I intended to post this much earlier, but have been pushed for time...
SafeSpeed wrote:
So far we have 7 people happily using L2 (number 5s) and 3 people (number 3s) who wish to block them.
This isn't good.
Would any of those of you who went for the third option care to explain why you would do that?
Well as is the way with these, there are such a wide variety of situations to which the scenario could be applied.
The situation which springs to mind was this:
When Barton Bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal was being widened, and there was a lot of work on the entire length of the Bridge, the middle lane was coned off for some length.
On the approach to the bridge were signs telling of the impending closure, then a series of signs saying "lane closed ahead 600 yds" "400 yds" and "200 yds" before finally the cones shut off the lane.
I was in a long line of traffic in lane one travelling at approx. 40 - 45 mph - having merged from lane two as soon as I saw the 1st sign.
An Audi in lane 2 continued past all the warning sings, right to the point where he could procedd no further, where he found a row of cones abruptly shutting off his route, and traffic, nose to tail, but moving freely in lane one.
In order to allow the Audi in, somebody would have to brake or slow far enough back to allow him in - but HIS actions had taken them by urprise, and nobody was prepared to risk braking hard enough to open up sufficient gap - and the Audi by now was stationary.
As I passed him, and glanced back in my mirror he was still sat there for as far as I could see.
Later in the week when I travelled that way, I partially blocked somebody in lane 2 at the 200 yard marker, to prevent them suffering the same fate, and slowed to create a gap in front of me - which I then opened up to the driver behind, who just made it in before the cones.
The merging should be carried out as soon as is safely possible, rather than wait until the merge is FORCED IMHO.
I would not block lane 2 without good reason - an accident ahead might be such an occasion, or if there was a possibility of lane two being used by emergency vehicles, which might be blocked if vehicle waited too late to merge.
The last time we had this discussion, I used this illustration:
Unfortunately 10 days later an 18 year old driver was killed when he failed to merge at the pinch point ahead, and ended up on the wrong side of the line on the brow, and struck an oncoming vehicle.
If a slow vehicle loses momentum at the top, traffic quickly ends up backing up at 10-20 mph, with NO room to merge. So once more, I might be tempted to block an impatient driver BEFORE they got into difficulty on the brow, IF IT WERE SAFE to do so.
As to the length of the tube of ball bearings, it only needs to be
long enough to ensure the free flow of balls through the hole. If a driver was attempting to travel so far ahead in lane 2 so as to impede that flow, then I would consider whether I could indicate that it would be wise to merge - possibly by allowing sufficient gap in front - but some just dont take the hint!
I hope I have explained myself clearly enough!