Driving a class A, YIKES!

[SeilerBird]

I remember about 15 years ago I was driving across Texas in the right lane in my van and some Camaro pulled up next to me expecting me to move over so he could merge. The freeway was basically empty but he did not want to change speeds and merge gracefully. I held my ground and he gave the me dirtiest look imaginable. I was shocked. I had been driving in California most of my life and you simply had to be good at merging. I almost flipped him off but then I remembered I was in Texas and every one there has a gun so I just ignored him and made him slow down.

 

[Alpena Jeff]

Best advice, protect yourself. Back off when necessary. Read traffic and proceed with caution.
There really are no rules anymore. This topic kinda proves that.

 

[phil-t]

X2 Jeff - but for those tha  t "think" the merging traffic has the right of way --  show us an official reference.

My rule - use common sense and show some courtesy.

 

[SeilerBird]

X2 Jeff - but for those that "think" the merging traffic has the right of way --  show us an official reference.

From the Illinois General Assembly web site:

  Sec. 11-905. Merging traffic. Notwithstanding the right-of-way provision in Section 11-901 of this Act, at an intersection where traffic lanes are provided for merging traffic the driver of each vehicle on the converging roadways is required to adjust his vehicular speed and lateral position so as to avoid a collision with another vehicle.
(Source: P.A. 100-201, eff. 8-18-17.)

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=062500050HCh%2E+11+Art%2E+X&ActID=1815&ChapterID=49&SeqStart=123600000&SeqEnd=125200000

 

[Alpena Jeff]

Quote the law all you want Tom. A frightful high percentage of motorists are just going to force merge while talking on phone anyway. Many will need to put there beer down while they find their smokes and lighter while driving 75 with Pearl Jam blasting.
I know cause it used to be me. Thank God I lived through it!

 

[Isaac-1]

I remember about 15 years ago I was driving across Texas in the right lane in my van and some Camaro pulled up next to me expecting me to move over so he could merge. The freeway was basically empty but he did not want to change speeds and merge gracefully. I held my ground and he gave the me dirtiest look imaginable. I was shocked. I had been driving in California most of my life and you simply had to be good at merging. I almost flipped him off but then I remembered I was in Texas and every one there has a gun so I just ignored him and made him slow down.

Ah Texas drivers, now without me admitting to anything here, picture a situation in Houston Texas where there is a long freeway entry ramp that runs for a couple of city blocks with a low 35 mph speed limit on the ramp, before entering an elevated section of freeway with a short acceleration lane, and heavy afternoon traffic.

Picture that while one is driving on this rather long surface level approach ramp at roughly the speed limit there is some youngster in import car acting like they are going to ram the back of your car if you don't speed up, dropping back and repeatedly  accelerating and slamming on their brakes before rear ending you.

When you get to the top of the ramp, with the short acceleration with solid on coming traffic and only small gaps that would allow you to merge in.

Do you

A, accelerate and merge in to traffic and go on with your life

B, come to a dead stop, further annoy the guy behind you

(note you are driving a 400+ HP muscle car that can do 0-60 in well under 5 seconds)

 

[SeilerBird]

Quote the law all you want Tom. A frightful high percentage of motorists are just going to force merge while talking on phone anyway. Many will need to put there beer down while they find their smokes and lighter while driving 75 with Pearl Jam blasting.
I know cause it used to be me. Thank God I lived through it!

I only quoted the law because Phil wanted to be shown some official notice. I am not telling anyone how to drive.

 

[Alpena Jeff]

I only quoted the law because Phil wanted to be shown some official notice. I am not telling anyone how to drive.

Yea, that wasn't meant as an attack Tom. I could have worded it better.
Peace my friend.

 

[SeilerBird]

Yea, that wasn't meant as an attack Tom. I could have worded it better.
Peace my friend.

I didn't take it as an attack, I was just clarifying. I know you are a good guy. ;D

 

[phil-t]

From the Illinois General Assembly web site:

  Sec. 11-905. Merging traffic. Notwithstanding the right-of-way provision in Section 11-901 of this Act, at an intersection where traffic lanes are provided for merging traffic the driver of each vehicle on the converging roadways is required to adjust his vehicular speed and lateral position so as to avoid a collision with another vehicle.
(Source: P.A. 100-201, eff. 8-18-17.)

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=062500050HCh%2E+11+Art%2E+X&ActID=1815&ChapterID=49&SeqStart=123600000&SeqEnd=125200000

Thanks Tom.  That's exactlyt how it should be, IMO.  No "right of way" defined.

 

[Bill N]

I can recall from sometime over 15 years ago while visiting my daughter in St Paul, Minnesota that merging onto the freeways was controlled by a light (or was it a set of lights) in the merging lane.  I never got the rule on exactly what was supposed to happen but does anybody from that area know about that and can perhaps explain what that system was?  I have never since seen any traffic lights in merging lanes in any state.

Bill

 

[Bill N]

"Amanda
Mommy to 6 great kids who love camping and traveling"

Amanda, I just have to ask this question.  If you are a mother of 6 can you tell us which of the kids picture is being used on your posts......lol  I could go on but don't want to get in trouble just to say that is an attractive lady in the photo.

Bill 

 

[Lou Schneider]

I can recall from sometime over 15 years ago while visiting my daughter in St Paul, Minnesota that merging onto the freeways was controlled by a light (or was it a set of lights) in the merging lane.  I never got the rule on exactly what was supposed to happen but does anybody from that area know about that and can perhaps explain what that system was?  I have never since seen any traffic lights in merging lanes in any state.

They're called metering lights, the idea is to spread out the timing of merging traffic so a whole bunch of cars don't enter the freeway at once and create a bottleneck.  Freeways carry more traffic when they're flowing at speed compared to when they're slowed to a crawl.

Metering lights are ubiquitous in Los Angeles and rest of CA's metro areas and are spreading to other metro areas around the country. They work in conjunction with traffic sensors in the freeway lanes and turn on  when the freeway becomes congested.

The lights cycle from red to green every few seconds and only one vehicle is allowed to pass per green cycle.  The yellow light is only used when the lights are first activated, to allow incoming traffic time to stop before the red light comes on.

 

[ArdraF]

Every state has its driving oddities.  Years ago, when freeways were new, every freeway entry lane in Pennsylvania had a stop sign.  Out here in the west we would have a car in front of us with Pa. plates as we neared a freeway entrance.  I always told Jerry to slow down because the Pa. car probably would stop and, sure enough, most did.  The problem in this situation is that we would be speeding up to enter at speed just as the Pa. person was stopping out of habit I suppose.  Hopefully that has changed!

ArdraF

 

[RVMommaTo6]

"Amanda
Mommy to 6 great kids who love camping and traveling"

Amanda, I just have to ask this question.  If you are a mother of 6 can you tell us which of the kids picture is being used on your posts......lol  I could go on but don't want to get in trouble just to say that is an attractive lady in the photo.

Bill

Lol thank you, that's me. Keep in mind the pictures are small so they don't show all the "experience" lines lol

 

[Larry N.]

I have never since seen any traffic lights in merging lanes in any state.

Lou gave a good answer. They're all over I-25 in the Denver metro area, too. Many of them are only operational around rush hour, though many others run all day long.

I never got the rule on exactly what was supposed to happen

Simple -- red stop, green go  ;D  Actually, what happens is they are red, but when a car gets to the light, they turn green for a few seconds, then back red for a few seconds. That's the metering Lou discusses.

 

[Bill N]

Thanks for the answers on the metering and thanks Amanda for confirming what I thought.

Bill

 

[SeilerBird]

Deciding to travel around and live in a motorhome for a while was the easy part. Picking out which one I wanted was the fun part. Now I have to drive?!?! Aughhhhhh lol, but seriously, I'm kind of nervous. The highways don't scare me, but driving through construction zones where the lanes narrow terrifies me. And turning. And parking. I have to pick up my new Class A and my anxiety is getting the best of me. Then I have to drive it from Tampa to NY.
I've googled advice on how to drive a class A mh but I would definitely appreciate any words of wisdom anyone is willing to share. I've towed both my pop up and my 35ft TT, but the largest vehicle I've driven is my 12 passenger van. Help! Thank you!

I think you will be pleasantly shocked. You must remember rich people are the ones buying the brand new RVs (well upper middle class at least) and they normally drive Cadillacs, BMWs, Lexus, etc. If driving a large RV was difficult or crazy then they would never sell them. They drive as easy as a luxury automobile. There really isn't a whole lot of difference between driving a large class A and a Cadillac other than the gas mileage. The front always follows the back. RVs accelerate, brake and turn a bit slower, but still all the same principals apply. If you can drive a car you will have no problem getting used to driving an RV.

My last girl friend bought a 32 foot class C for us and she did not want to drive it. Flat out refused. So we picked it up and drove up Eisenhower grade west of Denver. I got about half way up and pulled over and ordered her to take the wheel. My thinking was that if I got injured she would have to do the driving. She reluctantly got into the drivers seat and within five minutes was OMGing over and over. She loved it.

It looks big and it looks scary, but it is a blast to drive.

What a difference a day makes. Rumor has it she is in love with driving her big bad A.

 

[RVMommaTo6]

I love it! The first half of day one was white knuckle, full body tension. By the end of the day, and 400 miles into my journey, I was only tense when a truck passed me or going through construction. Now, at the end of my second day and 858 miles into it, I can honestly say I'm almost as comfortable driving Ace as I am driving the 15 passenger I drive every day. It isn't nearly as difficult as I imagined and I'm learning much quicker than I thought I would.
As I told Tom earlier, I have no desire to go back to my house, I could do this full time.

 

[Isaac-1]

As many of us said, it takes about a thousand miles to start getting comfortable with it, this will continue to improve over the next 5,000 - 10,000 miles.