Advice on approaching slip roads

Ectophile

mark1959 said:

maman said:

Well done OP for trying to do the right thing. I have one of those 'blind slip roads' near me where I join the motorway. I get infuriated by the crazy joiners who fly down the slip road when they have no idea what they are going to meet (I'm sure others can guess which cars they are driving 😉). 

Their own?

More likely, a leased Audi.  Or possibly a BMW.

[Deleted User]

Best thing to do is maintain constant speed. Otherwise there is a risk you both brake and end up side by side.

They are the ones maneuvering, so let them do the work.

NBLondon

[Deleted User] said:

Best thing to do is maintain constant speed. Otherwise there is a risk you both brake and end up side by side.

They are the ones maneuvering, so let them do the work.

In the slower urban variation - eye contact and a wave can help.  Not so much on a dual carriageway or motorway.

Marvel1

venomx said:

 If they are along-side me then I tend to gauge their speed and usually speed up ( as this is what I'd expect people on the carriageway to do if I was joining )

Average speed camera zone, my exit is also approx. 300 yards, I try and slow down or I maintain my speed depending on the situation.

Sea_Shell

Some of the worst ones IME are those that are not much more than a T junction with a dual carriageway, that give a very short entry slip.

Shevchenko01

Reginald74 said:

I actually think speeding up and slowing down can create problems. Best to just maintain a constant speed and leave the decision to the joiner. Yes to move into lane 2 if possible. And if they should clearly join ahead of you, flashing them to let them know they are OK to join seems to help.

You are correct, but never flash another vehicle as that can be an offence (HWC Rule 110).

Shevchenko01

[Deleted User] said:

If you have read the highway code you'd know that no-one has right of way here, only situations where you should give way.

You driving in lane 1 do not have right of way, the person joining must give way to you i.e. speed up / slow down to join without causing you to brake / slow down. This is important as you should always be thinking about what other people are going to do and plan for eventualities

Yes, the term 'right of way' is often misused.  Right of way simply means just that: you have the right to make way (drive, for example) along this particular highway or byway.  The term that people never use, when they should, is 'priority', which vehicles in lane 1 have over those joining.

Jenni_D

Holy Thread Necromancy, Batman!

user1977

Shevchenko01 said:

Reginald74 said:

I actually think speeding up and slowing down can create problems. Best to just maintain a constant speed and leave the decision to the joiner. Yes to move into lane 2 if possible. And if they should clearly join ahead of you, flashing them to let them know they are OK to join seems to help.

You are correct, but never flash another vehicle as that can be an offence (HWC Rule 110).

Rule 110 doesn't state any offences, only advice.

Mildly_Miffed

venomx said:

Been driving for about 4 months now

You mean four months post-test?

and been getting loads of experience every day. Covered most things myself such as parallel parking, rear bay parking, roundabouts, over-taking, motorways, A roads ( dual carriageways ) , country roads, city driving, following sat-navs, driving whilst it's dark, heavy rain, ice, snow etc

Weather apart, most of those would have been covered with your instructor, and many on your test... right?

The only thing I get nervous about is approaching blind slip roads whilst on carriageways.

BLIND? There's vanishingly few of those.

Any examples of what you're thinking of?

I know in the highway code people on the carriageway have right of way, but just ignoring cars wanting to join and not adjusting my speed seems uncourteous and not what i'd expect from anyone else.

Yup.

Rule 259 for those joining.
If you're in L1 and there's traffic joining, then 146 and 147 apply as much as ever.

By all means adjust your speed or change lane to help provide a better gap for joining traffic - if it's clear and safe to do so - but joining safely is their problem not yours. Be aware of them doing something silly, though. You can usually predict who's going to be silly.