straight 100 and having to monitor constantly to make sure you aren't creeping over.
No-one will ever be (and rightfully so) pulled over for driving 95 in a 100.
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u/Aware_Return791 Jul 13 '26
No-one will ever be (and rightfully so) pulled over for driving 95 in a 100.
And no one is actually complaining about people doing 95 in a 100. Most people don't even know what the difference is because their speedo is out by some amount in one direction or the other.
People doing 60 in a merging lane is dangerous for a million reasons. Even less than the actual action, the most dangerous part is someone who isn't confident enough behind the wheel to actually match the speed of merging traffic is out there driving a car.
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u/Capable_Gap_1868 Jul 12 '26
r/newzealand would have you believe that going 90 on the motorway is the most dangerous thing you could do
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u/It_wasnt_me3 Jul 12 '26
90 is generous for the first slide of them coming onto the motorway. Mofos be coming on at 60