News 6 traffic safety expert Trooper Steve Montiero answers viewer questions about the rules of the road every week, helping Central Florida residents become better drivers by being better educated.
Trooper Steve was asked on Thursday by a viewer named John S., “If there is road construction on multiple lanes of traffic and it’s slowing, when should you begin to merge?”
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Trooper Steve said an aware driver is a safe driver.
“We need to have 100% attention when operating a car. This is extremely important in a construction zone or any school zone, obviously,” he said.
Many times in a construction zone, the lane that you are in can come to an end.
“A driver should be aware of signs leading up to a traffic lane that might be merging,” Trooper Steve said. “If the other lanes are backed up, then a driver should continue in this merge lane until it ends.”
Trooper Steve said stopping midway simply so you can make your way into traffic will cause way more problems on the back end.
“That’s not to say a driver shouldn’t merge as soon as possible if they know that the lane is going to end,” he added. “But this should be done safely and responsibly.”
A driver needs to remember that merging traffic does not have the right of way.
“If the opportunity to merge does not present itself, then a driver should continue in the lane until they can find a safe opportunity to do so,” he said.
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