I see this a lot. I suspect what happens is people are distracted or just zone out while they're on the ramp, and then forget or don't notice that their lane is probably going to end. At the last second they realize it and have to make a quick decision. Luckily I haven't yet had one make a bad move into the side of my rig.
A couple reasons why I didn't merge left to make room. First and most important, I have the right of way here. Not just because I'm driving an 18 wheeler, but because the flow of traffic on the highway always has the right of way. Traffic entering the flow are responsible for matching speed.
Second. I do move left if I've got room and it's safe. In this case there was a truck beginning to pass me on the left. I could have swung in front of them, which I see trucks do a lot, but what if they're not paying attention? What if they freak out and react to their left? Why didn't I slow down? There wasn't a truck behind me because it's easy to see one back there given their length. But I can't always see cars. This is Chicago, on i294 during a busy part of the day when and where I'm tailgated with regularity. If I react and slow, what if they don't or wait until it's too late?
Trucks are assholes. They're big and slow and noisy and gross and the drivers are aggressive (especially in Chicago) but they won't always make way for cars. In fact they won't far more often than they will. I know you don't want to follow us (neither do I). So my best recommendation, to all drivers, is to everything to get out and stay out of our way.
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