The Zipper Rule

Sitting in traffic is, for many people, one of the more aggravating parts of their day-to-day lives. It will probably not come as a surprise to you (the loyal reader) that Dauber's World is no exception. Patience is a virtue that must have been handed out in school on a day that Dauber's World was sick. Some traffic just can't be avoided -- crossing the Bay Bridge to go into San Francisco for instance. It doesn't make sitting in traffic enjoyable, but at least it is understandable. There's really nothing you can do about it -- the traffic has to back up someplace. If it didn't back up at the toll plaza it would back up as the traffic got into the city.

What is particularly aggravating are traffic jams that would seem to be completely avoidable. Rubber necking is obviously near the top of the list. Dauber's World is sure that many others have blogged on this already, so it's not worth further mention here (as this blog attempts to be somewhat original).

Equally as frustrating (but discussed far less) are traffic jams caused by merges where drivers don't follow the "Zipper Rule". Dauber's World is reasonably certain that everyone driving an automobile today is familiar with the zipper (unless they're Amish, and the Amish don't drive cars). In addition to being a useful feature on many items that people purchase on a daily basis zippers are reminders of how to easily merge two "streams" into one. As the name would imply, the Zipper Rule simply stipulates that when two streams of cars merge they alternate who gets let into the resulting traffic stream. Dauber's World is perpetually stunned by people who try to buck this trend and attempt to squeeze in one spot ahead of their turn -- like they're going to get where they're going SOOOO much faster than everyone else (perhaps they should also try honking while doing this -- that's sure to reduce their overall travel time). Obviously a single person refusing to follow the Zipper Rule has a largely negligible effect on the overall traffic flow. However if a certain percentage of the car-driving population chooses to ignore the rule (or even considers not abiding by it at that critical moment where the Zipper Rule says it's the other cars turn) the result can be a completely avoidable backup.