JMortensen Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 I just got back from Whistler, BC last night. Fun time, great skiing, but look out American tourists!!! Canadians will see a "MERGE" sign, go 70% of the way around the corner, then where the two roads actually come together they'll stomp on the brakes. Even if there are NO cars coming. We drove into Canada and got onto the freeway which was a cloverleaf style onramp. At the end of the onramp was the infamous "MERGE" sign. I began to speed up to match the speed of traffic on the freeway because I obviously hadn't taken into account the French translation of "merge" which apparently means come to a stop, wait for the freeway traffic to change lanes to avoid your car entering the freeway at 10 km/h, then turn left onto the freeway. So I'm speeding up and looking over my shoulder to see the traffic I'll have to (in the US sense) "merge" with. Unfortunately, the delivery van in the front of the line of traffic I'm in is using the French translation, and only the panic screams of my wife saved us from disaster. He was STOPPED, not slowly moving, but STOPPED at the end of the onramp. Also, when you're driving along on the freeway and there is an onramp, ALL of the cars in the right lane will SIMULTANEOUSLY change to the left lane at the mere sight of a "MERGE" sign. This was more humorous than anything else. Synchonized lane changes (and we once saw a line of 15 cars do it perfectly synchronized) are much less dangerous than "merging". They are no doubt doing it to avoid the deadly delivery vans entering the freeway at 10km/h. Again, right at the end of the trip only about 10 minutes from the motherland, I was following a Mustang driven by an American that was following a Mercedes driven by a Canadian. Real simple 4 way perpendicular intersection with something off an "offramp" that merges the right turn that I was making onto the other street. There were NO cars coming that the Mercedes would need to merge with. There was enough open space that the Mustang didn't have anyone to merge with either. Needless to say, the Mercedes drives almost all the way around the corner then stomps on the brakes, right as I'm looking over my shoulder to see if there are any cars I'll have to merge with. My wife screams "STOP!!!" and I used the ABS in the GMC, and we narrowly avoided an accident. I think part of the problem was that the Mustang also wasn't expecting this guy to come to a near stop to "merge" with the non-existant traffic on the road either, so we kind of accordioned a bit. Luckily no one hit anyone. So beware, and next time your wife is back seat driving, thank her. She just might save you from a Canadian... PS- It's pronounced "Coca-NEE" not "Ko-KAH-nee". Had a pretty good laugh over that one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 I have lived all over the USA. The only place I have seen anything close to that (although not that bad) is my adoptive state of Maryland. I call it the Maryland merge. I watch the Maryland people closely. They come to a complete stop before they even attempt to check their mirrors or look over their sholder. What really drives me crazy is when they do it where the merge ramps opens up into a new, protected lane. I lived in California for years and only once did I see some one stop at the end of an on ramp. Myself and half a dozen other cars went on the sholder to go around the moron. I wonder if that dildo is still sitting in that same spot afraid to move, horrified by all the crazy CA drivers passing him by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave88SS Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 I encounter people who do this about once a week going to work merging from a highway to a surface street. There actually are times that you need to stop on the ramp to let traffic clear (b/c of a light), but why people insist on stopping 2 feet from the end of the ramp is beyond me. Not only do they have no accel room, they are around a bend so people can't see them stopped at the bottom of the ramp. Welcome to ohio. Arg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 I wonder if that dildo is still sitting in that same spot afraid to move, horrified by all the crazy CA drivers passing him by. Priceless!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Worst driving I have ever seen was in Mexico, not Canada, although my home state of California has come in very close at times Jon, we have a lot of Canadian members here and I'm sure the HybridZ bunch are truly a shot above the norm, for anywhere I might add... I'd like this thread NOT to turn ugly... Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 8, 2006 Author Share Posted January 8, 2006 Yeah, it's supposed to be 1/2 tongue in cheek, 1/2 warning to our American members who might travel that way. I mean I narrowly avoided 2 accidents because of this phenomenon, and it really does seem to be consistent. Maybe I could have worded the title differently... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strokerZ Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 LOL...had a good laugh reading this post...Are you sure you werent driving in the Province of Quebec...then I could understand:-D . And beware...we come over the border into the States too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 8, 2006 Author Share Posted January 8, 2006 But that must be how you are taught to drive, right strokerZ? I don't think I just came across two idiots. I think there is a difference in how merging is done between the US and Canada. Is that right? Otherwise how would you explain the synchronized lane changes??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatRaveR Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Otherwise how would you explain the synchronized lane changes??? Haven't you heard? It's about time for the Winter Olympics, and Synchronized Lane Changes is one of the new sports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayZee Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Ok, being one Canadian to reply to this... I do know what you are talking about. I have seen this problem many times, but I am surprised to hear these complaints coming from the province of BC. Everytime I go out there I find it a pleasure to drive. Not only the beautiful scenery but the fact that the drivers are so much better than they are here. Vancouver is a fairly sizable city and for any of the natives to navigate a city of that size you have to be fairly aggressive. My city is much smaller and until recently did not have that many roads with speed limits above 60km/h unless you completly left the city and entered the country. (where farmer style driving prevails) I think alot of people must have moved into the city and retained their old driving habits and assume that there is nobody within 10km that actually wants to use the same road. Then when they do actually notice that there is another car near them, they freeze. Back in the day when I took my driving test, there was no showing your ability to merge, and somehow I doubt that they teach it now. I remember taking a road trip to Dallas and being very impressed how all the drivers would enter a merge onto a freeway.. 75mph, nobody would slow down and cars would simply slip into the lane without missing a beat. Out here that would never work, someone would panic and slowdown causing a severe pileup. Not only that, in Dallas the cars travelling down the freeway would EXPECT the car on the ramp to cut in front of them. It was no big deal because the car had already matched their speed. Here they would be honking and flashing the bird at the "crazy driver that just about killed them" Sometimes I have thought of the people here that can't merge and thought it would be good to send them to a place like Dallas and force them to merge. One of two things would happen.. they would either learn the hard way, or get caught in a terrible pile up. Either way, there would be less of them here to bother the rest of us that do know how to drive. As for this thread turning ugly, it may well yet do so. I am not personally offended by this thread because I can see the truth in it. However you have to be careful when making a post of this nature because in the simplest terms you ARE bashing our country and people "even Canucks" do take offense of that from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Biggest difference I see is the road design actually. US merge lanes are typically VERY short, and freeway speeds are higher. Here you have tons of space and slow speeds, so you really can get to highway speeds from a dead stop in no time. It's called Canadian drag racing, and it's completely legal! I've been to most places in north america, and nowhere is even close to france, germany and japan for driving insanity. (except perhaps Richmond, BC) It's completely a different world. Even Quebec seems tame in comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 I've been to most places in north america' date=' and nowhere is even close to france, germany and japan for driving insanity. [/quote'] I have driven in Germany a number of times and I always found the driving to be near excellent! They take their driving very seriously and it is very expensive and time consuming to even obtain a license. They go by the law to the very letter and if you stray outside the law even a little bit, you reap the wrath of the middle finger and angry motorists. Also, if you run a red light, a pedestrian can call in with your car's plate number and you will be fined. They don't mess around. However, perhaps things have changed since their immigrant population has soared to dizzying heights in the past few years? Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Maybe to the French Canadians "merge" is a form of political rebellion in an english controlled atmosphere (and an obvious revenue producer to collect on rear end collisions from american visitors)..... go figure the damages in Canadian dollars... We were given feet and legs and in the grand scheme of things were never genetically engineered to propel ourselves around in metallic objects....that was not in the plans according to Genesis and other sources including leading scientific studies.......I have seen a lot of bad drivers in all flavors, colors coming and going in all forms of metallic manufacture. No doubt there are a number out there (survivors and a few Canadians included) who have re-collections of really one bad driver in their memory banks that closely resembled me not that I am admitting to any specific events, days, places or times under the 5th Amendment not to be confused with the 10 Commadments of "thou shalt not lie" Just be thnakful that you have one individual looking out for your best interests.... "Jon slow this car down or I am getting out and walking" ..Walking is more natural and better suited for limited gene pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsil Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Funny, the drivers in my area (Portland, OR) do the exact opposite thing - they just speed up to you and don't even look to merge- they just assume you will slow down for them and let them in. Even if you're going faster, they will just pull right into the lane while you're slamming on the brakes to try and not hit them. For that reason as soon as I get onto the freeway I move as far LEFT as possible (not that the freeways have more than 2 lanes in either direction mostly). Being used to CA drivers this was a big shock. I've actually seen a lot of people creep up the on ramps to the freeways in the Bay Area when I lived there. I've seen accidents because the people stop and the car behind them tries to avoid them at the last second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aarang Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 I think in Portland, if you have your blinker on, it means you have the right to change lanes or merge at will without looking!! Especially while talking on the phone and/or doing makeup! Also, what does the flashing green light at signals mean in Vancouver B.C.? The best I understand it as it's OK to turn or merge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayZee Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 I think in Portland' date=' if you have your blinker on, it means you have the right to change lanes or merge at will without looking!! Especially while talking on the phone and/or doing makeup! Also, what does the flashing green light at signals mean in Vancouver B.C.? The best I understand it as it's OK to turn or merge?[/quote'] A flashing green means that you are being warned that the light will turn red soon. Which is interesting because in my province that used to mean it was ok to go straight, right, or left.. (kind of a cheap replacement for turn lights) We haven't had those around here in years though. I always thought that was messed up for two Canadian provinces to have different light setups. I mean, what if a driver from here went to BC and figured that the flashing green meant that they could just turn left whenever they wanted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.