Why we have On-Ramps.

It seems to me there are a lot of people, drivers that is, out there who have some difficulty understanding just how to navigate a freeway on-ramp. It’s really quite simple, self-explanatory even, and rather ingenious, but somehow the purpose of this common traffic control device eludes a surprising number of licensed and unlicensed drivers, although, at times, it’s difficult to tell the difference between the two.

The really quite simple part is this: A freeway on-ramp is a one-way roadway designed specifically for drivers in need of merging safely onto a freeway. Unlike an off-ramp where certain speeds might be unsafe when maneuvering the ramp, the on-ramp provides you with the necessary space to accelerate to a speed that facilitates a safe merge with traffic already in freeway lanes of traffic.

That brings us to the self-explanatory part. The end of the on-ramp will ultimately end at the freeway where traffic is moving at a speed of 55 to 65 miles per hour (depending on where you live) and often at speeds much greater than that. It seems to me that in order to safely merge with traffic, a driver should necessarily come to the conclusion that, in order to merge safely with traffic, he or she must accelerate to the speed of traffic already on the freeway. In order to do this, the driver must be aware of traffic on the freeway so as to know at what speed he or she can enter the freeway lanes of traffic without causing a disruption in the flow of that traffic. Not a concept that should be terrible difficult to understand.

And that’s the ingenious part. The idea of how to safely navigate a freeway on-ramp should be inherent in all who drive vehicles. There is no great mystery in which direction you are meant to drive, where the road you travel will end, or at what speed you are to be traveling when you get there.

Yet, at some point between entering the on-ramp and exiting the on-ramp, there are some drivers who seem to lose consciousness and foul the whole thing up. These drivers are perfect examples of why driving can be a stressful, dangerous venture, and perhaps a trip to DMV for a Driver Re-Examination Test might help open their eyes to what should already be self-evident to them as drivers. But then again, perhaps it won’t, and that’s precisely why traffic schools nationwide teach new drivers to be Defensive Drivers.

And that’s your first Pet Peeve from The Traffic Guy.

Be safe out there.