Majority Of NSW Merging Lanes Potentially Unsafe: NRMA

Mar 18, 2010
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NEARLY THREE QUARTERS of New South Wales' motorway merging lanes are "potentially unsafe", according to a recent audit by NRMA Motoring and Services.

Reviewing 124 locations across Sydney where traffic merged onto motorways or where lanes ended, the audit found that 73 percent had signs that were incorrect, poorly located or missing altogether.

The audit also showed that almost one-quarter (22 percent) of merge lanes were too short - although no definition of an appropriate length was offered.

The audit identified both the M5 east outbound and citybound entries from Marsh Street as two of the worst merging locations for motorists. Others areas singled out included Southern Cross Drive southbound entry from General Holmes Drive before the airport tunnel, and The M4 westbound entry from Concord Road.

NRMA President Wendy Machin said the report identified trouble areas where congestion and vehicle emissions could be reduced by improving signage, removing obstructions and extending merging lanes.

 

"Once you have a hold up on busy motorways such as the M2, M4 or M5 in peak periods, the traffic jam can build up at the rate of 1.5km every minute," Ms Machin said.

"Motorists need to have enough warning to allow them to adjust their speed so that traffic is able to merge safely - if someone unfamiliar with the road is faced with these situations then it could lead to a mistake being made at high speed."

 

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Comments

  • Godspeed [reply]
    4 months ago 0 points
    Well duh. When you have people that aren't educated properly on who has right of way in the case of a broken line, or no broken line, and then people that slow right down to a standstill to merge instead of speeding up to match the flow of traffic, or not using indicators, or fighting tooth and nail not to let someone in, or not following the "like a zipper" rule (one car per lane in the case of a 2-into-1 merge), is it any wonder???
  • Tom [reply]
    4 months ago 0 points
    Nothing infuriates me more when driving than people who can't flaming merge. So many people pretty much stop, and then wonder why no one lets them in. Seriously, cops should be able to ping them for negligent driving. Bring on 5 yearly compulsory driving tests, too many people are unable to do what from memory you had to do to get your P's.

    People that take 5 minutes to parallel park should also get pinged for negligent driving. And cars should be fitted with a device that lightly shocks the driver whenever they change lanes without indicating, as a safety measure. Volvo have invented every other safety feature.
  • MJ [reply]
    4 months ago 0 points
    Ditto to Godspeed.
    I use the M4 in Sydney. The merge lane I use is excellent, very long and with 100 kph sign post.
    So I get up to 100 well before I have to merge and then just slip between the cars.
    Drivers on the Freeway let me in because they can see I'm doing the same speed.

    However on a regular basis I find myself behind another car in this merge lane, the driver
    of which never gets above 60.
    So I'm stuck behind this Wally doing 60, trying to merge with traffic doing 100.
    Some people just don't get it!
  • Godspeed [reply]
    4 months ago 0 points
    MJ - Absolutely - in freeway conditions that kind of situation is dangerous to a huge degree. You've quite often got semi trailers doing 100km/h in the left (or centre) lane and not speeding up to match the speed of the road you're joining is a recipe for disaster.

    Another form of etiquette I only see rarely is that on three-lane roads like the M4, if you're travelling in the left lane and approaching an overpass followed by its on-ramp, and you can see cars are about to merge, move to the centre lane if it's free to allow the mergers to slip in easliy. Additionally, if you're in the middle lane with someone else in the left lane just in front; same situation; move to the right-hand lane if free to allow the left-lane person to move over and let incoming traffic merge safely. Too many times I've seen the person in the left lane and the person merging brake and second-guess each other to try and out-accelerate / out brake each other when the middle lane is free; utter stupidity.
  • Moose [reply]
    4 months ago 0 points
    There is also a shocking merge lane on the F3 (Sydney to Newcastle) at the Tuggerah interchange Northbound. You have a merge with the on ramp coming onto 3 lanes then inmediately after the freeway chages to 2 lanes all in a 110km/h zone. I have seen some very close calls on this section. How stupid are these road planners??

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