New Bedford Highway Ramp Is the Sketchiest Around

Want to know my biggest pet peeve when it comes to the rules of the road? It's people who are clueless when it comes to merging. You have to be both cautious and aggressive at the same time; you can't just take your sweet time or assume the world is going to move out of the way for you.

I can't tell you how many times I've almost collided with another driver while merging on a highway because the person thought they owned the road. The worst spot for this, though is where Route 140 north and south merge with Interstate 195.

The blue arrow is me taking 140 North to the 195 West exit, and the red arrow is the person merging into my exit lane. It's by far the sketchiest and smallest window to time your car with the oncoming merger without hitting them.

I take 140 North to 195 East or West on a daily basis, depending on the errand, and the drivers who are barreling off of the on-ramp are the most careless with which I've ever shared the road. It doesn't help that the people merging onto the highway often use it as a slingshot and disregard anyone else who is already driving on 140 or preparing to exit.

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Yes, if you're dealing with someone merging onto the highway, it's up to you to use caution, regardless if you have the right of way or not. That being said, according to the "Rules of the Road" posted at mass.gov, there are two very important factors to keep in mind:

1. Yield the right-of-way to drivers already on the highway.
2. When you enter a highway, increase your speed to match vehicles already on the road.

To make this simple, if you're getting onto the highway at 30 mph and the highway posted limit is 55 or even 65, you're going to get someone into an accident. Numerous times, I've found myself laying on the brakes to accommodate the person who decided to cut off the rest of the drivers on the highway by merging at such a slow speed. Please stop doing this. If you feel as though the person on the highway is close, then let them pass before getting on.

Now that I've vented, I'm sure there are plenty of other sketchy intersections and highway mergers, and I would love to hear which ones around here on the SouthCoast make you nervous. Shoot me an email at Gazelle@Fun107.com and I'll be happy to reply back.