• fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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    1 year ago

    Theory: Everyone down voting you has never driven outside the US.

    We don’t teach the proper way to zipper merge, so people block those doing it for cutting in line. It’s a different culture that should be changed for efficiency, just like middle lane squatting, but it’s just not important enough to address.

    • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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      1 year ago

      I mean. The UK (particularly Northern Ireland) are gods of zipper merging. It is like all of the queuing is to train them for exactly that. Every single time I felt like an asshole because I slowed down even a km/h or two to “let someone in” when they knew exactly how much space they needed and had it under control.

      Germany… I am honestly gobsmacked at how bad Berlin and Frankfurt were at zipper merging. It felt like if I suddenly discovered that nobody in mainland China could make rice without a rice cooker. Like… I think the US might somehow actually be better. And we are HORRIBLE at zipper merges. At least New England, if not Chicagoland.

      If I am traveling internationally and driving? The bare minimum is that I’ll ask the person at the rental counter if there are any “gotchas” to be aware of. And if I have any friends in the area, I’ll chat with them on a hangouts/discord call before I fly over.

      Hell, I SHOULD do the same when driving domestically but at this point I can handle NYC, LA, Boston, Chicago, and all the stupidity in between so… fuck it and sorry if I cut you off.

      But also…

      Theory: People think speaking in absolutes based on driver’s ed manuals is stupid? And you actually have to understand “the rule of the road” and how to drive defensively.

      • zout@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        It’s not just Berlin and Frankfurt, the autobahn is known for two things in the countries surrounding Germany; no speed limit and people completely skipping the acceleration lane.

    • Nougat@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      The United States has a strong general culture of “I got mine, fuck you.” That is certainly playing a part in this thread.