How's my driving?

[FakeConcern]

I'll start by saying that usually I have no problems with lorry drivers, most are considerate & just getting on with it. However today as I came off of the A2 heading West onto the M25 heading south (clockwise) there is one of those slip roads that goes from 2 into 1 lane before merging with the M25. I was in front of a British Gypsum lorry in the right hand lane as we head to the merge. He then comes up next to me as my lane disappears, so I have to either brake almost to standstill to get behind him or keep on & let him tuck in behind me. I let him go behind me as I was in front all the time. He then flashes & gesticulates! On my dash cam vids, I suggest you turn down the sound on the videos (I haven't listened to them but it might be pretty loud & distorted!). 1st from the front, once we are on the slip road you can't even see the lorry as it's behind & then beside me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H5pmTdvpdw
2nd from the rear, you can see when we are on the slip road as the arrows are showing the lanes merging, he comes up the inside, what did he think I would do fly? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWIF2FICwec
So what should I have done?

Edited by FakeConcern on Monday 31st March 17:48

[FakeConcern]

Thanks for the feedback,I felt he used the size of the lorry to intimidate me. I was basically trying to let the "zip" thing work so Focus then me then HGV. I didn't bother giving him any sign language, just carried on my way, but I was niggled!

[FakeConcern]

7mike said:

I'll post my usual link for this:

http://www.keithlane.com/page5.htm

Personally I wouldn't position alongside an LGV with a slower vehicle ahead restricting speed & therefore ruling out an escape route.

That's the whole point though, I didn't position myself alongside the HGV, as Budgie smuggler points out at the box junction at the start of the slip road I was well ahead & I'm sure he had a clear view of the back of my car. The HGV came up alongside me as the road was running out. BTW those slip roads that go from 2>1 just before the main road merge are a bad idea.

[FakeConcern]

@Hackney-Beat me to it!

[FakeConcern]

SK425 said:

Watching your first video, I thought that I probably wouldn't have moved alongside the lorry at the point you did. At 0:14 I would have hung back and waited until there was enough space for me to get all the way past and far enough in front that he could see me ahead. In practice that would probably have meant I'd have got stopped by the traffic lights, but let's leave that aside . (Did the lights maybe draw you into pulling alongside the lorry to try and get to them before they changed?)

Having said that, looking at the second video my definition of "far enough in front" would probably have been met by the position you were in at 0:34. It looks like it's almost immediately then (0:35 it seems to start) that the lorry starts gaining on you again and that feels uncomfortable looking at it. It sort of doesn't matter whether he's being an arse or he just doesn't know you're there. Either way you don't want to be somewhere he might squish you, so are there any other ways out at that point? You could have lifted off at 0:35 and let the lorry continue past, but it feels like I'm saying that with a lot of hindsight. If you did ease up, the lorry couldn't necessarily come cleanly past because of the Focus ahead. I don't think I would have done that. Option 2 - could you have got ahead of the Focus? The HTR van is pulling ahead of the Focus all the time, and by 0:37 there looks to be space to get past and pull in ahead if by that point you had closed up your distance to the Focus. It wouldn't have been pretty though. I expect you would have upset the Focus driver.

I think what you could have done was closed up on the Focus (but staying in the lane outside them) at the point the lorry started gaining on you. You would have maintained - possibly even opened up a little - the gap back to the lorry, so helping make sure he had seen you, and also sent out a clear signal as to where you envisaged your place being in the upcoming merge. And you're in position to overtake the Focus if the vehicles ahead clear a bit quicker and a overtaking the Focus is on. Possibly a left signal to further persuade the lorry driver that your being in front of him is inevitable, not optional. You reach the merge at 0:44 so you've got 9 seconds to assess the lorry driver's reaction to your boldly staking your claim to your position in the merge. Dropping back behind him is always an option if he decides to try and out-bold you (or if he continues his normal acceleration up the slip road having not seen you - if that's the problem).

Edited by SK425 on Tuesday 1st April 17:02

This is interesting, I'm just looking at the vids again. My thought at the time was that I could fairly easily nip in front of the Focus, but felt I should let the Focus go in front to zip & the HGV would go in behind me. If the HGV had been in front of me or even alongside at the start of the slip i would have dropped back. There was no chance of the HGV getting to 56MPH as the traffic front was holding everyone to about 40. Given that, I think if I'd slowed enough to let the HGV go in front, I'd have been stopped on the merge to the M25!

As regards going by the HGV at the lights, it seemed at the time there was plenty of room & didn't think at the time the lights drew me on. As you can see the road is marked in my lane M25 all around the roundabout to the slip.
Obviously I had to make choices at the time which may not have been the best and in the same situation again I would probably try not to let it develop as it did.

[FakeConcern]

7mike said:

Hackney said:

7mike said:

I'll post my usual link for this:

http://www.keithlane.com/page5.htm

Personally I wouldn't position alongside an LGV with a slower vehicle ahead restricting speed & therefore ruling out an escape route.

So like this then?

You could get all angry on the OPs behalf or look a bit earlier; 14 seconds into the front facing video. Accelerating up to the side of a LGV with Armco to the right & a van which you have no control over directly ahead who has not even cleared the front of the LGV. Incidentally what would you consider a safe following distance at 40/50mph; reckon it's more than the length of an artic.

Except at that point we were doing 20mph or less and the road opens to 3 lanes just past that point. However looking at that maybe I was a bit close to the Focus later on. Incidentally, I don't think anyone's getting angry, seems to me to be a productive discussion.

[FakeConcern]

Funk said:

FakeConcern said:

My thought at the time was that I could fairly easily nip in front of the Focus...

Yep, I'd have been keeping an eye on the lorry in my mirror and realising what he was doing if have firmed it up and gotten in front of the Focus.

In retrospect was probably the best option, even at risk of upsetting Focus driver.