Bad Driving

Hintza

In South Africa it is understood that folk joining the motorway have right of way. But at the end of the day if the person joining is travelling at the correct speed it should be just a case of blending in.

It's the muppets that travel at 30-40mph to join that are the real menace not only on the slip but on the motorway itself and will in all probability cause an accident at some point.

Velcro_Hotdog

I find the problem is that far to many people drive along in motorway zombie mode and are completly unaware of whats going on around them. They just drive along only reacting to the brake lights in front.

Then when you try to join from the slip road they don't even notice your there They are oblivious to the fact that lane 2 and 3 were empty and could have moved over but they don't.

So you keep an eye on the lenght of slip road in front whilst matching your speed to the traffic on the motorway until some one brakes creating a gap big enough to let you in...Great but all the cars behind them then brake causing tail backs

tanith

aardvaak wrote: »

Total bull!

What you are saying is a green light to pig ignorant people think they are the most important on the planet.

Seems like you are alone in your train of thought , you are wrong accept it.

NBLondon

Hintza wrote: »

In South Africa it is understood that folk joining the motorway have right of way.

Does that work? Like the French used to have priorite a droite in all cases which meant that a 2CV could potter onto a trunk road at 20mph and have priority over traffic coming down it at 60mph.

The point of the slip road is to allow the joining vehicle to match speeds and look for a gap - this involves using eyes, mirror, indicators and brain (like atrix said). The end of the slip road is a give way.

Traffic already on the major road is not obliged to move over but courteous drivers do if they can do so safely (like Strider said).

The people that speed up (like malky said) could be doing it because they are arrogant idiots or because they've become accustomed to other idiots who pull in front and then brake because they've joined at a higher speed instead of matching.

martinthebandit

NBLondon wrote: »

.....
The people that speed up (like malky said) could be doing it because they are arrogant idiots or because they've become accustomed to other idiots who pull in front and then brake because they've joined at a higher speed instead of matching.

Or they could be doing it to increase the gap behind them for you to join into.

Gordon_Hose

The OP went quiet.

I match speed on the slip road, and either accelerate or slow down to fit into a safe gap in the traffic.

If I'm on the motorway I'll move into lane 2 (if it's possible to do so) to allow traffic to join the motorway. If I can't move over I expect the traffic joining the main carriageway to either accelerate or slow down accordingly to slot in safely.

sequence

Personally I think if you can't join the motorway, it's best to do a 3 point turn on the slip road, go back up and try a different route.

fivetide

Nothing worse than some muppet trying to join 70mph traffic at 50mph

I'm with jaydee, get up tot he speed limit for the road and simply slip in, that's kind of the poitn of the name isn't it?

You shouldn't cause other traffic to brake and if it is busy or there are lorries it is easier to slow a touch to match the gap than it is to try and speed up or simply hope the traffic already on the road will brake to accomodate your poor driving.

Also, if those already on the road drove properly, leaving a sensible gap etc then there wouldn't be any problem. If it wasn't for the "i'll be there a whole second quicker if I don't let that car in" mentality then we'd all be better off.

/rant

5t.

malkyh

fivetide wrote: »

"i'll be there a whole second quicker if I don't let that car in" mentality then we'd all be better off.

Hey, time is money remember........

easy

easy wrote: »

The drivers who are already on the motorway are given warning signs of the slip road entering. They should take the opportunity to move into the next lane to allow a slower moving vehicle to enter the motorway.




You should definately not stop on a slip road entering a motorway, unless the traffic on the motorway itself is at a standstill.

In truth, neither the vehicles on the motorway nor those coming down the sliproad have priority. They should both be taking account of each other, and making adjustments to their speed accordingly.

hareng wrote: »

Dunno where you learnt the Highway Code, a vehicle should not pull out to make other road users alter their speed or course!

Well apart from the fact that I was taught that as part of an Institute of Advanced Motorists course over 20 years ago, I took the quotation in my post from current advice on motorway driving in http://www.drivingtestsuccess.com/tests/how-to-join-the-motorway/ .

I agree that no driver should FORCE another driver to alter their course or speed. That doesn't mean that other drivers should not bother to alter their course or speed if it is safe and expedient to do so.

If I'm on the motorway, and see a vehicle coming down the slip road ahead of me, I will usually move into the middle lane (when possible) to give the vehicle clear access. Then back into the inside lane.

I've been driving for over 30 years, covered many thousands of motorway miles, never been involved in any sort of incident using that technique.