Slip road merging, why is it so hard?
Discussion
aturnick54 said:
Or alternatively a suitable dual carriageway. A38/A30 are perfectly adequate for this.
Despite living is Merseyside, whilst my daughter was learning to drive, we took her to the A50, between Derby and Stoke, to learn how to leave and join using a slip road. Much to her amusement, I made her come off at every junction, do 360 degs at the roundabout and then rejoin. It's actually harder than joining a motorway, because only 2 lanes, and no hard shoulder, (or the bottle out lane, as I like to call it) (I had a contract in Derby at the time, so her and my wife came down for a few days to stay with me)
MitchT said:
Me too. If I'm on a busy motorway I move into L2 when I'm passing the exit slip so I don't find myself with a car trying to merge from my left and someone on my right preventing me from moving over if I've left it till the last minute
Even if there's nothing coming down the slip road?vaderface said:
I,ll go against most here. I,am with the Op. People joining at 40mph shouldn't be forcing people doing 60mph in lane 1 into lane 2 as IMHO that the slows down lane 2 who might be doing 70mph, then 3 and so on. M56 everyday....
Oh and people who get straight into lane 2 on the join slip doing said 40mph, idiots.
Op said the van matched his speed at 70.Oh and people who get straight into lane 2 on the join slip doing said 40mph, idiots.
Edited by vaderface on Tuesday 16th April 15:55
DanL said:
They’re also clearly s
t at driving, as evidenced by the idea that they can get “stuck” in lane 2 if they move over, and their failure to anticipate or accommodate other road users by driving defensively.
If you've ever driven a HGV in this situation you'll understand what I mean. Limited to 56, drivers on the inside then sit around at the same speed. It happens all the time, hence why most HGV drivers don't bother moving over for cars anymore.t at driving, as evidenced by the idea that they can get “stuck” in lane 2 if they move over, and their failure to anticipate or accommodate other road users by driving defensively.If people wish to have a game of chicken with a truck which has priority, that's their choice. It's not a wise move.
Around here (Oxfordshire) we have the evil A34 which has dreadful short slip roads and heavy traffic. I find that the best technique is to get onto the slip road quite slowly, look around everywhere and when the opportunity arises, stamp very hard on the go pedal and take posession of the gap ...
Pit Pony said:
Despite living is Merseyside, whilst my daughter was learning to drive, we took her to the A50, between Derby and Stoke, to learn how to leave and join using a slip road. Much to her amusement, I made her come off at every junction, do 360 degs at the roundabout and then rejoin. It's actually harder than joining a motorway, because only 2 lanes, and no hard shoulder, (or the bottle out lane, as I like to call it)
(I had a contract in Derby at the time, so her and my wife came down for a few days to stay with me)
I think you're right, and also much less likely for a car in lane one to be able to move over into lane two to allow you to join on a two lane dual carriageway. You have to adapt your speed and find a suitable gap.(I had a contract in Derby at the time, so her and my wife came down for a few days to stay with me)
You cannot control other people's driving, you can only control your own.
If you consider yourself an average or good driver, it follows that a lot of the other drivers are not as good as you.
If you're good at driving, you should be able to anticipate and mitigate other people's bad driving.
Having to slam on the brakes at 70 on a motorway because you haven't anticipated a vehicle approaching from a slip road is not good driving. Bear in mind that you will have approached from his blind spot as he was accelerating up to 70. If you are involved in an accident that you could have easily avoided, you will be as much as fault as the van driver, no matter who had priority.
If you consider yourself an average or good driver, it follows that a lot of the other drivers are not as good as you.
If you're good at driving, you should be able to anticipate and mitigate other people's bad driving.
Having to slam on the brakes at 70 on a motorway because you haven't anticipated a vehicle approaching from a slip road is not good driving. Bear in mind that you will have approached from his blind spot as he was accelerating up to 70. If you are involved in an accident that you could have easily avoided, you will be as much as fault as the van driver, no matter who had priority.
aturnick54 said:
DanL said:
They’re also clearly st at driving, as evidenced by the idea that they can get “stuck” in lane 2 if they move over, and their failure to anticipate or accommodate other road users by driving defensively.
If you've ever driven a HGV in this situation you'll understand what I mean. Limited to 56, drivers on the inside then sit around at the same speed. It happens all the time, hence why most HGV drivers don't bother moving over for cars anymore.t at driving, as evidenced by the idea that they can get “stuck” in lane 2 if they move over, and their failure to anticipate or accommodate other road users by driving defensively.If people wish to have a game of chicken with a truck which has priority, that's their choice. It's not a wise move.
I’m a lorry driver, I’ll always move over to lane two and let someone on if possible,but sometimes it simply isn’t , but then I get a car on a slip road match my speed,I’ll always back off to let someone on as well, but a surprising amount of people wanting to join the main carriageway slow down if I back off! It happens so often.
Just accelerate and get in front of me ffs.
Just accelerate and get in front of me ffs.
Forester1965 said:
Sensibleboy said:
Even if there's nothing coming down the slip road?
He doesn't know if there's anyone on the slip road, that's why he wants to move across. Gary C said:
had this a couple of times
Short slip road, accelerate but knob in lane one refuses to move into lane two to allow you to smoothly move into lane one.
Thing is, in L1 you have time to judge, anticipate and adjust speed & position. On some slip roads in the UK you only see the traffic speed and position quite late with limited time to view, adjust and manoeuvre especially in an underpowered car/van.
Of course its for both to anticipate, but if you get a bloody minded driver in L1 who sits at a fixed speed and isn't prepared to do their part it can cause 'issues'.
There is in fact an option where you join L1 BEHIND the car already in it; a brake pedal exists in addition to the accelerator pedal to allow this manoeuvre to take place!!!Short slip road, accelerate but knob in lane one refuses to move into lane two to allow you to smoothly move into lane one.
Thing is, in L1 you have time to judge, anticipate and adjust speed & position. On some slip roads in the UK you only see the traffic speed and position quite late with limited time to view, adjust and manoeuvre especially in an underpowered car/van.
Of course its for both to anticipate, but if you get a bloody minded driver in L1 who sits at a fixed speed and isn't prepared to do their part it can cause 'issues'.
I drive defensively where ever possible and my observations are that most argy-bargey on the roads is because the male of the species (always men) cannot and will not accept tucking in behind another road user instead of in front.
I a quite happy with drivers in L1 maintaining a constant speed as it's easy to judge where they'll be and decide to go in front or behind.
Scarletpimpofnel said:
There is in fact an option where you join L1 BEHIND the car already in it; a brake pedal exists in addition to the accelerator pedal to allow this manoeuvre to take place!!!
I drive defensively where ever possible and my observations are that most argy-bargey on the roads is because the male of the species (always men) cannot and will not accept tucking in behind another road user instead of in front.
I a quite happy with drivers in L1 maintaining a constant speed as it's easy to judge where they'll be and decide to go in front or behind.
I agree with you. Many on this thread have commented that the vehicle in lane one should adjust their speed. When in fact it should be the vehicle joining that adjusts their speed to find a suitable gap instead.I drive defensively where ever possible and my observations are that most argy-bargey on the roads is because the male of the species (always men) cannot and will not accept tucking in behind another road user instead of in front.
I a quite happy with drivers in L1 maintaining a constant speed as it's easy to judge where they'll be and decide to go in front or behind.
Personally I'd prefer people in lane one to maintain speed when I'm joining so that we don't both end up speeding up/slowing down at the same time.
Strange thread. It's supposed to be about general standards of driving and people just pull the OPs driving apart instead.
The OP is talking common sense here. If people on the road are driving poorly, do we all just pander to their poor skills by rolling out the red carpet by giving way and reinforcing their impression that it's the correct procedure?
It appears that this is the theme of the thread and I can't agree at all. If you sense any danger then of course you make sure that you take corrective action. But in a situation like the OP is describing, I would look across at the driver and gesture for them to go in front on me, but I wouldn't change my speed. Ie, there is plenty of room, get your speed to the appropriate level mate, and that's your job in this scenario.
If I feel they're completely incapable of carrying our such a simple task, I would slow down, let them in and then overtake them shortly after. Always best to have bad drivers behind you rather than in front. It's not hard to merge into a motorway but we have to appreciate some people might struggle.
Each scenario is different though. Rush hour, that dodgy bumper to bumper type motorway at a fairly high speed, I would be defensive mode and be on high alert to merging traffic and I would drive much more passively, like most people.
But to say that in general driving, the OP should roll out the red carpet for the merging car is wrong in my opinion. It just reinforces their bad driving. They just need to merge like a normal person merges.
The OP is talking common sense here. If people on the road are driving poorly, do we all just pander to their poor skills by rolling out the red carpet by giving way and reinforcing their impression that it's the correct procedure?
It appears that this is the theme of the thread and I can't agree at all. If you sense any danger then of course you make sure that you take corrective action. But in a situation like the OP is describing, I would look across at the driver and gesture for them to go in front on me, but I wouldn't change my speed. Ie, there is plenty of room, get your speed to the appropriate level mate, and that's your job in this scenario.
If I feel they're completely incapable of carrying our such a simple task, I would slow down, let them in and then overtake them shortly after. Always best to have bad drivers behind you rather than in front. It's not hard to merge into a motorway but we have to appreciate some people might struggle.
Each scenario is different though. Rush hour, that dodgy bumper to bumper type motorway at a fairly high speed, I would be defensive mode and be on high alert to merging traffic and I would drive much more passively, like most people.
But to say that in general driving, the OP should roll out the red carpet for the merging car is wrong in my opinion. It just reinforces their bad driving. They just need to merge like a normal person merges.
I can't think of an occasion in 25 years of driving where I've had this issue. It's probably because I work on the assumption that every other driver is a useless idiot, until they prove otherwise. I minimise risk and make space for people. Forget about what 'should' happen, that means nothing.
Edited by JackJarvis on Wednesday 17th April 09:49
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