Merging can be a little tricky, and it can feel a bit scary when you are first learning, but you will soon get the hang of it. Or else.

When you are preparing to merge, be sure to signal, and only enter traffic when you are certain that you have plenty of room to do so.

When entering a freeway, you must be able to move into the rightmost lane while traveling at roughly the same speed that the rest of traffic in that lane is going. Most of the time this will be in the neighborhood of 55 mph. If you’re petrified of trying to get your car up to that speed before another driver who is going the speed limit hits you from behind, you may want to invest in a bus pass. If your bus gets in an accident, at least it won’t be your fault. Hopefully.

As unnerving as it may be at first, do not stop before entering traffic unless you absolutely need to. It will slow down other merging cars behind you and will make it just that much harder for you to get your vehicle up to speed. Also, everyone watching will think you’re a total wuss. Not that you should let that get to you.

You will need a gap of about four seconds when merging. If you are coming up to the end of an on-ramp, and you do not feel that you can safely merge ahead of a vehicle in the lane to your left, slow down slightly and allow them to pass before completing your merge. Unless the guy behind this vehicle is rude as all get-out or has a death wish, he will slow down a bit to let you in ahead of him.

Use all of the tools available to you when preparing to merge. This means looking into your side-view mirror, turning on your turn signal, and looking over your shoulder to make sure that you’re clear. It does not mean adjusting the height of your seat, starting to charge your cell phone, or doing the wave through your sunroof, but thanks for playing.

If you need to get over several lanes, have some patience and take them one at a time. This will make each one of them feel more special.

If you are joining city or highway traffic after coming to a full stop, you will need to make sure you give yourself enough time to build up to the necessary speed. On a city street, give yourself about half a block, and leave yourself roughly a full block when merging onto a highway. Yes, we know there are no actual blocks on the highway. You’ll have to imagine them. Yes, fine, you may own them and put Starbucks and laser tag on each one. It’s your imagination; you do whatever floats your boat.

Be careful at intersections, as you cannot always assume that the signals being flashed by other drivers are intentional or accurate. For example, do not start a left turn just because an oncoming driver indicates that he will be turning right. He may not realize his flasher is on, he may be planning on turning beyond the intersection, or he may have been knocked out and his car commandeered by a runaway Capuchin Monkey who has not yet finished the required training to operate a motor vehicle. Err on the side of caution, and wait to see that they are indeed making their turn before beginning your own. Also, if you have any information as to the whereabouts of that missing capuchin, please call 800-555-2038 and ask for Jinky.