Tips Tuesday: White Cane Safety Day & National School Bus Safety Week
October 14, 2025
Team Updates & Reminders
November 10, 2025
| Every day, we come together with the shared mission of making Florida’s roads safer for everyone. Achieving that mission begins with understanding and communicating the power of proven solutions. Two of these, auxiliary lanes and zipper merges, work hand in hand to reduce crashes, ease congestion, and keep traffic flowing smoothly. Engineering and behavior meet on the roadway. Auxiliary lanes represent an infrastructure solution that enhances safety and efficiency. Auxiliary lanes are lanes adjacent to through lanes that provide turning movements, exclusive vehicle lane usage, and identify where speed changes are required, and they rely on drivers merging with attention and care. Under Florida law (316.085), drivers in through lanes retain the right-of-way unless the merge can be made safely. Those entering the lane must signal, check mirrors and blind spots, and merge only when traffic allows. This partnership between infrastructure and driver responsibility is what transforms design into safety. When two lanes become one, the zipper merge is the most efficient and equitable method. Drivers use the full length of the merging lane, then alternate into the open lane like the teeth of a zipper. Although it can feel counterintuitive, research shows this approach reduces traffic backups by nearly half, maintains steady speeds, and improves safety in work zones (source). Understanding these systems and sharing them with others helps Floridians adopt better driving behaviors and realize the safety benefits they create. Together, we can champion these small changes that lead to safer outcomes. Raising Internal Awareness: No matter what office you officially call ‘home,’ we all can play a role in supporting safety. 👉Attached are large-format graphics for tabletop demonstrations. Use these activity sheets to spark conversations about auxiliary lanes and zipper merges. Add a few toy cars and make it hands-on! 👉Merging safely also helps improve safety near work zones. Help keep our roadway workers safe while supporting on-going FDOT projects by refreshing your merge knowledge. Discuss the zipper merge with your teams and share the knowledge learned. In the Community: Grass-roots outreach efforts greatly improve safety messaging effectiveness – these one-on-one conversations have far-reaching impacts. 👉Are you a merge master? Test your merge mastery and share this game with friends to challenge their skills as well. Link to Merge Master Game. 👉FDOT has made several recent improvements to I-4 in Osceola, Seminole, and Orange counties, adding continuous auxiliary lanes as part of the I-4 Beyond the Ultimate program. These upgrades expand capacity, reduce congestion, and improve safety. Learn more by exploring the Auxiliary Lanes Toolkit. In Your Everyday Life: Even when you’re not ‘on-the-clock,’ there are ways to improve safety culture in Florida. How to Zipper Merge safely: 👉Use both lanes until the merge point. 👉Resist merging early. 👉Take turns at the merge point. How to use Auxiliary Lanes safely: 👉Acceleration Lane Adjust to highway speed in acceleration lane. Signal and move carefully into highway lane. The flow of traffic should be prepared to adjust speed when approaching merging area. 👉Deceleration Lane Do not slow down while in the regular flow of traffic. Signal and move carefully into the deceleration lane. Slow down after moving into the deceleration lane. Exit and check posted speed for ramp. Keep it cool behind the wheel, practice mindful breathing, and focus on the present moment. Allow others to merge seamlessly and support the flow of traffic. Remember that zipper merges help traffic move faster (diagram). A 2008 study by the Minnesota DOT says the reduction in traffic backup is 40-50% (source). So, keep it cool and know that you are doing the right thing. If confronted by an aggressive driver, get out of the way, avoid eye contact, and let them pass. To report serious aggressive driving, you or a passenger may call the police. Pull over to a safe location before making the call. (source). Before merging or diverging, be sure to signal, check mirrors and blind spots, and confirm it is safe to complete the maneuver. As members of the Target Zero Team, we consider ourselves life-long students of safety. Each new insight, each shared message, and each moment of learning brings us closer to our ultimate goal of reducing the number of transportation-related serious injuries and deaths across Florida to ZERO. Thank you for your continued commitment to learning, leading, and sharing your knowledge. Savannah & the Target Zero Team |
