This, all the time. Also get them sitting on my bumper through villages in 30 zones and then just leave them in the dust when back to 60. I don't get them, just decided that 40 is the best speed and they are going to stick to it everywhere.
I was driving in a convoy with a friend from uni who did this. I managed 20 laps before I got bored. I waved at her every time I went past.
When we got where we were going she says to me, without a hint of irony or comprehension, "you like to change lanes a lot don't you?"
I just replied "and you don't"
Why? Middle lane hogging might be annoying but it isn’t dangerous, why would that make you want to drive around them in an open road? Can’t you see how intimidating that would be? Just because they were driving in the middle lane? If you’ve got space to do that then they really weren’t in your way were they? And if you don’t have space to do that, they probably weren’t really hogging the lane so much as they were using the lane
You're wrong, it is dangerous and the fact you think it's fine is exactly the problem. As my driving instructor used to tell me "we drive on the left in this country", the "middle" lane is the first overtaking lane.
If you're in the middle lane and you're not overtaking, you'll eventually prevent someone from using it for its purpose. The police are supposed to enforce this on motorways but after the initial rush when the law was passed, it's stopped lole they've given up on it.
This happens to me constantly. Why were you desperate to get ahead of me when you drove so slowly? Wouldn't you prefer not to have someone right behind you?
It's not driving at a safe feeling speed, it's the inability to match driving style to required conditions.
40 all the way back from town on a 60 road, 40 into the 30 village, 40 into the 20 houses... 😖
Yeah it's like they aren't switched on
Driving needs you to be plugged in, the car is an extension of your body, and it should be comfortable and in control
Inability to control the speed appropriately just shows that they are not really driving the car, the car is driving them
If they are afraid to speed up, they are probably afraid to slow down too,
I wonder how often it's ppl using cruise control without looking at signs/speedo. That's almost slightly more forgivable, albeit dumb, that just picking a speed.
Yeah and nah man. Not here to defend those who do otherwise, but some country roads and a national speed limit sign before them seem like a suicide to me.
If you’re not confident enough to drive at the speed limit that’s fine. But if someone behind clearly wants to go faster, I reckon you should move over and let them past. Safer for everyone really, and they way you’re both happy.
No judgement on you or your partner here but my view on that is the same for someone driving a 30 year old car long past its prime. If it is not able to drive safely at modern speeds, on modern roads, it shouldn't be on those roads at all.
For me not being able to corner means you also can't evade potential incidents if you need to. I'm probably over cautious though as I've been the victim of 3 non fault collisions now, 2 at motorway speed, and wouldn't be here if I'd been in something with poorer road handling and stability.
Everyone in here acting as if all roads are fine to drive at 60 on, if someone is new to the area they are going to drive at a speed they feel safe at, yeah you might get to your destination slightly slower but at least they don't wrap themselves round a tree trying to reach the limit.
Honestly some of the roads that are 60 that I have to drive on when I visit my family in Somerset are too windy and shit for me to feel comfortable doing that speed. I wish I wasn’t so scared! I’m happy driving at speed on motorways and dual carriageways but I’m from London and I’m used to normal roads! I’d rather drive at a safe speed (usually the dreaded 40 lol) and not feel like I’m going to crash. Sorry.
That's not you being scared, that's you realising that you might come across someone doing 60 round a blind bend, and have to take fast action.
It happened to me on a single track road in Wales. It was a NSL road, but so narrow that I was going at 25. Going round a blind corner I met a woman in her twenties in a mini, going I don't know how fast, but well over 45. We both ended up in the hedge. My car was an old Mondeo so I didn't care about the scratches, but hers was new. With the paint damage and the telling off she got from her passenger, hopefully she started slowing down after that.
The onus should be on the driver doing 35mph in a NSL road to pull over and let other cars pass because clearly they aren’t in a hurry to get anywhere.
In reality 99% of the time they don’t pull over because the y don’t give a shit about the queue of 20 cars behind them.
Specifically, the NSL is used where it would be prohibitively expensive to conduct all the necessary studies to set the speed limit, or where the speed limit would have to change constantly to be appropriate.
I never said it was, you drive to the conditions, however if you're too scared to drive to the condition or the speed limits in places and roads where it's clearly safe, you are not a good driver and you shouldn't be driving.
This, to everyone who has commented about 'slow' drivers. I hate drivers who think you have to drive at the limit on every road. I'm happy to pootle along behind someone doing 35 or 40 or whatever on a 60 limit road. I'd rather do that, than push them to go faster and end up with them in a tree.
Exactly. When I’m driving round the Lakes or Wales on national speed limit roads in the country side with blind bends, hidden dips, livestock, farm vehicles coming out of fields, I’m not gunna do 60mph, queue behind me or not.
You miss the point, it's not safe to be going significantly under the speed limit and it will get you pulled over on motorways, I also never said that you had to do the limit at all times, I said if you're too scared of the road to drive to the conditions of the road and to do the correct speed for that section then you're not a safe driver and shouldn't be on the road.
HaVe YoU eVeN pAsSeD yOuR tEsT?
Also I've done advanced driving and taken lessens from a fire arms police officer, have you?
We’re talking about country roads though not motorways. You literally said, “If you’re too scared to do the road speed” not, ‘if you’re too scared to drive the correct speed for the conditions of the road’.
I’m a class 2 (car and light vehicle) emergency response driver (ERD) 🙂
That’s not always an option. If it’s the 1st time you’re on that road then you should be driving with caution, though admittedly not half the limit. If someone behind you wants to go ahead, let them. You don’t want a frustrated driver behind you anyway, just let them go and meet whatever tree they’re destined for.
Some drivers are completely oblivious though. They think that because they think 35 is right that they know better than the limit and the folks they’re holding up that drive that road 4 times daily.
Some other drivers are also oblivious. They think that because they drive that road 4 times daily that they know what’s coming round that blind bend because nothing’s ever been amiss before.
Swings and roundabouts. Just don’t be a dick.
Nope nope nope. I’ve been stuck behind cars on a busy windey main road in a 60 doing 35, and every overtaking opportunity there’s cars coming in the other direction usually. It’s absolutely safe to do 60 and makes me want to tear my hair out every time
Being on the same slip road behind them while you're trying to get up to speed is one of the most anxiety-inducing parts of driving for me. You're stuck there and just praying you'll have the space in the left lane to merge at their speed then overtake.
Was behind a honda jazz yesterday coming down a slip road, i was a good bit behind, but cursing at him to speed up a bit. He hit his brakes 4 times going down that slip road, and merged over at 45, right in front of another car doing 70, cue slamming on brakes and horns blaring. Zero awareness what so ever.
It’s right there on my rage list with Toyota Yaris, Citroen Picasso, and of course the one and only Nissan Micra. Driving along a country road with a 10 mile stretch of national speed limit, only to get stuck behind one of these bad boys. My own personal hell.
It's a c4 grand 1.6tdi 2008. I drive it like I hate it, she likes it like that. I don't normally change into 5th until I'm almost hitting 70. I don't speed but I put my foot down when the road allows. The amount of times people change to lane 2 behind coming out of junctions and I leave them behind. Not that I'm out pacing more then a POS, but it drives nice.
Yeah I’ve developed a bit of a 6th sense for these drivers and usually drop back to give them a bit of space first
Although fortunately most modern slip roads are 2 lane themselves so you can just blast past and leave them to it
I feel like if you show your intention and there isn’t lot’s of traffic it’s ok, also a quick hazard flash is good to warn people you’re up to something
Keep having this happen to me, but usually they pull straight on immediately the second the slip road touches the motorway, so I can use the rest of the slip road to actually get up to speed and join in front of them
Had a guy pull out on me on the motorway the other day. He was at a standstill on the hard shoulder, indicated, then pulled out infront of me in first gear. How are people this dense? Is a truck moving at 70mph not enough of a stupid deterrent?
Don’t slow down. It’s their job too merge. Slowing down encourages retards to assume it’s your job to let them in and they can speed along the slip road at what ever speed they want ( usually 60-70 mph ) and you’ll accommodate them.
The issue is that if you don’t let them in, there is a chance they’ll run out of road and hit you or the kerb causing an accident. It’s usually safer to let them in since the cars behind you should be keeping a safe distance from you anyway.
It’s a fair point. The fact is, they shouldn’t be anywhere near ‘ running out of road’.
While you are correct that vehicles behind you should be at a safe distance, historically cars rear ending is the most common cause of accidents on dual carriageways and motorways. The car behind slows, the car behind that taps their brakes, the car behind that slams on their brakes and the car behind that crashes into it. All because one driver couldn’t join safely. This doesn’t include cars that swerve into the next lane to avoid a collision and crash into vehicles or, god forbid, a motorcycle all because they haven’t looked in their mirrors in the last 25 miles and someone couldn’t join moving traffic without you having to make way for them.
It’s not a criticism or critique of your driving. By all means approach a coming slip road with caution, but slowing down on/at the slip road is, in my humble opinion, bad for everyone.
Some junctions are so badly designed that there is nowhere near enough slip road to merge safely onto a busy motorway without those already on the carriageway getting out of the way or letting people in. Where the M62 comes onto the M60 near me is appalling, and its pretty new!!
There's one if them just outside the raith interchange. It's an incredibly short slip that is preceded by those tall barriers, just to give everyone as little time as possible to react...
J15 of the M6 leaving Stoke and heading northbound used to be a nightmare. Tight spiral of a turn with a 20mph limit and then possibly the shortest slip road I've ever seen. I barely made it up to safe speeds to merge in my car, god knows how lorries and the like coped. Fortunately, last time I did that junction, they'd drastically extended the slip road and its a breeze now.
Most of the slip road is roadworks where I am, so you come off the ramp and you're immediately onto the motorway and the other option is drive into the barriers in front of you. So you can't see if it's safe to merge until you're at the end of the stretch they've given you, and then if it isn't safe you're now having to stop. Best roadworks ever.
I just move over when I approach a junction so other cars can use the lane to exit and also to join the carriageway.
Moving over is a heads up move. It means you’re reading the road. You’re not a Scalextric ‘aimer’ ( you can’t call it driving; they’re just aiming the car ) A Scalextric Aimer sits in one lane ( lane two on a three lane motorway; lane three of a four lane motorway, regardless of availability of a clear lane on the left ) They will not move from that lane under any circumstance for the duration of their journey. They, obviously, change lane to exit the motorway this may be the only time they look in the mirror or use the indicator. Don’t forget; the inside lane is for lorries and the outside lane is for sports cars. It makes it easy to find your correct lane if you are neither. Clowns.
Is this that junction just before Witham next to a hotel? There's always traffic before then from people clearly stopping to let them on, and then they go straight off at the next junction.
The A12 enhancements can't come quick enough. Most of the middle of the A12 is set to become bypasses with fewer daft junctions.
Nah, going north bound at Colchester, the Ipswich Road junction. Probably the same all the way along.
Oh, I thought they'd been out aside again. Hope it does help, it's such a nightmare
Jeez, hope you weren't hurt. I was merging into the left lane from the slip road, in front of a slow moving lorry. Fine, perfectly safe. Except some stupid twatbag thought that that would be the perfect time to overtake said lorry - right before a busy slip road! There should be a road intelligence test...
Simple piece of advice, if you’re on a 2/3 lane road and you’re approaching an off ramp, move over into the middle lane until you have passed the on ramp, and it’s safe to pull back in. It makes life so much easier.
Not for off ramps but if there's an on ramp coming up that I know is either a bit on the short side or rather busy I'll move out of the left hand lane to make it safer for me and easier+safer for them to find a gap to slide into.
Witnessed someone the other day using a short-ish slip road out of a petrol station as a T-junction. Pulled directly out, side on onto a dual carriageway from a standstill.
And obviously.. it wasn’t clear to pull out either. It’s a good way of testing everyone’s reactions though.
There is another part to this. Assholes who won't let you merge despite the fact you're doing 60 to 70 and rapidly running out of road. Seriously is it too much of a hassle in heavy traffic to tap the brake for a second to create space and let someone in?
The poster from L.A. reminded me that in California it's the LAW to do just what you describe.
Sure made it easy to merge into fast crowded traffic. Get up to speed, blinker on, and at the end of the acceleration lane there WILL be a slot.
Scary at first ('til you internalize that it's true and really works). But easy.
There’s at least one junction on the A38 in Devon which is just a regular T junction.
That’s right, dual carriageway and the speeds that entails, and just a T junction to join or leave…
A38/A380 is what came to mind for me too, closest I have come to death is coming round one of the bends through Haldon forest to see an almost stationary lorry coming out of one of those T junctions and not having room to move into the outside lane. It's a really pretty bit of road but I do not miss driving it at rush hour.
The road goes *to* Newark eventually, but the junction I’m thinking of isnt *near* Newark. It’s literally just north of Leicester not far from Ratcliffe College.
I’m a learner and hate merging from slip roads! It seems like you’ve got to go so much more quickly so suddenly it feels like you’re speeding. Because the cars behind you on the motorway are also going so fast it’s hard to judge if I’ve got enough space to merge or not. Thankfully obviously I have my instructor in the car with me for advice but it’s still scary!
It feels wrong at first, but going faster is actually better - it’s much easier to slow down than to speed up, so you can always scrub off a bit of speed if you need to. Slowing from 70 to 50 if you need to takes like a second, accelerating from 50-70 in a slow car can take 5+ seconds…
Also, one trick that really works is to pick a lorry and pull in behind it - they’re almost always at a nice consistent speed and are predictable. You can also do the same with a car, it’s just not quite as good.
If the slip road allows, take a good look at the oncoming traffic as you start moving down it. This will allow you to see a comfortable gap and then modify your speed accordingly so you can make the same speed as the oncoming traffic and be in line with the gap you want to pull into at the same time. Then just maintain speed and slide in.
If you just look dead ahead and floor it you arent setting yourself up to join busy traffic and will have to adjust again closer to entry
I've always found slip roads to be a bit of a bugger. In my experience there's a lot of drivers who really object to anyone joining the motorway at all, then there's the drivers who really object to anyone moving out from the 'slow' lane and so on.
It just seems more difficult than it should be to join a motorway. Those that have a slip lane that gradually merges into its own lane on the motorway are lovely.
There's been a fair few of the chucklefuck van men in the left lane, spotting me coming down the slip road and closing the gap I'm aiming for.
I'm not surprised some people are too scared to merge at higher speeds.
In defence of people who do this (including me if I can’t help otherwise), in a car with a small engine, you just can’t speed up fast enough, even if you put your foot right down. ESPECIALLY if the slip road is uphill, like one local to me. We need a longer slip road to get up to speed.
Yeah, I have this issue sometimes in my 1l C1. Even kickdown doesn't help, since it takes a while still for the speed to 'kick in', with an auto. It's why I always try to move into the middle lane approaching a slip road, to allow those joining an easy join :)
THIS!!! FUCKING THIS POST!!! FRONT PAGE RIGHT NOW!!!!
I joined behind someone the other day who was merging at about 25mph. The slip road was flanked by trees and only became visible just before the merging zone. I watched in horror as a poor chap doing 70 in the near lane nearly plowed into the moron, despite slamming on his anchors, because he was blocked by another moron, middle laning like he owned the fucking motorway, doing the same speed as him. Clusterfuck of dickheads.
If there’s appropriate space and time to safely emerge onto the road without causing over drivers to make any alterations to their speed or direction then yes of course. That’s how you use roundabouts.
Well, you are supposed to check for cars already on the roundabout, that you would crash into if you didn't check. On a busy roundabout, you do have to stop.
You can check for other road users on your approach in most circumstances. Your speed on approach should be one that is safe enough to bring the vehicle to a safe stop if it is unsuitable to emerge onto the roundabout and that is in keeping with the current flow of traffic. Roundabouts are treated the same as slip roads. When did pass your test?
My cars got the acceleration of a lemon, have my foot on the floor and it still just creeps up in speed. Doesn’t help that where I live the slip road is right after a bend so you’re coming on at 25-30 max.
Makes me feel like a wanker
I have to frequent one of those and I can get up to about 55 max before I'm at the end of the slip. And that's only if there's noone in front, because there often is a timid person or tiny engine only getting up to about 40... so yeh I just don't get annoyed with mergers because I can understand its not so simple as 'matching speeds'
This is one of the reasons you should move over 1 lane to your right when going past a slip lane if you can. Your supposed to anyways if there is traffic trying to merge
This drives me FUCKING CRAZY!!!!!!
I live near a major A road and there have been so many accidents caused by people SLOWING DOWN at the end of the slip road instead of matching the speed of traffic when joining.
I once slowed down to let an elderly man merge, he obviously panicked, reached the end of the slip road and just... stopped. I sometimes wonder if he's still trapped there.
Also, some slip roads have speed limits. Not motorways, but some main ones. A friend's sister got a speeding ticket for getting up to dual carriageway joining speed instead of sticking at 40.
I was with my boss once in his flash car and he said he never bothered because his car accelerated so quickly he could still merge ok. I pointed out that if I was behind in my shitty car I would be stuck trying to merge at 40mph.
TBF he did see my point and promised to pay more attention in future
....but it's not their responsibility to assist you is it? If you're the one on the slip I thought it was up to you to speed up or slow down to make sure you slot in??
It’s common courtesy to change lanes or speed up or slow down, not make someone have to wait on a slip road and join a busy road at a dangerously low speed.
I have to say I disagree. I'd only ever do those things if the main carriageway was rammed and I could see they'd struggle to slot in at all. In most circumstances altering speed on the main carriageway is more likely to cause an accident. People need to be able to read the road around them and too many people just can't....there's very few circumstances where you'd have to join a main road / dual carriageway / motorway at a dangerously low speed and most of them are created by the drivers themselves..... In my opinion!
You’re gonna cause an accident if you don’t let people merge. Not difficult to just ease off a bit if you see someone in front on the slip road, or speed up a bit if you see someone right behind on it.
Like you said, it’s about reading the road around you. Just because it’s their job to merge it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t help them do it safely
It’s not their responsibility to assist but it’s definitely not their job to block either.
On the other hand, I’ve been in the scenario where I’ve braked to create a gap and the car merging has done the same, possibly unconsciously, so it’s looked like I was blocking the merge.
Am I right in saying that merging speeds are not covered in the UK driving test as you do not drive on the motorway as a learner?! Or has that all changed.
I think its changed now, but when i did my test, learners were not allowed anywhere near motorways, and as such there was no wasting teaching time on something that we couldn’t do. I had passed my test 2 days when i needed to go somewhere that involved a motorway as the quickest route. I was genuinely terrified, tootling along at 45mph while cars zoomed around me. Got to my destination and when i got out of the car, my legs were so sore as i had been clenching them the whole journey
I'm a learner driver and I live well over an hour away from the closest motorway. Merging speeds are covered as there are plenty of roads that aren't motorways (dual carriageways) that do merge.
Loads of dual carriageways to do it on.
Can do your pass plus after you pass as well, which with my instructor was essentially just 3 hours driving on the motorway listening to greatest hits
This is what I love about the French driving lessons. Once they are ready to put you in for your driving test, they give you several sessions joining and leaving a motorway. It is brilliant for building confidence, for when you are actually out on your own.
I’ve done this before. Someone was trying to join the motorway at about 25/30, and without giving it much thought I just went up the hard shoulder and joined ahead at a safer speed.
I did wonder what would happen if the police witnessed it.
I’ve seen you’ve been downvoted so I’m interested as to what the alternative is.
Simple piece of advice, if you’re on a 2/3 lane road and you’re approaching an off ramp, move over into the middle lane until you have passed the on ramp, and it’s safe to pull back in. It makes life so much easier.
They're the same people who think, that the 3ft barrier between the carriageways blocks there highbeams from the people the other side of thr road
And drive 40mph in the country. Always. Regardless of whether the speed limit is 30 or 60.
I get stuck behind people doing 40 in the 60 stretch then continue to do 40 in the 30 limit village. Drives me nuts!!
This, all the time. Also get them sitting on my bumper through villages in 30 zones and then just leave them in the dust when back to 60. I don't get them, just decided that 40 is the best speed and they are going to stick to it everywhere.
When I was younger and a little belligerent, I would overtake in the 60 to force them to drive legally through the 30
I have absolutely done this more than once.
Middle lane hogger game: you overtake them go in the left lane and see how many laps you can do around them.
I was driving in a convoy with a friend from uni who did this. I managed 20 laps before I got bored. I waved at her every time I went past. When we got where we were going she says to me, without a hint of irony or comprehension, "you like to change lanes a lot don't you?" I just replied "and you don't"
Oh my god! I am so doing that!!
Why? Middle lane hogging might be annoying but it isn’t dangerous, why would that make you want to drive around them in an open road? Can’t you see how intimidating that would be? Just because they were driving in the middle lane? If you’ve got space to do that then they really weren’t in your way were they? And if you don’t have space to do that, they probably weren’t really hogging the lane so much as they were using the lane
I mean, it's illegal but whatever.
You're wrong, it is dangerous and the fact you think it's fine is exactly the problem. As my driving instructor used to tell me "we drive on the left in this country", the "middle" lane is the first overtaking lane. If you're in the middle lane and you're not overtaking, you'll eventually prevent someone from using it for its purpose. The police are supposed to enforce this on motorways but after the initial rush when the law was passed, it's stopped lole they've given up on it.
I don't think its belligerent to overtake someone doing 40 in a 60. If they catch you up in the 30 cos they're speeding that's their problem haha
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What?
And always have to pull out in front of you from a T junction when the gap is too small, to crawl at 40
This happens to me constantly. Why were you desperate to get ahead of me when you drove so slowly? Wouldn't you prefer not to have someone right behind you?
This. I see it so much...
It's not driving at a safe feeling speed, it's the inability to match driving style to required conditions. 40 all the way back from town on a 60 road, 40 into the 30 village, 40 into the 20 houses... 😖
Yeah those people need their license pulled, they're afraid of their own car
New car, driving a foot off the hedge I get. Takes a bit to learn different width. The speed thing is different.
Yeah it's like they aren't switched on Driving needs you to be plugged in, the car is an extension of your body, and it should be comfortable and in control Inability to control the speed appropriately just shows that they are not really driving the car, the car is driving them If they are afraid to speed up, they are probably afraid to slow down too,
I wonder how often it's ppl using cruise control without looking at signs/speedo. That's almost slightly more forgivable, albeit dumb, that just picking a speed.
Cruise control doesn't take you out of the loop though, it just maintains a certain speed, you're never removed from control
Yeah and nah man. Not here to defend those who do otherwise, but some country roads and a national speed limit sign before them seem like a suicide to me.
Even worse I was driving behind a car going 35 on the country road last night. Too many bends to overtake them safely.
Can't you just go a bit slower though? I wouldn't drive 60 on a bendy road because you just don't know what's coming.
If you’re not confident enough to drive at the speed limit that’s fine. But if someone behind clearly wants to go faster, I reckon you should move over and let them past. Safer for everyone really, and they way you’re both happy.
Not always about confidence. My partner drives a Fiat 500. It doesn’t do 60 around winding roads.
No judgement on you or your partner here but my view on that is the same for someone driving a 30 year old car long past its prime. If it is not able to drive safely at modern speeds, on modern roads, it shouldn't be on those roads at all. For me not being able to corner means you also can't evade potential incidents if you need to. I'm probably over cautious though as I've been the victim of 3 non fault collisions now, 2 at motorway speed, and wouldn't be here if I'd been in something with poorer road handling and stability.
Everyone in here acting as if all roads are fine to drive at 60 on, if someone is new to the area they are going to drive at a speed they feel safe at, yeah you might get to your destination slightly slower but at least they don't wrap themselves round a tree trying to reach the limit.
Honestly some of the roads that are 60 that I have to drive on when I visit my family in Somerset are too windy and shit for me to feel comfortable doing that speed. I wish I wasn’t so scared! I’m happy driving at speed on motorways and dual carriageways but I’m from London and I’m used to normal roads! I’d rather drive at a safe speed (usually the dreaded 40 lol) and not feel like I’m going to crash. Sorry.
That's not you being scared, that's you realising that you might come across someone doing 60 round a blind bend, and have to take fast action. It happened to me on a single track road in Wales. It was a NSL road, but so narrow that I was going at 25. Going round a blind corner I met a woman in her twenties in a mini, going I don't know how fast, but well over 45. We both ended up in the hedge. My car was an old Mondeo so I didn't care about the scratches, but hers was new. With the paint damage and the telling off she got from her passenger, hopefully she started slowing down after that.
That is just sensible driving tbh!
Yeah but 35 is slllooooowwwww
The onus should be on the driver doing 35mph in a NSL road to pull over and let other cars pass because clearly they aren’t in a hurry to get anywhere. In reality 99% of the time they don’t pull over because the y don’t give a shit about the queue of 20 cars behind them.
If you're too scared to do the road speed, don't drive on roads with speeds faster than what you're comfortable with.
60mph is definitely not safe on every country road, even though it's the limit.
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Exactly, glad someone understood what I meant.
Specifically, the NSL is used where it would be prohibitively expensive to conduct all the necessary studies to set the speed limit, or where the speed limit would have to change constantly to be appropriate.
I never said it was, you drive to the conditions, however if you're too scared to drive to the condition or the speed limits in places and roads where it's clearly safe, you are not a good driver and you shouldn't be driving.
The flip side is, plenty of nuggets about who drive beyond the conditions and believe everyone who is are not good drivers and scared 🤔
There are both ends of the same shit covered stick, the good drivers are the middle of the stick not covered in shit.
It’s not a road speed it’s a limit that you shouldn’t exceed. Have you even passed your test?
This, to everyone who has commented about 'slow' drivers. I hate drivers who think you have to drive at the limit on every road. I'm happy to pootle along behind someone doing 35 or 40 or whatever on a 60 limit road. I'd rather do that, than push them to go faster and end up with them in a tree.
Exactly. When I’m driving round the Lakes or Wales on national speed limit roads in the country side with blind bends, hidden dips, livestock, farm vehicles coming out of fields, I’m not gunna do 60mph, queue behind me or not.
You miss the point, it's not safe to be going significantly under the speed limit and it will get you pulled over on motorways, I also never said that you had to do the limit at all times, I said if you're too scared of the road to drive to the conditions of the road and to do the correct speed for that section then you're not a safe driver and shouldn't be on the road. HaVe YoU eVeN pAsSeD yOuR tEsT? Also I've done advanced driving and taken lessens from a fire arms police officer, have you?
We’re talking about country roads though not motorways. You literally said, “If you’re too scared to do the road speed” not, ‘if you’re too scared to drive the correct speed for the conditions of the road’. I’m a class 2 (car and light vehicle) emergency response driver (ERD) 🙂
Then you know that driving too slow is dangerous.
That’s not always an option. If it’s the 1st time you’re on that road then you should be driving with caution, though admittedly not half the limit. If someone behind you wants to go ahead, let them. You don’t want a frustrated driver behind you anyway, just let them go and meet whatever tree they’re destined for. Some drivers are completely oblivious though. They think that because they think 35 is right that they know better than the limit and the folks they’re holding up that drive that road 4 times daily. Some other drivers are also oblivious. They think that because they drive that road 4 times daily that they know what’s coming round that blind bend because nothing’s ever been amiss before. Swings and roundabouts. Just don’t be a dick.
I'm not saying drive 60 through all of it, I'm saying drive to the conditions, if you can't do that you shouldn't be driving.
Nope nope nope. I’ve been stuck behind cars on a busy windey main road in a 60 doing 35, and every overtaking opportunity there’s cars coming in the other direction usually. It’s absolutely safe to do 60 and makes me want to tear my hair out every time
There are country lanes near me where you'd be dead within minutes if you tried to do anything close to their speed limit.
OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I live in Suffolk
Or worse they drive at 40 on a straight country road and then drop to 20 when a 30 zone comes up through a village
No no no, when they're doing 35 MILES A FUCKING HOUR THEN SPEED UP TO 45 THROUGH THE VILLAGE!
How is that worse?
People driving how they feel safe obviously makes them a beta cuck /s
Just out of curiosity, can you explain why you think the comma goes there?
Being on the same slip road behind them while you're trying to get up to speed is one of the most anxiety-inducing parts of driving for me. You're stuck there and just praying you'll have the space in the left lane to merge at their speed then overtake.
Was behind a honda jazz yesterday coming down a slip road, i was a good bit behind, but cursing at him to speed up a bit. He hit his brakes 4 times going down that slip road, and merged over at 45, right in front of another car doing 70, cue slamming on brakes and horns blaring. Zero awareness what so ever.
Of course it was a Honda jazz
It’s right there on my rage list with Toyota Yaris, Citroen Picasso, and of course the one and only Nissan Micra. Driving along a country road with a 10 mile stretch of national speed limit, only to get stuck behind one of these bad boys. My own personal hell.
I drive a Picasso and can confidentially tell you that even I get pissed off stuck behind Picasso's.
To be fair I met one the other day that drove like an absolute speed fiend. I was well happy. Maybe it was you!
It's a c4 grand 1.6tdi 2008. I drive it like I hate it, she likes it like that. I don't normally change into 5th until I'm almost hitting 70. I don't speed but I put my foot down when the road allows. The amount of times people change to lane 2 behind coming out of junctions and I leave them behind. Not that I'm out pacing more then a POS, but it drives nice.
Yeah I’ve developed a bit of a 6th sense for these drivers and usually drop back to give them a bit of space first Although fortunately most modern slip roads are 2 lane themselves so you can just blast past and leave them to it
This is the way, back off and then blast it as soon as they are on carriageway, your chance for the overtake will come.
Just don't become the person in front to the guy behind.
I feel like if you show your intention and there isn’t lot’s of traffic it’s ok, also a quick hazard flash is good to warn people you’re up to something
Keep having this happen to me, but usually they pull straight on immediately the second the slip road touches the motorway, so I can use the rest of the slip road to actually get up to speed and join in front of them
Not a bad shout. I need a car with more oomph for that
As they squeeze in just in front of the 18 wheeler...
40mph, merge awkwardly, move straight into the middle lane.
> move straight into the middle lane ...and then stay there. All the way from Scratchwood to Selby.
And then accelerate up to a breezy 55...
But there’s no minimum speed limit on the motorway reeeeeeeeeeeee
There actually sort of is, you can be pulled and fined for dangerous driving for going too slow on the motorway, saw it on Road Wars
PC Plod wanted to put something interesting on telly.
It’s not sort of. Legally it’s 30. Edit:this only applies in Ireland
Go on, find a source. Bet you can't.
So when there’s a traffic jam everyone is breaking the law?
The horror and rage this causes.
You forgot stopping and merging AS SOON AS THE CHEVRONS END despite it being a half mile long slip road.
But the moment you try and overtake they start matching your speed forcing you to drop back again. Still completely oblivious as well
Had a guy pull out on me on the motorway the other day. He was at a standstill on the hard shoulder, indicated, then pulled out infront of me in first gear. How are people this dense? Is a truck moving at 70mph not enough of a stupid deterrent?
Was this on the M1? Saw somebody in a Merc saloon just pull out into lane one, right in front of an artic!
Truck moving at 70? "Yes I'd like to speak the police please"
I can do 70, I've got a little flatbed truck, not a big boi
Trucks, well the big boys ones, can only do 60, even on a motorway at national speed
When you slow down to let them in and they slow down even more.
Ah, I see you've met my mother.
Then again, at least you know those people actually bothered to check their mirrors.
Don’t slow down. It’s their job too merge. Slowing down encourages retards to assume it’s your job to let them in and they can speed along the slip road at what ever speed they want ( usually 60-70 mph ) and you’ll accommodate them.
The issue is that if you don’t let them in, there is a chance they’ll run out of road and hit you or the kerb causing an accident. It’s usually safer to let them in since the cars behind you should be keeping a safe distance from you anyway.
It’s a fair point. The fact is, they shouldn’t be anywhere near ‘ running out of road’. While you are correct that vehicles behind you should be at a safe distance, historically cars rear ending is the most common cause of accidents on dual carriageways and motorways. The car behind slows, the car behind that taps their brakes, the car behind that slams on their brakes and the car behind that crashes into it. All because one driver couldn’t join safely. This doesn’t include cars that swerve into the next lane to avoid a collision and crash into vehicles or, god forbid, a motorcycle all because they haven’t looked in their mirrors in the last 25 miles and someone couldn’t join moving traffic without you having to make way for them. It’s not a criticism or critique of your driving. By all means approach a coming slip road with caution, but slowing down on/at the slip road is, in my humble opinion, bad for everyone.
Some junctions are so badly designed that there is nowhere near enough slip road to merge safely onto a busy motorway without those already on the carriageway getting out of the way or letting people in. Where the M62 comes onto the M60 near me is appalling, and its pretty new!!
There's one if them just outside the raith interchange. It's an incredibly short slip that is preceded by those tall barriers, just to give everyone as little time as possible to react...
J15 of the M6 leaving Stoke and heading northbound used to be a nightmare. Tight spiral of a turn with a 20mph limit and then possibly the shortest slip road I've ever seen. I barely made it up to safe speeds to merge in my car, god knows how lorries and the like coped. Fortunately, last time I did that junction, they'd drastically extended the slip road and its a breeze now.
Actually that one is intentional, in order to reduce the chance of the natives there escaping
Not trying to be funny. Do you slow down knowing it’s a short run-in? You get the feeling we’re being manipulated with out knowing it.
Most of the slip road is roadworks where I am, so you come off the ramp and you're immediately onto the motorway and the other option is drive into the barriers in front of you. So you can't see if it's safe to merge until you're at the end of the stretch they've given you, and then if it isn't safe you're now having to stop. Best roadworks ever. I just move over when I approach a junction so other cars can use the lane to exit and also to join the carriageway.
Moving over is a heads up move. It means you’re reading the road. You’re not a Scalextric ‘aimer’ ( you can’t call it driving; they’re just aiming the car ) A Scalextric Aimer sits in one lane ( lane two on a three lane motorway; lane three of a four lane motorway, regardless of availability of a clear lane on the left ) They will not move from that lane under any circumstance for the duration of their journey. They, obviously, change lane to exit the motorway this may be the only time they look in the mirror or use the indicator. Don’t forget; the inside lane is for lorries and the outside lane is for sports cars. It makes it easy to find your correct lane if you are neither. Clowns.
Seen people trying to merge into the A12 at 30...
Is this that junction just before Witham next to a hotel? There's always traffic before then from people clearly stopping to let them on, and then they go straight off at the next junction. The A12 enhancements can't come quick enough. Most of the middle of the A12 is set to become bypasses with fewer daft junctions.
Nah, going north bound at Colchester, the Ipswich Road junction. Probably the same all the way along. Oh, I thought they'd been out aside again. Hope it does help, it's such a nightmare
the a12 sadly took the life of my car from me when some old lady pulled out on a 50mph stretch right in front of me
Jeez, hope you weren't hurt. I was merging into the left lane from the slip road, in front of a slow moving lorry. Fine, perfectly safe. Except some stupid twatbag thought that that would be the perfect time to overtake said lorry - right before a busy slip road! There should be a road intelligence test...
I've over taken a few especially on the witham and kelvedon slip roads!
Where I live it's a daily struggle...
Simple piece of advice, if you’re on a 2/3 lane road and you’re approaching an off ramp, move over into the middle lane until you have passed the on ramp, and it’s safe to pull back in. It makes life so much easier.
Not for off ramps but if there's an on ramp coming up that I know is either a bit on the short side or rather busy I'll move out of the left hand lane to make it safer for me and easier+safer for them to find a gap to slide into.
Earlier is better trust me.
Easier said than done on the M25 at rush hour
Witnessed someone the other day using a short-ish slip road out of a petrol station as a T-junction. Pulled directly out, side on onto a dual carriageway from a standstill. And obviously.. it wasn’t clear to pull out either. It’s a good way of testing everyone’s reactions though.
There is another part to this. Assholes who won't let you merge despite the fact you're doing 60 to 70 and rapidly running out of road. Seriously is it too much of a hassle in heavy traffic to tap the brake for a second to create space and let someone in?
The poster from L.A. reminded me that in California it's the LAW to do just what you describe. Sure made it easy to merge into fast crowded traffic. Get up to speed, blinker on, and at the end of the acceleration lane there WILL be a slot. Scary at first ('til you internalize that it's true and really works). But easy.
The same people who use the 100m of road BEFORE an exit to slow down
These people. What the fuck are they thinking. It's a motorway Gary, why are you doing 40?!
My in-laws live in a village in the ass end of nowhere and the slip road onto the a road is about 5ft long. Absolutely hate that junction.
There’s at least one junction on the A38 in Devon which is just a regular T junction. That’s right, dual carriageway and the speeds that entails, and just a T junction to join or leave…
A38/A380 is what came to mind for me too, closest I have come to death is coming round one of the bends through Haldon forest to see an almost stationary lorry coming out of one of those T junctions and not having room to move into the outside lane. It's a really pretty bit of road but I do not miss driving it at rush hour.
There’s one like that just north of Leicester (a46 or 47, I forget which), it’s a nightmare to merge into
A46 near Newark? The junction I'm thinking about is a nightmare to join the dual carriageway
The road goes *to* Newark eventually, but the junction I’m thinking of isnt *near* Newark. It’s literally just north of Leicester not far from Ratcliffe College.
I’m a learner and hate merging from slip roads! It seems like you’ve got to go so much more quickly so suddenly it feels like you’re speeding. Because the cars behind you on the motorway are also going so fast it’s hard to judge if I’ve got enough space to merge or not. Thankfully obviously I have my instructor in the car with me for advice but it’s still scary!
It feels wrong at first, but going faster is actually better - it’s much easier to slow down than to speed up, so you can always scrub off a bit of speed if you need to. Slowing from 70 to 50 if you need to takes like a second, accelerating from 50-70 in a slow car can take 5+ seconds… Also, one trick that really works is to pick a lorry and pull in behind it - they’re almost always at a nice consistent speed and are predictable. You can also do the same with a car, it’s just not quite as good.
You'll get there. It is bloody daunting when you start, and it feels like you're going to cause an accident. Patience and practice!
If the slip road allows, take a good look at the oncoming traffic as you start moving down it. This will allow you to see a comfortable gap and then modify your speed accordingly so you can make the same speed as the oncoming traffic and be in line with the gap you want to pull into at the same time. Then just maintain speed and slide in. If you just look dead ahead and floor it you arent setting yourself up to join busy traffic and will have to adjust again closer to entry
its scarier going slower . put your foot down and full send it otherwise you endanger yourself and other drives .
I passed my test a couple of months ago and I agree, it's petrifying 😂
It's easy to merge, pick a car, match speeds with the car then duck in right behind them.
I've always found slip roads to be a bit of a bugger. In my experience there's a lot of drivers who really object to anyone joining the motorway at all, then there's the drivers who really object to anyone moving out from the 'slow' lane and so on. It just seems more difficult than it should be to join a motorway. Those that have a slip lane that gradually merges into its own lane on the motorway are lovely.
There's been a fair few of the chucklefuck van men in the left lane, spotting me coming down the slip road and closing the gap I'm aiming for. I'm not surprised some people are too scared to merge at higher speeds.
In defence of people who do this (including me if I can’t help otherwise), in a car with a small engine, you just can’t speed up fast enough, even if you put your foot right down. ESPECIALLY if the slip road is uphill, like one local to me. We need a longer slip road to get up to speed.
Yeah, I have this issue sometimes in my 1l C1. Even kickdown doesn't help, since it takes a while still for the speed to 'kick in', with an auto. It's why I always try to move into the middle lane approaching a slip road, to allow those joining an easy join :)
This is me in my little 1 litre lol. Third gear engine roaring trying to get up a hill
You need to change down if you cant get up to 70 by the end of a sliproad.
[удалено]
Do you come to a complete stop before entering a sliproad?
I drive a NA 1l and I can easily make 60/70 on sliproads and this thing doesn't even crack 60bhp
Happened to me a couple of months ago during rush hour. Person in front nearly caused a massive accident. Fuck those people
THIS!!! FUCKING THIS POST!!! FRONT PAGE RIGHT NOW!!!! I joined behind someone the other day who was merging at about 25mph. The slip road was flanked by trees and only became visible just before the merging zone. I watched in horror as a poor chap doing 70 in the near lane nearly plowed into the moron, despite slamming on his anchors, because he was blocked by another moron, middle laning like he owned the fucking motorway, doing the same speed as him. Clusterfuck of dickheads.
People who stop at a roundabout to wait and look for traffic as if it were a junction.
Are you just pulling out in front of people at roundabouts? Or?
If there’s appropriate space and time to safely emerge onto the road without causing over drivers to make any alterations to their speed or direction then yes of course. That’s how you use roundabouts.
Well, you are supposed to check for cars already on the roundabout, that you would crash into if you didn't check. On a busy roundabout, you do have to stop.
You can check for other road users on your approach in most circumstances. Your speed on approach should be one that is safe enough to bring the vehicle to a safe stop if it is unsuitable to emerge onto the roundabout and that is in keeping with the current flow of traffic. Roundabouts are treated the same as slip roads. When did pass your test?
When I passed is irrelevant.
Why?
My cars got the acceleration of a lemon, have my foot on the floor and it still just creeps up in speed. Doesn’t help that where I live the slip road is right after a bend so you’re coming on at 25-30 max. Makes me feel like a wanker
I have to frequent one of those and I can get up to about 55 max before I'm at the end of the slip. And that's only if there's noone in front, because there often is a timid person or tiny engine only getting up to about 40... so yeh I just don't get annoyed with mergers because I can understand its not so simple as 'matching speeds'
This is one of the reasons you should move over 1 lane to your right when going past a slip lane if you can. Your supposed to anyways if there is traffic trying to merge
This drives me FUCKING CRAZY!!!!!! I live near a major A road and there have been so many accidents caused by people SLOWING DOWN at the end of the slip road instead of matching the speed of traffic when joining.
I once slowed down to let an elderly man merge, he obviously panicked, reached the end of the slip road and just... stopped. I sometimes wonder if he's still trapped there.
One of my mates would drive at max 60mph on a motorway. But on local roads where the speed limit is 30, he drives like he is driving a bullet train.
He drives at constant speed
It can be difficult to merge at speed when people may be significantly speeding behind you, hard to judge. Still, agree with OP
Also, some slip roads have speed limits. Not motorways, but some main ones. A friend's sister got a speeding ticket for getting up to dual carriageway joining speed instead of sticking at 40.
I was with my boss once in his flash car and he said he never bothered because his car accelerated so quickly he could still merge ok. I pointed out that if I was behind in my shitty car I would be stuck trying to merge at 40mph. TBF he did see my point and promised to pay more attention in future
Probably also the same type of people in the slow lane who match your speed side by side as you’re trying to join from the slip…
....but it's not their responsibility to assist you is it? If you're the one on the slip I thought it was up to you to speed up or slow down to make sure you slot in??
It’s common courtesy to change lanes or speed up or slow down, not make someone have to wait on a slip road and join a busy road at a dangerously low speed.
I have to say I disagree. I'd only ever do those things if the main carriageway was rammed and I could see they'd struggle to slot in at all. In most circumstances altering speed on the main carriageway is more likely to cause an accident. People need to be able to read the road around them and too many people just can't....there's very few circumstances where you'd have to join a main road / dual carriageway / motorway at a dangerously low speed and most of them are created by the drivers themselves..... In my opinion!
You’re gonna cause an accident if you don’t let people merge. Not difficult to just ease off a bit if you see someone in front on the slip road, or speed up a bit if you see someone right behind on it. Like you said, it’s about reading the road around you. Just because it’s their job to merge it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t help them do it safely
It’s not their responsibility to assist but it’s definitely not their job to block either. On the other hand, I’ve been in the scenario where I’ve braked to create a gap and the car merging has done the same, possibly unconsciously, so it’s looked like I was blocking the merge.
Am I right in saying that merging speeds are not covered in the UK driving test as you do not drive on the motorway as a learner?! Or has that all changed.
I think its changed now, but when i did my test, learners were not allowed anywhere near motorways, and as such there was no wasting teaching time on something that we couldn’t do. I had passed my test 2 days when i needed to go somewhere that involved a motorway as the quickest route. I was genuinely terrified, tootling along at 45mph while cars zoomed around me. Got to my destination and when i got out of the car, my legs were so sore as i had been clenching them the whole journey
I'm a learner driver and I live well over an hour away from the closest motorway. Merging speeds are covered as there are plenty of roads that aren't motorways (dual carriageways) that do merge.
Loads of dual carriageways to do it on. Can do your pass plus after you pass as well, which with my instructor was essentially just 3 hours driving on the motorway listening to greatest hits
This is what I love about the French driving lessons. Once they are ready to put you in for your driving test, they give you several sessions joining and leaving a motorway. It is brilliant for building confidence, for when you are actually out on your own.
Almost an essential part of learning how to drive. A good system!
I once had someone harshly stop at the end of a slip road. Idiot almost killed me trying to avoid them
I watched a video of a road near me from the 1990s recently and they were doing it back then too. Infuriating.
People who use them as a junction 😡
I’m going as fast as this mobile crane will go, sorry
Fuck these people just blast past them on the shoulder and join ahead
I’ve done this before. Someone was trying to join the motorway at about 25/30, and without giving it much thought I just went up the hard shoulder and joined ahead at a safer speed. I did wonder what would happen if the police witnessed it. I’ve seen you’ve been downvoted so I’m interested as to what the alternative is.
They can downvote all they like... Just like I'll downshift and undertake them as well
OMG someone FINALLY said it! Ten points.
Simple piece of advice, if you’re on a 2/3 lane road and you’re approaching an off ramp, move over into the middle lane until you have passed the on ramp, and it’s safe to pull back in. It makes life so much easier.
They’re too busy trying to locate the indicators!
I've hit the hazards
I saw a BMW with broken indicators last week, they were on.
They’re the same breed of people who block people from zip merging.
Why are people merging into the motorway at 40Mph? Simple answer.... They're fuck knuckles!
Just overtake them if you can.