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Hi there smart drivers, Rick with Smart
drive test talking to you today about
merging onto a highway or freeway from
an on-ramp. I had a comment from Ann - she
wanted me to give the other road users a
little bit of information about how to
do that because she was a bit frustrated
by other people getting onto the
acceleration lane and stopping, which
many of us have seen that happen and that
is not what you're supposed to do.
It's called an acceleration lane because
you need to get on it and you need to
accelerate up to road speed as quickly
as possible - either the posted speed
limit or the flow of traffic
whichever is less. So today we're going
to show you how to merge onto the
highway or freeway. We'll be right back with
that information.
Stick around!
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Hi there smart drivers, Rick with Smart Drive Test -
welcome back. We're talking today about merging
onto a highway or freeway from an
on-ramp. Now an on-ramp is more than one
piece and there's the on-ramp and the
acceleration lane. The on-ramp is the
transition from the road from which
you're coming off of onto the highway or
freeway and moves you onto the
acceleration lane. Once you get onto the
acceleration lane, it's another lane that
runs to the right of the traffic that's
moving along the highway or freeway. Once
you get on the acceleration lane and you
get pointed in a straight line, you need
to start looking for your gap. And you
need to accelerate the vehicle up to
highway speed, which is either the posted
speed limit or the flow of traffic
whichever is less. So you need to
accelerate quickly and often times you
might need to even put the accelerator
right on the floor. Now the other thing
that I suggest to many new drivers - stay
on the acceleration lane right to the
end, and as you're moving along the
acceleration lane, look for your opening
and have your signal on the entire time.
Actually you should have your signal on from
the time that you're on the on-ramp to
the end of the acceleration lane. And
leave your signal on until you merge
onto the highway or freeway and are
completely in the lane. Do not turn your
signal off until you're completely in
the lane because our eyes are attracted
to light and movement and because of
that flashing light
people are looking for your vehicle and
are going to assist you in merging onto
the freeway. They're either going to move
over to the lane or they're going to
slow so that a gap can be created and you
can move onto the highway or freeway. Now
one other point about acceleration lanes:
on the left you will have continuity
lines - pavement markings that are twice
as wide and half as long as regular
pavement markings that divide lanes of
traffic. And you can see here in the
image the continuity
lines. If you have continuity lines on
your left it means the lane that you're
in is either going to end or exit - and if
you're on an acceleration lane, it's
going to end.
So you need to be looking for your gap -
you need to be signaling and moving to
the left onto the highway or freeway. So
what we're going to do now is hook up the
cameras here and go for a drive to
show you how to merge onto a highway or
freeway. So I know this is an on-ramp,
even though there aren't any signs
indicating that there is an on-ramp.
There is a merge sign down around here on
the highway. So I'm looking,
I've got my left signal on and I'm on
on-ramp... now I'm on the
acceleration lane and I'm leaving my
signal on. The vehicle behind me pulled
over because I had my signal on and the
speed limit is 90 kph (55mph) and I stay on the acceleration
all the way to the end, and I merge over
with
the end of the acceleration lane.
And I'm doing 90 kilometers an hour (55mph) and
the vehicle behind me - as you'll see
the come up here and go past the front
he that vehicle moved over as well to
allow me to move over onto the roadway.
So I've moved over onto the roadway
and I am at exactly 90 kilometers an
hour (55mph) to merge onto the highway.
What I'll do is I'll go down the road
here and I'll do another one because
that was pretty quick and just so you
can see all of the pieces of
the merge and see how to do it again.
Actually I think there is a yield sign
on this one down here. Most on-ramps are
going to have a yield sign
to tell you that you have to give the
right-of-way to other traffic. So we're
going to go down here to another one
and we'll do one more for you.
The differences you're going to notice on
on-ramps is that the on-ramps will vary
in length. On some freeways they'll be
very big, especially if you get on a
cloverleaf, there'll be a lot of on-ramp -
it'll be very long before you get out to
the acceleration lane, other ones, like
this one that were about to go on right
now, they will be very short and will not
give you much transition from the road
from which you're coming onto the road onto
which you're going. The on ramp is going
to be short and you're going to be on
that acceleration lane almost
immediately. And I cannot stress enough
again: do not stop on the acceleration
lane!! You need to get on the acceleration
lane and you need to accelerate to
highway speed as quickly as possible. If
you stop on that acceleration lane - there
are other vehicles coming up behind you
that are expecting you to begin to
accelerate - they're not expecting you to
stop. So it is an unpredictable action
and you could potentially risk being
rear-ended and cause a crash and
causing other traffic to not know what
you're doing. So you need to be
predictable and being predictable is getting on
that acceleration ramp and accelerate
quickly to either the posted speed limit
or the flow of traffic, whichever is less.
This roadway going up here you just
heard the rumble strips there, which tells
you that this is a high-risk
intersection and you can see here
there's a stop sign but the stop sign is
not for you. The stop sign is for left-turning
traffic and you can see the continuity
lines on my left as I move into the acceleration
lane and I have my signal on all the way.
And I know it's 90 kilometers an hour
and I'm staying on the
lane all the way to the end. And I am
at highway speed.
Quick review of merging onto a highway
or freeway. There's two pieces to the
road: 1) the on-ramp; 2) and the acceleration
lane. The on-ramp is the piece of road
that moves you from the road from which
are coming onto the acceleration lane that leads to the freeway or highway.
Obey all cautionary signs on the on-ramp
because you don't want to lose control.
Some of them can be quite sharp and
quite short; others will be a lot longer,
especially if you're on a cloverleaf
merging onto a freeway. Once you get onto
the acceleration lane, you need to
accelerate quickly.
This is called an acceleration lane - do
not stop on the acceleration lane - it
makes you unpredictable and you risk
being rear-ended or worse yet, risk a
crash of vehicles on the roadway because
you they don't know what you're doing. So
don't stop - it's called an acceleration
lane - get on it and hammer down. And you know
you're on the acceleration lane because
there will be continuity lines on your left.
Continuity lines are half as long and
twice as wide as normal lane dividing
markings. So know that there are
continuity lines and continuity lines
tell you that the lane that you're in is
either going to end or exit. If you're on an
acceleration lane it's going to end.
Accelerate to highway speed as quickly
as possible, which is either the posted
speed limit or the traffic flow
whichever is less. Stay on the ramp all
the way to the end and just gently merge
over into traffic. The whole time that
you're on the acceleration lane be
looking, shoulder checking, and checking
in your mirror and looking for the gap.
You need to leave your signal on because
it gets the attention of other traffic
and sometimes they'll either move over
to the other lane if you're merging onto
a multi-lane road, which most of the
time you will be, or they'll reduce their
speed and create a gap for you to get
onto the highway. So leave your signal on
so that you are in indicating to other
traffic that you are indeed merging and they
will help you to get onto that roadway.
So leave your signal on, communicate to
others that you're going to merge onto
the roadway. Question for my smart
drivers: have you ever had anybody hit
the brakes and slow down or stop on an
acceleration lane? Leave a comment down
in the comment section there -
express your grief and how you dealt
with that situation. All that helps out
the new drivers working towards getting
their license and learning how to drive.
I'm Rick with Smart Drive Test, thanks very
much for watching. If you like what you
see here share, subscribe, leave a comment
down in the
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all of that will give you great
information. If you're working towards
getting a license or towards a career as
a truck or bus driver.
Thanks again for watching. Good luck on
your road test, and remember, pick the
best answer, not necessarily the right
answer.
Have a great day. Bye now.
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