Merging after DO NOT PASS sign

[Indy]

Jurisdiction

California

There is a DO NOT PASS sign located on the right side of a freeway on-ramp about 250 feet before the two lanes merge into one. If vehicle R in the right lane is ahead of vehicle L in the left lane when passing this sign, should vehicle R slow down to let vehicle L pass and then merge behind vehicle L or should vehicle L slow down to let vehicle R merge in front of it ?

 

[army judge]

Always drive defensively.
Don't worry about right of way, yield to avoid a collision.

So one or fifty cars get ahead you, drive defensively.

Even if you were obeying the law, don't count on the other party to support your story, heck the other party could collide with you and disappear.

If you have to STOP safely to avoid a collision, do it.

You can't enforce your rights on the street.

You sure don't want to end up in court trying to convince some clown judge like ME that you were in the right.

Just drive defensively, so that you never collide with anyone, and they don't collide with you.

Drive as if your life depends on it, because it does.

 

[mightymoose]

I agree with the above.
Regardless of right of way, if driver R sees driver L attempting to pass it is probably best to allow the pass.

No, driver L should not be passing once the sign has been reached.

 

[Indy]

I agree with the above.
Regardless of right of way, if driver R sees driver L attempting to pass it is probably best to allow the pass.

No, driver L should not be passing once the sign has been reached.

So the usual rule which says that the merging vehicle must yield doesn't apply at all in this case and the DO NOT PASS sign also applies to vehicle L in the left lane even though it's only posted on the right side of the on-ramp

 

[zddoodah]

There is a DO NOT PASS sign located on the right side of a freeway on-ramp about 250 feet before the two lanes merge into one.

Don't suppose you want to tell us where this is so that we can look on Google Maps to see exactly what the situation is, do you?

Without having a good idea of the situation, all I can tell you is that merging and passing are different things.

Also, why do you ask? Did you get a ticket for something? If so, what is the Vehicle Code number on the ticket, and which of the cars in your original post were you driving? Or is this just an academic inquiry?

 

[mightymoose]

So the usual rule which says that the merging vehicle must yield doesn't apply at all in this case and the DO NOT PASS sign also applies to vehicle L in the left lane even though it's only posted on the right side of the on-ramp

If there was a black and white "DO NOT PASS" sign posted, then no vehicle should pass any other vehicle. With lanes merging, the trailing vehicle should allow the lead vehicle to merge in front.

 

[Indy]

If there was a black and white "DO NOT PASS" sign posted, then no vehicle should pass any other vehicle. With lanes merging, the trailing vehicle should allow the lead vehicle to merge in front.

Thanks. The black and white DO NOT PASS sign was placed under the black and yellow merging sign.

I did not say which driver I was because I wanted fair answers and some people tend to be biased either for or against the OP.

 

[zddoodah]

If you're not going to tell us where this happened so we can actually look at the layout of things, it is rather pointless to continue the discussion.

 

[mightymoose]

The information given in the first post was sufficient to answer the question that was asked. It seems the OP was looking to avoid a deeper analysis of the whole thing.

The no passing zone begins where the sign is posted, not where the lanes merge ahead. No vehicle should pass any other vehicle beyond the sign, regardless which side of the road the sign is on. It seems most practical that the sign would be located only on the right side of the road.