Are Zipper Merges Really The Best Option For Minnesota?

I was traveling yesterday on County Road 75 through St. Joseph when I came upon a construction zone. All of a sudden, the orange barrels and the flashing arrow for one lane to move over to the other lane appeared. Things were rolling along smoothly; motorists that were in the lane that was going to be closed started moving over. About three vehicles in front of me, out of nowhere a motorcycle came flying up in the lane that was closing and cut right into the open lane as the two lanes became one. 

That decision left several people to have to brake suddenly and thankfully there were no accidents from the careless move. I realize that the State of Minnesota touts the “Zipper Merge” meaning as lanes narrow vehicles from both lanes should take turns flowing into the one open lane. 

What I witnessed yesterday was evidence of why I’m not a fan of the zipper merge theory. This idea may make sense on paper, but that is considering that everyone is paying attention at the same level and has the same high level of driving skills. 

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Plus, this idea also assumes that all drivers have a history of being willing to hold consideration for others as high as they consider things for themselves. And if you think that’s true, you’ve obviously not tried wheeling a shopping cart around a store lately.  If we can’t share an aisle in a grocery store properly, why in the world would we assume we’ll do that driving 60 miles an hour or faster on the road in a vehicle.  

I found an article that somewhat validates my point. The story is from The News Leaders from 2024 that says Minnesota drivers rank 8th worst in fatal crashes in work zones. The data they used for the article came from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which analyzed crash data from 2017-2021. 

I realize that the data goes back a few years, but I’d love to hear arguments that we as a society have gotten better as drivers since then.  

I did a Google search for the number of cases of road rage in Minnesota in 2024, a conclusive answer wasn’t given by Google by it did quote figures from Sieben Polk Law Firm in Eagan that says aggressive driving was a factor in 688 traffic accidents that resulted in 489 injuries and 66 deaths.  

I understand all of these accidents didn't take place at the zipper merge point, but my point is the way people react on the road when they feel they're being taken advantage of (having to let someone in front of them who didn't get over from a lane that is closing) leads to angry drivers which is a big part of the stats I listed from the law firm above.

In my opinion, giving drivers more warning that a lane closure is coming is important in giving everyone a better opportunity to navigate the closure safely. I’ll concede that a lot of drivers don’t seem to pay attention to road signs but giving drivers a better the chance to strategize how they’re going to navigate the impending closure is better than trying to force two-wide motor vehicles to squeeze into a single lane at a fairly high rate of speed.