House Bill 76 recently passed through both houses of the Utah Legislature and is awaiting Governor Spencer Cox’s signature. The law would make failing to zipper merge when two lanes of traffic combine into one a traffic infraction, which is punishable by fines up to $750.
A zipper merge is when drivers continue traveling in two lanes of traffic until the lanes actually become one, alternating one car from each lane as they combine. Traffic experts say the technique is one of the best ways to combine two busy lanes of traffic.
The bill's sponsors, Republican Representative Brady Brammer and Republican Senator Dan McCay, have said the zipper merge could help reduce congestion on Utah’s increasingly busy roads and help with traffic flow in the event of an accident that blocks one or more lanes of traffic.
But Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter told KPCW although the Utah Law Enforcement Legislative Committee supports the bill in principle, actually enforcing it could be a problem.
Carpenter said in order for the law to be effectively enforced, an officer would have to be stationed at the merge point and be looking for people who don’t comply. He said attempting to make a traffic stop when roads are already congested presents another problem.
“You have the issue of if you already have a backup, what happens if you intercede and take action?" he said. "Then it also creates other unintended consequences with the traffic. That’s always one of those things you have to evaluate, making traffic stops when things are very hectic.”
In Park City, westbound traffic on SR 248 must merge into one lane just past the Richardson Flat Road intersection and is particularly backed up on winter weekend mornings. Carpenter said a PCPD officer is already stationed there most mornings to help monitor traffic and the department will implement the new bill when it is signed into law.
He added that all new traffic laws are evaluated by law enforcement for their effectiveness in real world situations.
“Like all the legislation that comes out and is passed, we’ll review it and try to figure out what that looks like practically to enforce," said Carpenter. "If we see that it benefits and makes ingress easier, then of course, that’s something that we’ll consider and throw resources at. We’re constantly re-evaluating our traffic enforcement with as many vehicles as we have coming into the city these days.”
Governor Cox is holding a bill signing ceremony Wednesday afternoon on Capitol Hill in Salt Lake City.
