Short Slip Roads and Safety Tips
Discussion
BOF said:
Dr Jekyll said:
Must admit I rarely signal at all when entering from slip roads.
Kind of 'see and be seen' - maybe my age?BOF
Kingston1 said:
I now know that I should've slowed right down and in that situation. (It was night time and quite busy) I definitely had had to stop and wait for as long as I had to for what I judged would be a safe gap to pull into Lane 1.
Yes, if you can't see the way to be clear then don't be travelling too quickly to stop.Kingston1 said:
I now realise the lack of experience I have on the roads, and want to ask the experienced drivers what kinds of things I need to look out for which can cause serious collisions.
My thoughts:Do Indicate.
Don't dither, but don't be too frantic.
Don't get wound up by other drivers.
Leave plenty of space between you and the car in front -Don't follow the masses in driving on the bumper of the car in front.
Always be aware of what is around you. Don't drive up to Stops/Give Ways at speed and then slam on the anchors.
Look further ahead down the road and definitely beyond the car in front.
Anticipate the need to accelerate/decelerate. Remove your foot from the accelerator to achieve the deceleration when possible, don't always rely on the brakes. *In my opinion, that it is something that marks out the better driver.
...but, be aware that the brake lights are only lit to inform the drivers behind when you press the brake pedal.
Be smoooooth with all controls.
Or do what I did as a young(er) lad:
Leave plenty of space, but drive too fast (& Furious), erratically, wear-out tyres and brakes & make some costly errors whilst learning about understeer, lift-off-oversteer and way-beyond-the-limit handling
Edited by MC Bodge on Thursday 9th May 22:01
MagicalTrevor said:
I always indicate when joining a motorway and it really annoys me when people don't indicate, especially when they're clearly not matching the speed of the traffic in L1. It generally suggests that they've yet to consider what's in L1 and that they have right of way. I really don't understand how so many people don't seem to make any attempt to get upto speed.
Pet hate of both myself and the missus, that. I presume it's just nervousness, coupled with a lack of thinking things through properly.I tend to indicate when pulling on, purely for the increased visibility.
Deva Link.
I agree ,but tend to follow the advice of a Thames Valley traffic plod some years ago on joining a mway.
First is as you enter the slip road check the condition of the traffic already on the Mway
second accelarate to match the speed of traffic in L1
third check with mirrors a 'life saver' spacing of traffic
fourth pick your gap to get into (using the 'will it affect' mantra)
fifth either go like stink to get in the gap if it is in front of your position, or adjust to slot in behind the vehicle with a little speed differential as possible
sixth. If all the above fails use hard shoulder and stop, then start from (2) above
And that is another of my pet hates, those f
kwits who pull staright off of from a standing start
I know that some of the anals on here will give you the 'debris' on the hard shouldr and punctures, but i would rather have a flat, than 40 ton of Artic remodelling me and my car
A tyre is £100.00 My Life...... PRICELESS
I agree ,but tend to follow the advice of a Thames Valley traffic plod some years ago on joining a mway.
First is as you enter the slip road check the condition of the traffic already on the Mway
second accelarate to match the speed of traffic in L1
third check with mirrors a 'life saver' spacing of traffic
fourth pick your gap to get into (using the 'will it affect' mantra)
fifth either go like stink to get in the gap if it is in front of your position, or adjust to slot in behind the vehicle with a little speed differential as possible
sixth. If all the above fails use hard shoulder and stop, then start from (2) above
And that is another of my pet hates, those f
kwits who pull staright off of from a standing startI know that some of the anals on here will give you the 'debris' on the hard shouldr and punctures, but i would rather have a flat, than 40 ton of Artic remodelling me and my car
A tyre is £100.00 My Life...... PRICELESS
I think observation is the key tbh.
Looking at the link, as you come round the slip road It appears that you have a good enough view of the DC to adjust your speed to slot into a gap. Certainly by the time you reach the keep left bollard you should have a feel for the flow of traffic.
If it was me, I would select 2nd at the keep left bollard, and then use the time between that and the hatchings on the road to select a suitable gap, then use 2nd gear to accelerate and slot into the gap.
Looking at the link, as you come round the slip road It appears that you have a good enough view of the DC to adjust your speed to slot into a gap. Certainly by the time you reach the keep left bollard you should have a feel for the flow of traffic.
If it was me, I would select 2nd at the keep left bollard, and then use the time between that and the hatchings on the road to select a suitable gap, then use 2nd gear to accelerate and slot into the gap.
sbird said:
Why bother indicating? If I'm in L1 and see a car on the slip-road, then I know he's going to merge into my lane. The only thing I don't know is when/where he'll merge. The indicator tells me nothing, so it's a wasted gesture.
Improved visibility. The flashing might just wake up the guy who's zoned out in L1.sbird said:
Why bother indicating? If I'm in L1 and see a car on the slip-road, then I know he's going to merge into my lane.
You're making the absolutely terrible, potentially fatal, error of assuming that everyone drives to the same standard as you.There will be people in lane 1 that collide with merging cars who will say "how was I supposed to know they were going to merge, they weren't indicating".
Deva Link said:
You're making the absolutely terrible, potentially fatal, error of assuming that everyone drives to the same standard as you.
There will be people in lane 1 that collide with merging cars who will say "how was I supposed to know they were going to merge, they weren't indicating".
First of all you aren't relying on others to do the right thing so it shouldn't matter whether they know you are planning to merge or not. Secondly there is no reason to think they would even notice a signal let alone react appropriately. There will be people in lane 1 that collide with merging cars who will say "how was I supposed to know they were going to merge, they weren't indicating".
Thirdly they will know you are planning to merge even if they subsequently deny that they knew it in order to put the blame on you for not signalling.
If you do make the mistake of assuming others will drive properly, then a signal isn't going to help you.
sbird said:
The Black Flash said:
Improved visibility. The flashing might just wake up the guy who's zoned out in L1.
Seriously?So, you think the driver won't notice a /car/ but would notice a car with a small flashing yellow lamp?
They're driving on autopilot. Conscious mind occupied with something entirely unrelated. Autopilot doesn't bother to waste the conscious mind's time until the situation gets seriously interesting.
If you're lucky, your flashing yellow lamp turns you from just another uninteresting, impersonal object that their autopilot filters out into a person talking straight past the autopilot to the conscious mind.
Only relevant if you feel you need to talk to them of course.
Then there's the other way to look at it: rather than thinking of cases (perfectly good examples though they may be) to illustrate that the absence of a signal may not be a problem, one could consider what harm a signal might do.
Very difficult to make a strong argument one way or the other - that one should never or that one should always.
sbird said:
The Black Flash said:
Improved visibility. The flashing might just wake up the guy who's zoned out in L1.
Seriously?So, you think the driver won't notice a /car/ but would notice a car with a small flashing yellow lamp?
BOF said:
If you can, don't be following a vehicle ahead of you...sit back if needed so you are entering the new road without having to worry about a car ahead braking.
Especially if you get the impression they're going to try to merge at half the speed of the traffic they're joining - and usually you can spot them well in advance.On this sliproad I'll be looking well down the dual carriageway as I approach the junction and I'm still at a right angle with the dual carriageway and have the best view of it. I may even be inclined to stop at this point if I'm faced with a lot of oncoming traffic. Why wait at a point where I have to twist my neck round to get a poor view when I can wait where I can easily get a good view? When I've identified a gap I can merge into it using the little bit of sliproad I have to build up speed. I'll still be ready to stop if I find the traffic on the dual carriageway has changed speed or I've misjudged and the gap has closed. You need to stay calm and use your common sense to weigh up a situation. Don't worry if the guy behind you is cursing and swearing at you for hesitating. Just because other drivers seem to think you should charge through regardless of anything it doesn't mean they're right and you're wrong, you have the sense to consider and react to things they don't so don't feel pressured by them.
Dr Jekyll said:
Must admit I rarely signal at all when entering from slip roads.
It's obvious what you're going to do but it also could suggest you aren't aware of what's going on around you. i.e. you think there are no other cars around.It could suggest you are lazy or have no respect for other road users. It's a final bit of polish to your driving. Using an indicator says to me that the driver is thorough and gives me some confidence they know what they're doing.
Using the indicator gives a lot more information to others than just your intended movements.
pobox205 said:
It's obvious what you're going to do but it also could suggest you aren't aware of what's going on around you. i.e. you think there are no other cars around.
It could suggest you are lazy or have no respect for other road users. It's a final bit of polish to your driving. Using an indicator says to me that the driver is thorough and gives me some confidence they know what they're doing.
Using the indicator gives a lot more information to others than just your intended movements.
It's unnecessary signals that suggest to me that the driver isn't aware of what's going on around him. Or that he signals out of habit because they are too lazy to think about what they are doing.It could suggest you are lazy or have no respect for other road users. It's a final bit of polish to your driving. Using an indicator says to me that the driver is thorough and gives me some confidence they know what they're doing.
Using the indicator gives a lot more information to others than just your intended movements.
Gassing Station | Advanced Driving | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff