Worried

cyclonebri1

Inactive wrote: »

It can if it is the law I'm afraid, strange that I have never ended up on the hard shoulder, in the described circumstances.

Telling anybody that it is OK to join a Motorway from ther Hard Shoulder is quite bluntly, seriously bad advice.

I don't find it strange that you haven't ended up on the hard shoulder, there are very few of us "experienced" drivers that have. But, if as in this case, you "!!!! up", as openly admitted by the OP, then using the hard shoulder to avoid an accident is an option illegal or otherwise.



No one has said it is ok to do this but that it is better in this circumstance than causing an accident.

There is a big difference between driving a short distance on the hard shoulder watching for stationary traffic ahead than being sat stationary with 2 lanes of 70mph traffic bearing down from behind. No matter what anyone says it is not expected to find stationary traffic on a slipway.

Illegal Yes

Advisable No

The right thing to do in the circumstances Certainly


I do find it strange that more than one person has decided to castigate the OP for her actions. She made a mistake which luckily has resulted in no collateral damage for anyone, realises what she did was not legal, and has openly bared all here. She will learn from this which is all any of use can hope for.

ohreally

terryw wrote: »

The graveyards of England are full of people who had the right of way!

Right of way is not something you have, it is something you are given.

tomstickland

in2deep wrote: »

just slow down or stop if you have to, a slip road is almost like a T junction and sometimes you just have to wait your turn.

Stopping is the worst thing you can do. Accelerating onto a motorway from standstill is very dangerous.
If they did end up in that positon then the best course of action would be to accelerate along the hard shoulder and then pull into the left hand lane when travelling close to 70mph.

What the OP should have done is not assume that the lorry would pull out. Instead adjust the speed up or down so that the car is level with a gap between vehicles on the motorway. Indicate and edge into an available space.

The key is to evaluate the options long before reaching the merging point.

Anyway, taking the situation described, I think that the course of action was reasonable. ie: accelerating and pulling in front of lorry was preferable to stopping at the bottom of the slip road.

tomstickland

anewman wrote: »

I think this is bad advice. A lorry will not change speed they always keep pedal to metal. It's often easier to slow down and slot in behind, especially if you're a little inexperienced.

Yes, so the lorry is travelling at a constant speed, so the car on the slip road has two options. Speed up and go in front or slow down and go behind. The fact that the lorry is going at a constant and quite slow speed means pulling in front might be safer, depending on what's coming up behind the lorry. Also it is necessary to look out for the risk of a car overtaking the lorry pulling into the same space.
As to whether in front or behind depends on how late it is, the car's speed and how quickly it can accelerate.

in2deep_2

Jeez if the OP didnt already feel bad enough they sure will now.

letitcomedown

I've been worried about this situation happening too, and have read up a lot about it.

Regardless of experience, there are situations where joining the motorway is actually going to be impossible at any speed approximating that of the traffic on the motorway (particularly when there long lines of lorries, often this happens on motorways near ferry ports), and depending on the length of the sliproad, it might not be possible to slot in, AND stopping on the sliproad is very dangerous.

Even experienced police drivers have had this happen and recommend taking the hard shoulder like the OP did - well done I think you did well given the circumstances.

My own personal tip is that I was in too high a gear to adjust speed quickly - especially when the sliproad is uphill - 3rd is fine.

Hintza

letitcomedown wrote: »

My own personal tip is that I was in too high a gear to adjust speed quickly - especially when the sliproad is uphill - 3rd is fine.

Good tip, you want plenty of flexibility to adjust speed with ease and a lower gear will certainly help.

thescouselander

letitcomedown wrote: »

I've been worried about this situation happening too, and have read up a lot about it.

Regardless of experience, there are situations where joining the motorway is actually going to be impossible at any speed approximating that of the traffic on the motorway (particularly when there long lines of lorries, often this happens on motorways near ferry ports), and depending on the length of the sliproad, it might not be possible to slot in, AND stopping on the sliproad is very dangerous.

Even experienced police drivers have had this happen and recommend taking the hard shoulder like the OP did - well done I think you did well given the circumstances.

My own personal tip is that I was in too high a gear to adjust speed quickly - especially when the sliproad is uphill - 3rd is fine.

I just cant believe that this would happen to a police driver. I have driven on the motorway regularly for over 12 years and I have never even come close to needing to go onto the hard shoulder.

Alias_Omega

ah, like i said.. just hoof it.

never had any worries, then again a drive a car that does 0-60 in 6 secs and when i approach the end of the slip road im probably join at about 75-80mph.

why.? well it gives me the option to pass through the left lane, to the middle then to progress to the outer to carry on with my journey, leaving the 50 & 60mph sunday drivers to fight over the left lane.

Seen this in the past with new drivers, give them the power, and tell them to use it..

Cardelia

thescouselander wrote: »

I just cant believe that this would happen to a police driver. I have driven on the motorway regularly for over 12 years and I have never even come close to needing to go onto the hard shoulder.

I've been in that situation. It was the A3 just south of Guildford, so not quite a motorway but a 50 mph dual carriageway nonetheless. There was a short uphill slip road from a junction (so not easy to build up speed, especially in a Fiesta) and the **** who was in lane 1 seemed to delight in matching my speed as I tried to accelerate to match the speed of traffic on the A3. When I started running out of road, I had to brake and guess what - he braked as well! Unfortunately I had no hard shoulder to use (and the **** refused to move into the empty lane 2) so I had to come to a complete halt and join the A3 from a standstill.

I can completely understand why the OP ended up in the situation she did. What she did was wrong, hopefully she'll learn from the experience and become a better driver for it. But I don't understand those who are saying that stopping is bad? It's what you're supposed to do and, given the alternatives, it's surely the safest option to do so. Joining a NSL road from standstill isn't my idea of fun, but I'd rather sit on the slip road and wait for a gap instead of risking running into a broken down car on the hard shoulder.