The zipper technique
Other unwritten rules of the road
Final word
The zipper technique
When it comes to being out on the road in Alaska or anywhere else in the country, there are a few unwritten but understood rules that the vast majority of drivers on the road will abide by. This makes things much easier in terms of general driving unless someone chooses to go their own way and ignore one of these unwritten rules of the road. Do yourself a favor, learn these rules and always follow them.
The first and one of the most important of these unwritten rules is known as “the zipper”. This refers to an instance where you have a busy highway with a lot of traffic congestion, and you also have a bunch of people simultaneously trying to merge onto that highway at the same time. This can easily lead to issues such as fender benders and road rage. However, these things are easily avoided when people use the zipper technique. This is when one car already on the road/highway being merged onto allows one car from the row of cars trying to merge to successfully and easily do so.
There is no law requiring that anyone do this. There is also no law that says a second vehicle from the row of cars trying to merge onto the highway cannot try and squeeze in right behind the one in front of it. However, almost everyone knows not allowing one car to merge or, conversely, trying to sneak in as a second car is frowned upon. Everyone knows it’s a figurative zipper – one car merges and the car that let that car in continues on behind that car, one from each side each and every time.
Other unwritten rules of the road
There are also several other unwritten rules of the road that you should definitely be aware of before you start driving again. The first is that you should never drive in someone’s blind spot for more than a quick moment in order to pass them. Although it is expected for all good drivers to always check their blind spot prior to changing lanes, we likely have all forgotten once or twice and had a blaring horn directed at us as a result.
Not cutting people off is another unwritten rule of the road, although this may be the most frequently ignored of any of these rules. You should always pay attention and plan your lane changes ahead in order to have enough safe time and distance to do so. Finally, as a driver you should never drive in the furthest left lane unless you are driving at a speed in which you are constantly and consistently passing cars in the lane next to you. People ignore this more frequently too, but they are rewarded with angry drivers tailgating them.
Final word
Unwritten rules can be looked at as an unspoken form of mutual respect through action between members of a community. For our purposes, our community encompasses everyone driving. There certainly are several very important unspoken rules of the road which you should always try to abide by. This includes using the zipper technique, not driving in someone’s blind spot or cutting them off and never driving slow in the fast lane.
