Over a year ago, La Jolla resident Jenz Johnson was sitting in traffic, observing cars around him. Some drivers were singing their hearts out, applying makeup or sending text messages on their phones. But the driver of a yellow Toyota had a different approach.
The car slowly made its way from Johnson’s left, into his lane and onto the exit ramp. Meanwhile, Johnson remained stationary in the far right lane.
Rather than being frustrated by the car’s late merging, Johnson found it intriguing. And as he conducted research, he saw the appeal.
“It was a more modern way of driving,” Johnson said. “And that kind of got me interested in how driving has changed and how it should be.”
That observation became the genesis for Johnson’s latest book, “Late Merging: Getting Ahead On and Off the Road.” It is available through Amazon in paperback.
![Jenz Johnson, author of "Late Merging: Getting Ahead On and Off the Road," says "I found that just [by] focusing and finding the gaps and opportunities on the road, I began to see, in many ways, opportunities that were off the road … in everyday life." (Jenz Johnson)](/wp-content/s/2025/04/LJL-L-TRAFFIC-BOOK-02.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1)
Johnson, a consultant in software design development, spent a year writing “Late Merging.” Among his goals was to make the book concise, easy to reference and easy to learn. Nearly every page contains illustrations of the concepts he explores.
While the book is largely composed of personal anecdotes, he also cites a study by the Minnesota Department of Transportation on “zipper merges.” In a construction zone, traffic may temporarily be reduced to one lane. In a zipper merge, motorists use all lanes of traffic until reaching the defined merge area and then alternate in “zipper” fashion into the open lane. This late merging, the study says, allows for cars to take turns moving into the one lane, ensuring safety and order, instead of slowing and moving over too quickly.
It’s also an inherently communicative act, Johnson said.
“You’re not really making cuts,” he said. “You’re asking permission to move into the lane. Some cars say ‘No, that’s my space’ … and that’s fine. But other cars — and I do this often — are in no rush and create that little gap between the cars.”
As he explored late merging, he began to see a deeper meaning in being spontaneous and, in effect, getting out of his own lane.
“I found that just [by] focusing and finding the gaps and opportunities on the road, I began to see, in many ways, opportunities that were off the road … in everyday life,” Johnson said.
“[The book] starts off and goes into great detail about the driving part of it. But then it really says that late merging is a mindset and that driving, in many ways, is a metaphor for our daily life.”
That can mean making late dinner plans or spontaneously calling a friend.
“A lot has changed in our everyday life,” he said. “A lot is very busy — our workplaces are busy, our schools are busy. And yet, to be able to find the opportunities in the various parts of our lives that no one else has looked at is a very nice skill to develop as well.
“Waiting in line … is kind of a waste of one’s life.”
Johnson, a La Jolla resident since the 1990s, said he has observed the trend of heavy traffic, in particular a marked increase in congestion in and out of La Jolla Parkway and parts of The Village. He said he hopes writing this book will benefit readers or at least offer them a different perspective. ♦
