Cars merge into the right lane ahead of the new priority transit lane on Bathurst Street, just south of Dundas Street in Toronto on May 22, 2026. Experts say using the zipper method can help everyone move faster.Jordan Chittley/The Globe and Mail
If I know my lane is ending up ahead, when should I try to get into the next lane? I usually try to get in as soon as I can. But I see a lot of drivers waiting until they get to the end of the lane before moving over. Isn’t that cutting in line? What if I go to the front and nobody will let me in? – Tracy, Hamilton
When drivers move to the front of the line, they’re not necessarily trying to cheat.
“They are not trying to get ahead of everybody else,” said Sean Shapiro, a road safety expert and former Toronto traffic cop. “They’re the ones who are actually doing it right.”
In slow-moving traffic, waiting to merge until a lane ends and then taking turns with drivers in the continuing lane – called a zipper merge or late merge – can often help everyone move faster.
“It’s like how people leave an airplane after it has landed,” said Angelo DiCicco, chief executive officer of the Ontario Safety League, a non-profit focusing on driver education. “It’s not about queue-jumping – it’s about predictable, cooperative merging near the endpoint.”
So, if there are two lanes and the right lane is ending, the car in the left lane should let in a car from the right lane and then take their turn. Then right again, then left, and so on – like the teeth of a zipper.
“No one has to stop, and traffic continues to flow,” DiCicco said.
But it only works when drivers know the rules.
For example, on Vancouver’s Lions Gate Bridge, drivers coming onto the bridge from North Vancouver generally take turns as the lanes end – even though there’s no sign saying to zipper merge.
But in Ontario, for example, drivers often aren’t expecting it, Shapiro said.
End game?
Should you always wait until the end of the lane to merge? It depends on how much traffic there is, DiCicco said.
If you can easily get into the next lane without stopping or slowing to a crawl to wait for someone to let you in, it’s fine to merge early.
There are also times when you should move over as quickly as you can – for instance, if there’s a collision ahead and emergency workers are on the road. That’s also true if you’re in a dedicated turning lane but you want to go straight, he said.
But in heavy traffic, sometimes you might suddenly realize that the lane is ending in 200 metres and, in a panic, try to immediately get into the next lane.
If you have to stop and wait for someone to let you in, that can create a bottleneck in both lanes – especially if that driver has to stop for you, DiCicco said.
That’s when you should move to the front of the line and take your turn, he said.
Another driver might think you’re trying to cut in line – especially if they know it was ending and merged early – and might not let you.
“It becomes problematic when there’s someone who wants to be the merging police,” DiCicco said. “They want to teach you a lesson.”
Block party?
Although the other driver doesn’t legally have to come to a complete stop to let you in, they should be going slowly enough that you can merge, Shapiro said.
But they can’t speed up to block you from merging, he said.
“You cannot actively prevent them from merging,” Shapiro said. “If there is a space to merge and you accelerate to block them, that [could be] stunt driving."
If you’re convicted of stunt driving in Ontario, you could face penalties including a 30-day licence suspension, $2,000 to $10,000 in fines and up to six months in jail, he said.
While the chances of an officer catching you in the act are slim, you might be caught on someone’s dash camera. If you blocked them intentionally and caused a crash, you could be charged, Shapiro said.
There are times when it might seem like another driver really is cutting ahead – for example, when they speed ahead past a long line of cars in the other lane just so they can zipper merge – but consider just letting them, Shapiro said.
“You’re worried about them getting 10 car lengths ahead when no one is going anywhere fast,” he said. “The truth is, when you’re in that communal space, you have to pack your problems away for that drive and focus on safety first. And I say that knowing full well that nobody does that.”
Have a driving question? Send it to globedrive@globeandmail.com and put ‘Driving Concerns’ in your subject line. E-mails without the correct subject line may not be answered. Canada’s a big place, so let us know where you are so we can find the answer for your city and province.