It really isn't hard, and at least people who are used to driving in big cities know how to merge, but I can't help noticing that so few people here in Tauranga do it properly.
Please do not aimlessly stay behind the car that was just in front of you when two lanes become one. Merge like a zip. A vehicle from the left lane goes and then a vehicle from the right lane goes, and so on. It's not rocket science.
If everyone would merge smoothly, there wouldn't be much of a bottleneck on that bridge.
I am not saying I am a great driver, but at least I am a courteous one. When the road is busy, I make eye contact with other drivers and I'm happy to make a gap for someone who's trying to get out of a tricky intersection.
Still, I do react quite fiercely if a big SUV or a little sporty car with a big muffler nearly pushes me off the road on a drizzly Monday morning.
If someone all of a sudden hoofs it to push in front of me when two lanes become one I curse inwardly. I roll my eyes, take a deep breath, and keep going.
Even though I don't go as far as making rude gestures or shouting abuse out the window, there are certainly times I notice my blood pressure rise. I guess I suffer from a mild form of road rage after all.
Tauranga City Council figures show that one of the region's most congested peak-hour commutes is Turret Rd. The figures follow a national campaign designed to encourage motorists to learn who they share the road with and improve driver behaviour.
The New Zealand Transport Agency launched the campaign in late February and it matches people's daily routes at a particular time with others who are travelling the same route. What I like about it most, is the name of the campaign. It's called Drive Social.
Drive Social plays on an insight that we behave differently in our cars.
It encourages people to step back and look at driving from a different perspective.
There's a colourful and fun test you can do on www.drivesocial.co.nz. Drawing from Facebook data, this online experience shows what road users have in common with each other.
The strategy behind it, as explained on the NZTA website, is to get people to think of the road as a social place.
As is the case with most social places, responsible road users must behave in a way that the majority of people would deem socially acceptable.
Establishing commonalities is a great way to bring people together and NZTA calls the campaign a warm, human approach that aims to change the way people think about the road.
It's making an effort to turn all road users into people who are more tolerant of one another.
I did the test and I now know more about the people who drive the same road as I do each morning.
They look like a good bunch and that's nice, but I still can't help to notice all the thick clowns behind the wheel who obviously don't give a damn about the people they share the road with.
Their vehicles have bull bars and a lot more grunt than ours, and that's all that will ever matter to them. No fuzzy feel-good campaign can set that right. So I just breathe, roll my eyes again, and keep on driving.
