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On Saturday, a minivan and a Dodge Caravan collided where Co Rd 2 enters Highway 94 in St Joseph, Minnesota. The two drivers and a passenger were taken to the hospital. It is hoped that all three recover quickly.

The Police are still investigating, but early reports seem to indicate, that the Caravan pulled in front of the Minivan going in the other direction. As always it is important that all drivers be especially vigilant when traveling, entering and exiting major highways.

DMV.Org had a number of good tips on merging onto the Highway:

Merging is designed to permit vehicles to enter and exit a highway without causing disruption in the flow of traffic. Highways are equipped with on-ramps and off-ramps, which generally connect to acceleration and deceleration lanes.

The idea behind this is when you pull onto the entrance ramp, you slowly begin building velocity. At the point where you can make eye contact with the highway, you need to immediately start assessing the gaps and the speed of existing traffic. From here, you should turn on your signal to reflect your intent to other drivers to merge onto the roadway.

Then use the acceleration lane to match the speed flow, and ease your vehicle into an appropriate gap before the acceleration lane ends. Some highways give you slabs of asphalt that are long enough for a jet to take off; others, especially on the East Coast, are so short you will need to make quick decisions or yield.

A successful merge entails you entering the highway almost at or at the speed limit, while causing no disturbance in the speeds of the vehicles behind you.

As always, the key is to be on the look out, don’t be distracted and make sure you see other vehicles.

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