should more be done about exit lane jumpers?

arcon5

I find it hard to believe these "queue jumpers" caused this backlog

matttye

arcon5 wrote: »

I find it hard to believe these "queue jumpers" caused this backlog

Agreed, people have to merge at some point so it matters not whether they do it at the end or a bit further down the road.

Norman_Castle

On parts of spaghetti junction some of the lane marking lines have been replaced with elongated diamonds between lanes 1 and 2 and signs stating do not cross the diamond markings. These extend for about 1/2 a mile before the exit. This is intended to stop drivers staying in lane 2 when they should be in lane 1 to exit the motorway.

Norman_Castle

matttye wrote: »

Agreed, people have to merge at some point so it matters not whether they do it at the end or a bit further down the road.

If they're stopping the traffic in lane 2 on a motorway because they are in the wrong lane it matters.

Cornucopia

In general, the most effective use of road space is to merge in-turn at the point where two on-going lanes merge into one. Done properly, this can prevent traffic from stopping at all, and whilst there may be delays, standing traffic might be avoided. Unfortunately, once traffic has stopped, people moving to the front of the queue will likely be seen as queue jumpers.

That's not the scenario the OP is talking about, I think. His scenario is the "drag" on traffic flow caused when a slip road is already tailing back onto the main carriageway, and people then attempt to cut into the sliproad flow from Lane 2 at the last available point. This potentially sees slow or stationary vehicles in both lanes 1 & 2, causing reduced on-going capacity.

In France, motorway type roads usually have a solid white line between lanes 1 & 2 in the vicinity of an exit slip. This is an ideal solution, requiring little investment and no new legislation.

matttye

Norman_Castle wrote: »

If they're stopping the traffic in lane 2 on a motorway because they are in the wrong lane it matters.

I'm talking about when you come up to a merge, ie when two lines become one.

neilmcl

arcon5 wrote: »

I find it hard to believe these "queue jumpers" caused this backlog

They don't, these so-called "queue jumpers" or rather motorists using a legitimate method of merging onto the exit are simply a symptom of the congestion that's already at the exit, not the cause.

neilmcl

OP, it may help if you identify the exact junction in question.

Cornucopia

I've seen this at J3 of the M2 east-bound, where lane 1 becomes the exit slip. In this case, the slip road widens to 2 lanes, which makes matters worse.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Chatham,+Medway/@51.3414361,0.5061113,247m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x47d8ccd1235bbff3:0x81ccd83ac461b85b

This is not a merge in-turn scenario, because people in lane 1 already have clear priority.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

You don't see this on motorways any more as the 50mph and rarely dropping a lane sorts the problem out.

The most efficient use of road space is to merge as late as possible.

If people pull over early to queue leaving the other lane empty, then clearly at some point someone will decide that that empty bit of tarmac should be filled. Take this to the extreme and consider that if at the front the cars alternate in turn, potentially the back of the stationary lane doesn't move as for every car that moves forward, that space is filled by another car. All it takes is for more passing cars to jump into spaces and you can be stuck for a long time.

The solution is not to pull over but to make sure both lanes queue fairly.

When a lane empties, what I would do is stay in the empty lane but reduce speed. I'd at first pass a few cars but what happens is that if you block cars going to the front, then the stationary queue starts up again (no cars blocking their progress any more) and then you drive along keeping pace. The drivers in the queue twig what you are up to and return the favour by allowing you to merge, then the cars behind zip in turn until someone ruins it all again by merging too early.

This system all falls to bits when it is an exit slip as you should not block continuing traffic. They did try a system of road markings at the M6 J6 Northbound (Spag junction) where they have a diamond "do not cross" marking. I don't think it is supported by law specifically, but crossing it would leave you liable to a "driving without due consideration to other road users" and using wrong lanes to gain an advantage is specifically given as a legitimate reason for a prosecution.

So the solution is to either fix the junction or install cameras and prominent notices.

On exits like the A34 exit southbound on the M40 the problem is that as the queuing lane which is clearly demarked exits, it widens into 2, creating space which is too tempting for chancers who then cause dangerous situations by stopping on the main M40 flow when the gap they are hoping for doesn't appear.