Motorway driving advice

mandyboops1973

hi guys

i have been driving for 4 years and i have never been on the motor way! im really scared to go on but i would like to visit my faminly in london and i live in birmingham. today i went o a little test drive. i had a good look on google maps and decided to try the motor way! i got onto the m6 drove around 20 miles to a service station and the headed back.. i was really proud of my self it wasnt so bad! i had a friend in the car with my which helped i would still be very nervous on my own.

im scared i will miss a turning and get lost! if you take the wrong turning is there always and island you come to that you can use to get back onto the motor way? also if you miss a turning can you come off the next one and turn around at the next island?

im thinking about getting a satnav are they easy to use and understand?

chez22

I find motorway driving a lot less stressful than driving in cities. I don't understand why they don't incorporate motorway driving into the driving test, it would make for a lot less nervous drivers such as yourself. If you do take the wrong turning, don't panic, just pull off at the next opportunity and get your bearings. Like everything in life, you get better with experience!

mrcow

Generally you can get back on if you come off early - but not always! It will depend ont he junction.

My motorway driving tip when going somewhere I don't know is to make the directions as easy as possible. I write in big letters on a piece of paper what road I'm on, what junction number I'll be coming off at and what road I'll be joining.

Also - don't travel in rush hour. If you can, try to do it on a Sunday morning or an equally quiet time. If you're not adverse to driving at night, then motorways are so much quieter and you can pootle along without getting bogged down with loads of other traffic.

ChinUp_2

You will be fine, nothing to panic about.
You can stay in the slow lane, you don't have to do any overtaking.
It's unlikely you will miss the juction exit with them being marked on each junction sign (make sure you know which number u are getting off at). If you do or take a wrong junction, you will be able to join the motorway again.

The more practise you have, the more confident you will become. Have you thought about doing contacting a driving instructor, perhaps to give you a motorway lesson to build your confidence?

Lemonade_Pockets

mandyboops1973 wrote: »

hi guys

i have been driving for 4 years and i have never been on the motor way! im really scared to go on but i would like to visit my faminly in london and i live in birmingham. today i went o a little test drive. i had a good look on google maps and decided to try the motor way! i got onto the m6 drove around 20 miles to a service station and the headed back.. i was really proud of my self it wasnt so bad! i had a friend in the car with my which helped i would still be very nervous on my own.

im scared i will miss a turning and get lost! if you take the wrong turning is there always and island you come to that you can use to get back onto the motor way? also if you miss a turning can you come off the next one and turn around at the next island?

im thinking about getting a satnav are they easy to use and understand?

Unfortunately motorways and their Junctions are very varied.
You will always be able to turn around eventually and come back on yourself but sometimes not for several maybe even ten miles.

Most have a roundabout where you can simply do a lap to come back on yourself or continue back onto the motorway to carry on travelling the way you where going.

Sat Nav will be a big help and should limit the amount of mistakes made.

I would get some more experience on Motorways and Dual carriage ways before you venture into London.

sandford6016

A motorway is a walk in the park compared to driving in central London (assuming that's where you need to go).

mchale

1 of the main things to remember about motorway driving is that the 2 & 3 lanes are overtaking lanes only, don't be a middle lane hogger.

sat navs very easy to use, worth the money nowadays

mchale

ChinUp wrote: »

You will be fine, nothing to panic about.
You can stay in the slow lane, you don't have to do any overtaking.
It's unlikely you will miss the juction exit with them being marked on each junction sign (make sure you know which number u are getting off at). If you do or take a wrong junction, you will be able to join the motorway again.

The more practise you have, the more confident you will become. Have you thought about doing contacting a driving instructor, perhaps to give you a motorway lesson to build your confidence?

Which one is the slow lane?

ShugMonkey

I'm sure driving instructors do lessons for motorway driving.
Might be worth the investment.

mrcow

mchale wrote: »

Which one is the slow lane?

Whichever lane you're in - so I can sit in front of you at a cool 50mph whilst you're sat up my backside.

mchale

mrcow wrote: »

Whichever lane you're in - so I can sit in front of you at a cool 50mph whilst you're sat up my backside.

60mph would be better as you'd only f**K me up, not the poor LGV drivers who have to put up with middle lane hoggers day after day.