Merging onto a highway

As well as knowing yourself and your capabilities you should know your vehicles under a wide range of conditions. By looking or planning ahead and timing your acceleration you can avoid most issues. Simply put- a car is an analog machine no matter how much digital technology it has. It’s a physics engine that doesn’t do anything instantaneously. In order for your car to do what you want when you want you have to have already set it up to do that at the future moment you want the action. You can’t ask a car to do anything the exact moment you want it it to and expect it will respond in a moment.

Even a relatively fast car will take a few seconds to accelerate to 60mph. If you haven’t left the distance you need to get there before you reach the point you need to be going that speed, if you haven’t started accelerating with enough time to reach you desired speed within a window- you can’t just warp to it. You need to be going merge speed before you merge, and time the action so that your car is at the speed it needs be at each market of distance for its acceleration position and the throttle percentage and gear you are using.

If the person ahead of you is the problem- don’t follow them so closely that you are forced to match their speed. Give yourself enough of a “run” cushion that you can maintain steady acceleration as needed. Sometimes it can’t be helped. Traffic is traffic. But 9/10 times when I see a person having trouble with a merge it is because they are not driving decisively. Choose an action, plan the action, execute the plan, re asses as needed, repeat. Indecision and fear are not conducive to the operation of a deadly machine. Where there is knowledge and precaution, prudent and responsible operation- you don’t need fear. You will make the best choices you know how and the rest will happen as it happens. Indecision is the enemy of safe operation because hesitation causes poor timing and poor timing causes dangerous situations. Don’t cause dangerous situations but accept the inherent dangers of thousands of pounds of steel at high speed- or walk everywhere.

Also if you are in a lane where another merges into it please maintain your speed. If you slow down or speed up you'll only make the person who is attempting to merge have a harder time. If you are in a merging lane please realize the oncoming traffic has the right away and doesn't have to break for you, you have to break for them so approach accordingly. Don't be that guy that tries to force themselves into a car and then gets mad when they don't slow down so you can get in front of them. You're the idiot who doesn't know how to merge at that point and it is a ticketable offense should you "force" them to move over or slam on the breaks for you.

Pretty much. The person who ISN’T merging generally has the right of way but is equally responsible for controlling their vehicle- and most states hold that one should never “force” right of way- and if you do and there’s an accident you share fault. The person not merging should keep constant speed so that others can properly plan and merge. But as the merger you are responsible for safely merging. If your vehicle can, and it is safest and smoothest to accelerate in front while maintaining safe distances- ie: your merging won’t take someone safety cushion and result in unsafe following distance or require braking- do it. Just get into traffic smoothly and safely. Speed up, slow down, whatever. As long as it’s safe.