In Dutch design guidelines it is presumed that merging tapers are unsafe compared to the standard merger design. However, this presumption is not scientifically underpinned and therefore it is unclear whether this presumption is correct and if merging tapers are indeed unsafe. Design guidelines for merging tapers are neither scientifically underpinned, and therefore it is unclear whether these design guidelines are correct. Due to this, it is unclear what the effect of deviating from the guidelines is on road safety on merging tapers. This study investigated the road safety on merging tapers compared to the standard merger design, and the effect of varying road designs and traffic conditions on the road safety on merging tapers. This was done by means of accident data, a questionnaire and a driving simulator experiment.