entering a motorway from a slip road, embarrasing moment: Was I an idiot?

reeac

FTBSOS wrote: »

First of all, I hardly use the motorway but something really shocking happened yesterday.

I was trying to join the motorway from the slip road and i built up speed, indicated and tried to get on to the left lane.

Was there nothing I could of done in this situation or was I a complete pleb who needs to take some more lessons on joining on to join a motorway?

The bottom line is that in your judgement no-one would let you into the l.h. lane. Now maybe you could have pushed your luck a bit and squeezed in but that could have been risky. These situations depend on collaborative behaviour between drivers. I've been motorway driving since 1957 [yes before the M1 was constructed, I was living in Los Angeles] and have yet to encounter a problem entering from a slip road but I'm sure that it can happen.

vikingaero

Depends on your entry speed - were you going absurdly slow? 30mph? No-one will risk braking hard to allow you to join if so.

What car is it? Any 1 litre box can join the motorway at 50-60mph on short joining ramps if sufficient pedal power is used.

Problem we seem to have is that people are so afraid of using the full engine revs or are so eco minded that they don't care about others already on the motorway. And if the car is poorly and full power cannot be used then I'm afraid it would have been better to use the A-Roads.

C_Mababejive

If you have to stop,then you have to stop..simples. Sometimes that happens due to weight of traffic. What motorists MUST do is share the road,look well ahead, anticipate,and adjust speed to conditions. You are not required to roar up the slip road like a bat ouf of hell and you do not need to join the motorway immediately especially if there is a very long lead in.

FTBSOS

vikingaero wrote: »

Depends on your entry speed - were you going absurdly slow? 30mph? No-one will risk braking hard to allow you to join if so.

What car is it? Any 1 litre box can join the motorway at 50-60mph on short joining ramps if sufficient pedal power is used.

Problem we seem to have is that people are so afraid of using the full engine revs or are so eco minded that they don't care about others already on the motorway. And if the car is poorly and full power cannot be used then I'm afraid it would have been better to use the A-Roads.

It's a 1.1, renault clio campus, clutch is slipping slightly, as car over revs on occasions.

I'm going to be honest, i can't remember how much i was doing on the slip road but I don't even think it was even near 50. Ooops....

Certaintly wasn't anything near 20 - 30mph.

notanewuser

I think some (motorway) driving lessons are needed. You should NOT be looking in your mirrors all the way down a slip road, no mention of checking your blind spot, you clearly missed the signs about the cones, didn't match the speed of the inside lane and left it too late to be able to give yourself a run up when there was a space. Poor judgement, bad timing and driving dangerously that could have resulted in a pretty serious accident.

Stay off the roads until you know what you're doing, please.

FTBSOS

The_Gambler wrote: »

So you were trying to join at 40?

I really do not know, god's honest true, but no where near 60, no where near.

Everything happened so quick and when i got stuck down at the cones at the bottom of the slip road, i was a bit nervous as i was near the left lane and i thought someone would come flying into the rear of me.

Trucks flew past when I stopped and were quite near which didn't helped.

I think I need to take some lessons on how to join a a motorway/carriageway correctly.

I certainly don't want to cause any accident and it's best to be safe then to be sorry. I know how to use a motorway in regards to correct line position, undertaking in the left lane which is just as bad as middle lane and fast lane hoggers but i'm not 100% on slip roads.

C_Mababejive

FTBSOS wrote: »

It's a 1.1, renault clio campus, clutch is slipping slightly, as car over revs on occasions.

I'm going to be honest, i can't remember how much i was doing on the slip road but I don't even think it was even near 50. Ooops....

Certaintly wasn't anything near 20 - 30mph.

It doesnt matter what speed you are at. Sometimes 5mph is appropriate,sometimes 60mph is appropriate. The thing that matters is that you join safely without hazard or danger to yourself or others.

Davesnave

I expect many here have seen the video currently doing the rounds where a Honda driver tries to squeeze between two lorries, loses his nerve, realises he's (she's) running out of slip road and then just dodges in, colliding with the front of the second lorry. He (she) is then pushed sideways down the motorway until the lorry comes to a standstill on the hard shoulder.

Far better what you did.

You might feel a twit, but we all make mistakes. The worst thing is not learning from them. That doesn't sound like you.

arcon5

notanewuser wrote: »

I think some (motorway) driving lessons are needed. You should NOT be looking in your mirrors all the way down a slip road, no mention of checking your blind spot, you clearly missed the signs about the cones, didn't match the speed of the inside lane and left it too late to be able to give yourself a run up when there was a space. Poor judgement, bad timing and driving dangerously that could have resulted in a pretty serious accident.

Stay off the roads until you know what you're doing, please.

So don't drive on roads with slip roads until you have experience using them.

Spot the problem here?

And no, some motorway driving isn't mandated on lessons so many many people are passing tests without having done any.
Even if some had been done, any decent driver knows learning is only begining when you have passed your test.

arcon5

Frankly some members on this board are morons. Op comes here with quite a loaded question and seemingly an open mind and is faced with several idiotic comments.

Thankfully the forum team have deleted a number of them now.