Drivers yielding to merging vehicles raises safety concerns on Finnish highways

In Finland, a concerning trend is emerging on highways, where drivers on the main road are yielding to vehicles using acceleration lanes to merge. The right lane driver moves to the left lane, allowing the merging vehicle to enter the right lane of the highway. However, police and traffic safety experts discourage this practice.

Tomi Niemi, a planner at the Finnish Road Safety Agency, states that it is neither advisable nor legal to yield in this manner. According to traffic laws, vehicles merging onto motorways must yield to existing traffic. Niemi emphasizes that drivers using the acceleration lane should anticipate the situation to merge safely. Unfortunately, it has become common to see drivers yielding, often without realizing it poses a danger.

There are several risks associated with this behavior:

1. **Lane Changes**: Changing lanes on a motorway can be risky given the high speeds. Quick lane changes can result in missed observations, particularly when merging traffic approaches unexpectedly.

2. **Assumptions**: If space is not available, a driver in the acceleration lane may run out of room and could veer off the road or be forced to squeeze between two vehicles, leading to dangerous situations.

3. **Parallel Driving**: The situation can arise where both merging and main road vehicles drive parallel at similar speeds, making it challenging for the merging driver to find safe entry into the right lane.

To improve safety, Niemi advises maintaining a proper following distance to facilitate safe merging for incoming traffic. He also suggests drivers temporarily easing off the accelerator to allow smoother merging. With proper anticipation and adjustment, merging onto highways can be a safer experience, and fortunately, such accidents remain relatively infrequent.