Why Dori Monson might be a hypocrite behind the wheel

It’s a busy freeway. Other drivers are headed your way and need to get off at the same exit as you do. Do you wait in the right lane, in line for the exit? Or do you speed ahead and weasel your way into the lane near the exit?

It seems like a simple situation that’s common to Seattle drivers, but it caused a wedge between KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson and his producer Jake Skorheim.

Dori Monson: It depends on the stretch of roadway.

Jake Skorheim: You’re one of those last minute cutters.

DM: If there is a stretch where I know there is a gap between cars…

JS: Why would you do that?! That’s not fair.

DM: Sure it is. There’s a gap between cars. I’m filling it.

JS: They’ve been waiting just as long as you’ve been waiting… no, they’ve been waiting longer. You’re cutting in at the last second. You’re stealing someone else’s spot. You don’t go home feeling horrible?

DM: Not in the slightest.

JS: My wife doesn’t either. She says we’ll just keep going and jump in, and I say, “No, that’s what bad people do.”

DM: If it’s a stretch of roadway that I don’t know, like the day we went to breakfast and traffic was so horrible throughout the region, on Wednesday. I took the express lanes, which I never do. The main line was so jammed. There was one of those time readers that said, “Downtown Seattle: Main Line 42 minutes / Express Lanes: 18 minutes.” So I figured I’d take the express lanes and go to Mercer and get off. Well, I don’t ever drive the express lanes, and I saw that traffic was backed up maybe a half-mile to get off on Mercer. I moved into that lane as soon as possible, and it took me 15 minutes to get off.

JS: And that’s the mature, responsible thing to do.

DM: I got my bumper on the back bumper of the car in front of me so no one else could get in. But I still saw some people ahead, cutting in at the last second.

JS: And didn’t it drive you crazy?

DM: Yeah. Because people let them in.

JS: Why would you then jump in at the last second?

DM: Because I do it on stretches and at exits where I know there will be a gap.

JS: It’s not right. Just because you know the roads doesn’t mean you are not cutting in line. You’re cutting in line. This is so hypocritical.

DM: No I’m not … yeah … I am cutting in line. Guilty as charged.

JS: Those poor (people) have been waiting in line. I’m one of those folks. I’m waiting in line. And you zoom in at the end. That’s what’s slowing me down. People like you.

DM: You give me a gap, I’m going to jump in it.

JS: That’s horrible.

DM: You want to stop me and everybody else from doing it? Go bumper-to-bumper with the car in front of you.

JS: I do. I don’t let people cut in front of me.

DM: Neither do I. Because those people that cut in front of me are jerks! I have contempt for people who leave big gaps in high traffic. They should be punished.

Update: Dori gets an answer

Despite being separated over the weekend, Dori and Jake could not let the lane-jumping controversy go. KIRO Radio Transportation Reporter Chris Sullivan was called in to settle the matter.

Can a driver jump into an exit lane at the last second?

“By far one of the worst things Pacific Northwest drivers are known for is their lack of merging skills,” Sullivan said, noting that he can see both sides of the issue.

But in the end, Dori may be right.

“Dori is correct, in those situations when it is safe,” Sullivan said. “Just because someone got over early, and they feel they are in the righteous spot… that is fine on them. If there is room to merge, and you can do it safely, you can.”

“You have no ownership of the road in front of you or behind you,” he added. “If there is room to merge, you merge and get over.”

Sullivan noted, however, that despite it being OK do jump in a lane if it is safe to do so, it still could be a “jerk move.”

But that didn’t stop the dissension in the studio.

“I’m sitting in a long line. I’m waiting to get off the road. I’m waiting like everybody else does with a soul,” Skorheim said. “If somebody butts in front of me, I feel taken advantage of.”

“It sounds like the only butt you need to be concerned about is yours with a stick up it,” Dori said.