Freeway merge lanes are way too short

[Atty]

Is this how American freeways are in real life? I've never been to the US but here in Europe the merge lanes are always long enough to pick up full speed and safely merge with the oncoming traffic, so they're usually at least half a kilometer long, even more on busy sections. In ATS I found they're usually like 30 meters long, so traffic entering comes to a full stop and then has to wait for a big enough gap to merge in and pick up speed from 0. Not only is this annoying but in real life it would be extremely dangerous.

I usually just speed past the waiting traffic if I see an opening or if there's no queue and I can't merge safely I just pick up speed on the breakdown lane. But it's still silly.

[Yawzheek]

They're not as short as the game portrays them, no, but they're definitely not like ETS2 portrays them.

They're of a "just enough" length in most cases to make the merge, but 2KM as one poster said? Not by a long shot.

[Adventure Square]

Aside from the realism and scale concerns, they're short enough to be really annoying for the game in some places.

Yes, there are some CRAZY SHORT merges in the US on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, to name a few places I've driven them in real life.

But mostly ATS isn't modelling any of those very constrained or older roads at this time. Would really prefer that some of the shortest merges get revisited at some point.

[Red River]

it's not just the length but all traffic is usually concentrated on the right lane and they never get out of the way near the entrance ramps to keep that area less congested like in real life...

[Hollywoodb1]

Short version: yes, I've been across all of the southern states, Western & northwestern states (Never been further north east than Maryland). These are realistic, and frustrating lol. It's not uncommon at all to see vehicles stopped in the lane, waiting for an opportunity to merge in lol. You get used to it in real life lol, but I don't drive a truck. This game is way harder than just driving a car

[P3_Super_Bee]

Go to Hawaii. Get down in town and there are no ramps. It's instant on the freeway...

Originally posted by rgx107:

I agree it is annoying. I haven't driven in the US but I read that highway ramps in general are much shorter than in Europe, so that part fits. Though (AI) drivers stopping in the merge lane can't be true, and they do it in ETS too. If you do that when taking the test you will not get a license in Europe.

Car's merging onto the freeway in the US do NOT have the right-a-way. Therefore if you can't merge on to the freeway do to traffic you STOP.

A lot of big cities, while in town. The on ramps actually have traffic signals(depending on city, and amount of traffic, most are only activated during "rush hour") to control cars onto the freeway. In this case you are actually made to stop.

https://richmondstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/rampmeters.jpg

[Michael]

Originally posted by Coyote Man:

Originally posted by turtle2247:

Pfft..... Come to Atlanta. Speed is your friend for getting on the highways.

How us real truckers merge in atlanta: pedal to the floor, signal, and just literally force in and hope nobody shoots at you

And other parts of the country.

Originally posted by Doc8Ball:

LOL Dont listen to Coyote.... Drivers who do that dont have their CDL for very long.

The drivers that have road rage are the 4 wheelers and in some places they do shoot.

Have you heard about the boat rage guy?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng77h8a2vPA

[Dim67]

Originally posted by rgx107:

I agree it is annoying. I haven't driven in the US but I read that highway ramps in general are much shorter than in Europe, so that part fits. Though (AI) drivers stopping in the merge lane can't be true, and they do it in ETS too. If you do that when taking the test you will not get a license in Europe.

Yep totally true. In Holland you are taught to accelerate to highwayspeed so you can merge safely before getting to the end of the merge lane. If its a short merge lane, well then you'll just have to floor it. Stopping at the end of the merge lane is in most cases, not done.

[Atty]

Originally posted by Dim67:

Originally posted by rgx107:

I agree it is annoying. I haven't driven in the US but I read that highway ramps in general are much shorter than in Europe, so that part fits. Though (AI) drivers stopping in the merge lane can't be true, and they do it in ETS too. If you do that when taking the test you will not get a license in Europe.

Yep totally true. In Holland you are taught to accelerate to highwayspeed so you can merge safely before getting to the end of the merge lane. If its a short merge lane, well then you'll just have to floor it. Stopping at the end of the merge lane is in most cases, not done.

This. In all my years I've never, ever had to come to a full stop. You match the speed of the freeway traffic and then just dive in. In driving school I was taught to floor it as soon as I enter the ramp.

[Michael]

Originally posted by Simon:

Originally posted by Dim67:

Yep totally true. In Holland you are taught to accelerate to highwayspeed so you can merge safely before getting to the end of the merge lane. If its a short merge lane, well then you'll just have to floor it. Stopping at the end of the merge lane is in most cases, not done.

This. In all my years I've never, ever had to come to a full stop. You match the speed of the freeway traffic and then just dive in. In driving school I was taught to floor it as soon as I enter the ramp.

Some states/cities have traffic lights at the highway on ramps and they will force you to stop. Normally you have to merge with the traffic at highway speeds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaMC1kSH9bU

[Pyjamas in the daytime]

Originally posted by Michael:

Originally posted by Simon:

This. In all my years I've never, ever had to come to a full stop. You match the speed of the freeway traffic and then just dive in. In driving school I was taught to floor it as soon as I enter the ramp.

Some states/cities have traffic lights at the highway on ramps and they will force you to stop. Normally you have to merge with the traffic at highway speeds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaMC1kSH9bU

That reminded me of the sort of video you are forced to watch by excited executives on a team building day. Informative but a bit meh in terms of production.

[Royce]

The map scale is wrong. Too Small for the map.

[HunterKiller]

Consider the following about entering the freeway:

The above steps on entering a freeway seem complicated, but after some practice, these steps should come to you naturally.
There are freeway entrances that are short, and there is not an acceleration lane and a very short merging lane.
If you plan your entrance correctly based on the speed and position of the vehicles with which you are merging, you should be able to merge smoothly without having any difficulties.
Remember that merge into the traffic when it is safe and you have enough room to merge without causing any risks.
Always yield the right of way to ongoing traffic.
Never expect that the other drivers are going to move over or provide you a space to merge; therefore, you would need to adjust your speed accordingly and only merge when there is an available opening for a safe merge.

Source: https://www.driverseducationusa.com/resources/how-to-enter-the-freeways/

[Michael]

Originally posted by EskimoEric:

Originally posted by Michael:

Some states/cities have traffic lights at the highway on ramps and they will force you to stop. Normally you have to merge with the traffic at highway speeds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaMC1kSH9bU

That reminded me of the sort of video you are forced to watch by excited executives on a team building day. Informative but a bit meh in terms of production.

The irony is that was the best video I could find on youtube...

[Kadota]

That 1:20 ratio makes my truck 20 times too long for the merge lane. :)

[arkwaldr]

Originally posted by Coyote Man:

Originally posted by turtle2247:

Pfft..... Come to Atlanta. Speed is your friend for getting on the highways.

How us real truckers merge in atlanta: pedal to the floor, signal, and just literally force in and hope nobody shoots at you

I see not much has changed since I lived there in the late 70's. That's pretty much how most people drove I think. Well maybe the shooting thing is different.