Bill would make 'zipper merge' the law in NC
House lawmakers are likely to vote Wednesday on a bill that would make the "zipper merge" the rule of the road in North Carolina.
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House Bill 740 is sponsored by Rep Brian Turner, D-Buncombe, who commutes to Raleigh every week from Asheville. It passed the House Transportation committee Tuesday morning.
The measure would amend the state's traffic laws to explicitly address correct merging technique: "Where two lanes of traffic merge into one, drivers shall utilize both lanes until reaching the merging area, and,beginning with the driver in the right lane, alternate yielding the right-of-way until there is no longer a queue at the merging area."
The bipartisan bill would also add the zipper merge to driver education materials.
"Anybody who travels any great distance to get to Raleigh knows that most frustrating thing on the road is someone going slow in the left lane," Turner told the committee. "The second most frustrating thing is when we merge from two lanes into one and everyone backs up in one lane."
"If you live west of Mocksville, you know exactly what I'm talking about right now," Turner added.
"What this bill would do is, this would put the alternating yield emerge, also known as the zipper merge as one of the rules of the road," he explained.
The bill passed with only one dissenting vote and is expected to pass the House in time for the legislature's Thursday deadline for policy-related bills to clear either the House or the Senate.
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