Motorway driving part 3
Discussion
Ok, so we've covered motorway entries and some stuff about driving along the motorway and making some progress, so it's now time to cover a few additional things about driving on the motorway - specifically roadworks and stopping in an emergency. Part 3 was supposed to be the final installment, but it looks like this will be a long piece, so I'll cover exiting the motorway in part 4.
Before I go any further though, I'll just stick this picture up again, for reference...
I'll start with everyone's favourite aspect of motorway driving...
Roadworks
Our motorway network is knocking on a bit these days, with some sections dating back to the late 1950s. Bearing in mind the massive increase in traffic, it's no surprise that motorways require a constant program of maintenance to keep them in a safe, useable condition. In addition, there are a multitude of widening schemes and smart motorway (hard shoulder as a running lane) schemes being introduced up and down the country, which inevitably bring with them a reduction in running lanes, cones, reduced speed limits, cones, reduced-width lanes, cones, contra-flow systems and of course, cones.
Motorway roadworks are definitely an embuggerance, but contrary to popular opinion, they aren't just thrown up randomly to cheese us all off. There is a considerable amount of thought and planning put into the design of roadwork systems. Don't believe me? Have a look at chapter 8 of the traffic signs manual. But make sure its a very wet, boring weekend...
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
To start with, I'm going to go all "AA" and talk about planning your journey. If you're about to set off on a longish trip, there is a shed-load of information available to you via the internet which gives real-time information about roadworks and traffic problems. My daily commute is mostly motorway, so I always have a quick look at the Highways Agency website while I'm having my breakfast. I've also got a free app which gives access to a network of Highways Agency CCTV cameras, which can be very useful. 2 minutes of my morning can occasionally save me up to an hour in travelling time.
The "TA" button on your radio is a useful addition if you're on a long journey. It will switch to local radio channels when traffic announcements are broadcast, overriding whatever channel, CD or track you're listening to.
Sat navs also have traffic information systems built in - they usually require a subscription, but I managed to get it free with my iphone sat-nav app and it works pretty well.
If you've explored all other options, or of you've been caught out by some motorway roadworks, you should still get plenty of prior warning to stop you from ploughing in to the signs, cones and Highways Agency staff. Chapter 8 dictates that on a motorway, the first warning sign for roadworks should be placed 2 miles before the start of the works, or 3 miles prior if congestion is expected. You'll then get a series of signs as you approach the works which will give you an idea which lanes are closed, what the speed limit will be, which vehicles are permitted in which lanes and an indication if speed enforcement cameras are present.
If there is a lane closure ahead, the best approach is to merge-in-turn, by which I mean that if you're in the closing lane, you should drive right up to the taper (the diagonal line of cones used to close the lane) and then merge in a "zip" fashion with the vehicles in the open lane. There is a key advantage to merging in turn, in that all the vehicles approaching the roadworks will stay in lane right up to the lane closure. This means that any tailback caused by the roadworks is kept to a minimum because the slow-moving and stationary vehicles are spread across all available lanes, right up to the roadworks.
There is, however, a major problem with merging in turn.
People don't like it.
By which I mean that there is a general misunderstanding about merging in turn which is held by the majority of drivers. It goes against our traditional British propensity for queuing. Those in the open lane feel like those in the closing lane are "pushing in". Some will shake their heads in a disapproving manner. Others will glue themselves to the bumper of the car in front to prevent you from merging in front of them whilst maintaining the "I haven't seen you" straight-ahead stare.
The worst ones (and this particularly includes HGV drivers, who as professional drivers, should know better) will deliberately block the closing lane well ahead of the taper, forcing vehicles to back up behind them and preventing merge-in-turn.
Its daft, to be honest - and dangerous too at times. Once we're all in to the roadworks, we should keep moving at a reduced speed, and within a few minutes, we'll be emerging from the other end and we're on our collective ways again. Why make it more difficult than it has to be? But that's the British attitude towards queuing and taking-your-turn, and I fear we're stuck with it.
So, taking this problem into account, I like to strike a compromise and aim to merge some distance before the cone taper. Look for a suitable gap nice and early and try to slide subtly in without braking (or with the minimum of braking). Additionally, I aim not to be "that" driver (or in this case, one of "those" drivers), and allow others to merge.
Its probably the right point to give a brief mention to contraflow systems. A contraflow system is a roadworks system designed to allow work to be carried out on some or all of an entire carriageway by diverting traffic onto the opposite carriageway contrary to the normal flow of traffic. The danger is that, rather than being seperated from opposing traffic by a central reservation and armco barroers, traffic is generally only seperated by a line of those skinny traffic cones, or, at best, a temporary concrete barrier.
An ex driving school colleague of mine had worked as a motorway patrol officer for many years, and he had seen one too many crossover accidents in contraflow systems. He wouldn't allow his students to use the right-hand lane in any contraflow system on the basis that, even in a reduced speed limit area, the risks of a head-on collision due to a simple lane change error were too great.
I take a slightly more flexible approach, whereby as long as there is some clear space to my left, I'm comfortable using the right-most lane. In other words, try not to linger alongside other vehicles. If the speed of traffic is similar in both lanes, then try to make sure you're alongside a gap rather than a vehicle. And of course, the leftmost lane is the safest option if you're not too bothered about progress, which is usually severely hampered by temporary speed limits anyway.
Stopping in an emergency
Vehicles are much more reliable these days. 30 years ago, it was quite common to see cars pulled up on the hard shoulder with the bonnet up and a plume of steam rising from within, but punctures aside, its not as common these days to see a breakdown on the motorway.
The problem with this is that when things do go wrong, people are even less likely to know what to do other than pull on to the hard shoulder and reach for their mobile phone.
The first tip is to avoid stopping on the motorway altogether. I don't mean in a patronising "AA advice to drivers" kind of way as I'm sure this isn't being read by someone who is likely to run out of petrol on the motorway (is it?).
What I mean is that pretty much all vehicle faults do not result in the vehicle coming to an immediate, unexpected stop. If your engine were to cut out at, say, 60mph in lane 2, dipping the clutch or popping it into neutral should allow you enough momentum to coast for probably close to a mile or more. This may well be enough to get you on to the nearest exit slip, or to the next ETB (see below).
But to start with, lets look at one of the very small number of absolute "rules" that I believe its important to abide with.
Unless it is absolutely, completely and utterly unavoidable, never ever stop in a "live" or "running" lane. If you absolutely have to stop on the motorway, do everything that you possibly can to get your vehicle on to the hard shoulder and out of the live lanes (lanes 1, 2 and 3 in the picture at the top of the page).
Most drivers are never expecting to come across stationary vehicles on an otherwise free-flowing motorway. Relatively minor incidents and accidents can very quickly become very serious, multiple vehicle accidents if vehicles are allowed to remain stationary in live lanes.
Even if you're involved in an accident and you think that your vehicle is immobile, you should at least try to move it on to the hard shoulder. Ignore all the scraping and graunching sounds - if the engine runs, put it in gear and shift it if you can. If the engine won't start, put the car in gear, leave the clutch out and try moving it on the starter motor - this can be more effective than you might imagine.
Make no bones about it - the motorway is an extremely dangerous, alien and fast-moving environment if you're stationary or on foot. Ask anyone who has ever had to stop and get out of their car on a hard shoulder. Its a frightening place to be and your plan should be to avoid stopping there if at all possible.
But, as we know, the devil does occasionally piddle in your kettle and you may have to stop on the hard shoulder. What to do? Well, first off, try to stop near an emergency telephone box (ETB). These are the orange boxes spaced at regular intervals (usually 1 mile apart, so that you're never more than 1/2 mile from one) along the left side of the hard shoulder. They generally look like this...
This is where coasting to a stop can be useful. Every 100 metres along the left hand side of the motorway you'll see marker posts like this...
There are a couple of bits of information on these marker posts. The top number is the distance in kilometres from the start of the motorway, and the bottom number is the decimal place, so in this case, 85.0 km from the start of the motorway. More importantly, if you have to stop on the hard shoulder, is the little picture of a telephone on the side of the marker post. The arrow under the phone indicates the direction to the nearest ETB. if you're coasting to a stop, look at the nearest marker to decide if you should stop immediately or continue coasting to the next ETB.
But why should you stop near an ETB? Surely they're a largly redundant anachronism these days? Don't most people have a mobile phone? Well, yes they do, but mobile phones can be as much of a hindrance on the motorway as a help. If you were to break down on the motorway, would you actually know exactly where you were? Believe it or not, most people don't. They usually know which motorway they're on, where they joined, and where they are heading for, but they don't generally know whether they're heading north or south, which junctions they are between or which town they are near. I've spent quite a bit of time in police control rooms, and it's fascinating to see just how many calls come in when there is an incident or accident on the motorway. Its even more fascinating listening to the process the operators have to go through just to narrow down the motorway and carriageway where the incident has occurred.
Stopping and using an ETB removes this problem almost instantly. Pick up the telephone and the operator immediately knows exactly where you are. They will have all the recovery companies on speed-dial and will be able to give you detailed instructions on how to stay safe. They may even dispatch HATOs or police officers to make double-sure that you are safe.
Should you attempt a repair yourself on the hard shoulder? Only if you're competent and it will take a few minutes. Changing a wheel, for instance, but I'd be less inclined to change an offside wheel than a nearside wheel unless I could get my car almost completely off the hard shoulder and onto the verge.
If you have to wait for recovery, you'll be advised to get out of your car, climb over the armco and stand on the verge or embankment well away from the carriageway. This may seem daft, particularly when the weather is terrible and you've a nice, warm car to sit in, but there is a very good reason. The vast majority of serious and fatal accidents occurr on the hard shoulder and involve a stationary or broken-down vehicle. "Target fixation" is a phenomenon in which people have a tendency to drive towards something they're looking at. It makes stationary vehicles on the motorway extremely vulnerable and is the reason you'll be advised to leave your vehicle. I always carry a nice, big umbrella just in case.
And what if - God forbid - you are stopped by the police? If an officer wants you to stop, they will almost always stop you from behind, by lighting their blue beacons, flashing their lights and possibly pointing to the left. In other words, they'll make it plainly obvious they are stopping you.
At this point, don't panic and slam on the brakes. Instead, move towards the nearside when its safe, and stop gradually on the hard shoulder. Try to stop in the centre of the shoulder and then stay in the drivers seat. The police officer should then approach your passenger side and speak to you either through the window or by opening the door. Follow their instructions - although they may want to speak to you about an offence or infringement, their first duty is to keep everyone safe, so they will give you very specific instructions and its very much in your interest to follow them.
When your encounter with the officer is over and you're about to set off, please get up to speed on the hard shoulder before rejoining lane 1. In other words, treat the hard shoulder as an acceleration lane in much the same way as you would with a slip road, then look for a suitable gap and join lane 1.
I think that'll do for now. Stay safe!
Before I go any further though, I'll just stick this picture up again, for reference...
I'll start with everyone's favourite aspect of motorway driving...
Roadworks
Our motorway network is knocking on a bit these days, with some sections dating back to the late 1950s. Bearing in mind the massive increase in traffic, it's no surprise that motorways require a constant program of maintenance to keep them in a safe, useable condition. In addition, there are a multitude of widening schemes and smart motorway (hard shoulder as a running lane) schemes being introduced up and down the country, which inevitably bring with them a reduction in running lanes, cones, reduced speed limits, cones, reduced-width lanes, cones, contra-flow systems and of course, cones.
Motorway roadworks are definitely an embuggerance, but contrary to popular opinion, they aren't just thrown up randomly to cheese us all off. There is a considerable amount of thought and planning put into the design of roadwork systems. Don't believe me? Have a look at chapter 8 of the traffic signs manual. But make sure its a very wet, boring weekend...
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
To start with, I'm going to go all "AA" and talk about planning your journey. If you're about to set off on a longish trip, there is a shed-load of information available to you via the internet which gives real-time information about roadworks and traffic problems. My daily commute is mostly motorway, so I always have a quick look at the Highways Agency website while I'm having my breakfast. I've also got a free app which gives access to a network of Highways Agency CCTV cameras, which can be very useful. 2 minutes of my morning can occasionally save me up to an hour in travelling time.
The "TA" button on your radio is a useful addition if you're on a long journey. It will switch to local radio channels when traffic announcements are broadcast, overriding whatever channel, CD or track you're listening to.
Sat navs also have traffic information systems built in - they usually require a subscription, but I managed to get it free with my iphone sat-nav app and it works pretty well.
If you've explored all other options, or of you've been caught out by some motorway roadworks, you should still get plenty of prior warning to stop you from ploughing in to the signs, cones and Highways Agency staff. Chapter 8 dictates that on a motorway, the first warning sign for roadworks should be placed 2 miles before the start of the works, or 3 miles prior if congestion is expected. You'll then get a series of signs as you approach the works which will give you an idea which lanes are closed, what the speed limit will be, which vehicles are permitted in which lanes and an indication if speed enforcement cameras are present.
If there is a lane closure ahead, the best approach is to merge-in-turn, by which I mean that if you're in the closing lane, you should drive right up to the taper (the diagonal line of cones used to close the lane) and then merge in a "zip" fashion with the vehicles in the open lane. There is a key advantage to merging in turn, in that all the vehicles approaching the roadworks will stay in lane right up to the lane closure. This means that any tailback caused by the roadworks is kept to a minimum because the slow-moving and stationary vehicles are spread across all available lanes, right up to the roadworks.
There is, however, a major problem with merging in turn.
People don't like it.
By which I mean that there is a general misunderstanding about merging in turn which is held by the majority of drivers. It goes against our traditional British propensity for queuing. Those in the open lane feel like those in the closing lane are "pushing in". Some will shake their heads in a disapproving manner. Others will glue themselves to the bumper of the car in front to prevent you from merging in front of them whilst maintaining the "I haven't seen you" straight-ahead stare.
The worst ones (and this particularly includes HGV drivers, who as professional drivers, should know better) will deliberately block the closing lane well ahead of the taper, forcing vehicles to back up behind them and preventing merge-in-turn.
Its daft, to be honest - and dangerous too at times. Once we're all in to the roadworks, we should keep moving at a reduced speed, and within a few minutes, we'll be emerging from the other end and we're on our collective ways again. Why make it more difficult than it has to be? But that's the British attitude towards queuing and taking-your-turn, and I fear we're stuck with it.
So, taking this problem into account, I like to strike a compromise and aim to merge some distance before the cone taper. Look for a suitable gap nice and early and try to slide subtly in without braking (or with the minimum of braking). Additionally, I aim not to be "that" driver (or in this case, one of "those" drivers), and allow others to merge.
Its probably the right point to give a brief mention to contraflow systems. A contraflow system is a roadworks system designed to allow work to be carried out on some or all of an entire carriageway by diverting traffic onto the opposite carriageway contrary to the normal flow of traffic. The danger is that, rather than being seperated from opposing traffic by a central reservation and armco barroers, traffic is generally only seperated by a line of those skinny traffic cones, or, at best, a temporary concrete barrier.
An ex driving school colleague of mine had worked as a motorway patrol officer for many years, and he had seen one too many crossover accidents in contraflow systems. He wouldn't allow his students to use the right-hand lane in any contraflow system on the basis that, even in a reduced speed limit area, the risks of a head-on collision due to a simple lane change error were too great.
I take a slightly more flexible approach, whereby as long as there is some clear space to my left, I'm comfortable using the right-most lane. In other words, try not to linger alongside other vehicles. If the speed of traffic is similar in both lanes, then try to make sure you're alongside a gap rather than a vehicle. And of course, the leftmost lane is the safest option if you're not too bothered about progress, which is usually severely hampered by temporary speed limits anyway.
Stopping in an emergency
Vehicles are much more reliable these days. 30 years ago, it was quite common to see cars pulled up on the hard shoulder with the bonnet up and a plume of steam rising from within, but punctures aside, its not as common these days to see a breakdown on the motorway.
The problem with this is that when things do go wrong, people are even less likely to know what to do other than pull on to the hard shoulder and reach for their mobile phone.
The first tip is to avoid stopping on the motorway altogether. I don't mean in a patronising "AA advice to drivers" kind of way as I'm sure this isn't being read by someone who is likely to run out of petrol on the motorway (is it?).
What I mean is that pretty much all vehicle faults do not result in the vehicle coming to an immediate, unexpected stop. If your engine were to cut out at, say, 60mph in lane 2, dipping the clutch or popping it into neutral should allow you enough momentum to coast for probably close to a mile or more. This may well be enough to get you on to the nearest exit slip, or to the next ETB (see below).
But to start with, lets look at one of the very small number of absolute "rules" that I believe its important to abide with.
Unless it is absolutely, completely and utterly unavoidable, never ever stop in a "live" or "running" lane. If you absolutely have to stop on the motorway, do everything that you possibly can to get your vehicle on to the hard shoulder and out of the live lanes (lanes 1, 2 and 3 in the picture at the top of the page).
Most drivers are never expecting to come across stationary vehicles on an otherwise free-flowing motorway. Relatively minor incidents and accidents can very quickly become very serious, multiple vehicle accidents if vehicles are allowed to remain stationary in live lanes.
Even if you're involved in an accident and you think that your vehicle is immobile, you should at least try to move it on to the hard shoulder. Ignore all the scraping and graunching sounds - if the engine runs, put it in gear and shift it if you can. If the engine won't start, put the car in gear, leave the clutch out and try moving it on the starter motor - this can be more effective than you might imagine.
Make no bones about it - the motorway is an extremely dangerous, alien and fast-moving environment if you're stationary or on foot. Ask anyone who has ever had to stop and get out of their car on a hard shoulder. Its a frightening place to be and your plan should be to avoid stopping there if at all possible.
But, as we know, the devil does occasionally piddle in your kettle and you may have to stop on the hard shoulder. What to do? Well, first off, try to stop near an emergency telephone box (ETB). These are the orange boxes spaced at regular intervals (usually 1 mile apart, so that you're never more than 1/2 mile from one) along the left side of the hard shoulder. They generally look like this...
This is where coasting to a stop can be useful. Every 100 metres along the left hand side of the motorway you'll see marker posts like this...
There are a couple of bits of information on these marker posts. The top number is the distance in kilometres from the start of the motorway, and the bottom number is the decimal place, so in this case, 85.0 km from the start of the motorway. More importantly, if you have to stop on the hard shoulder, is the little picture of a telephone on the side of the marker post. The arrow under the phone indicates the direction to the nearest ETB. if you're coasting to a stop, look at the nearest marker to decide if you should stop immediately or continue coasting to the next ETB.
But why should you stop near an ETB? Surely they're a largly redundant anachronism these days? Don't most people have a mobile phone? Well, yes they do, but mobile phones can be as much of a hindrance on the motorway as a help. If you were to break down on the motorway, would you actually know exactly where you were? Believe it or not, most people don't. They usually know which motorway they're on, where they joined, and where they are heading for, but they don't generally know whether they're heading north or south, which junctions they are between or which town they are near. I've spent quite a bit of time in police control rooms, and it's fascinating to see just how many calls come in when there is an incident or accident on the motorway. Its even more fascinating listening to the process the operators have to go through just to narrow down the motorway and carriageway where the incident has occurred.
Stopping and using an ETB removes this problem almost instantly. Pick up the telephone and the operator immediately knows exactly where you are. They will have all the recovery companies on speed-dial and will be able to give you detailed instructions on how to stay safe. They may even dispatch HATOs or police officers to make double-sure that you are safe.
Should you attempt a repair yourself on the hard shoulder? Only if you're competent and it will take a few minutes. Changing a wheel, for instance, but I'd be less inclined to change an offside wheel than a nearside wheel unless I could get my car almost completely off the hard shoulder and onto the verge.
If you have to wait for recovery, you'll be advised to get out of your car, climb over the armco and stand on the verge or embankment well away from the carriageway. This may seem daft, particularly when the weather is terrible and you've a nice, warm car to sit in, but there is a very good reason. The vast majority of serious and fatal accidents occurr on the hard shoulder and involve a stationary or broken-down vehicle. "Target fixation" is a phenomenon in which people have a tendency to drive towards something they're looking at. It makes stationary vehicles on the motorway extremely vulnerable and is the reason you'll be advised to leave your vehicle. I always carry a nice, big umbrella just in case.
And what if - God forbid - you are stopped by the police? If an officer wants you to stop, they will almost always stop you from behind, by lighting their blue beacons, flashing their lights and possibly pointing to the left. In other words, they'll make it plainly obvious they are stopping you.
At this point, don't panic and slam on the brakes. Instead, move towards the nearside when its safe, and stop gradually on the hard shoulder. Try to stop in the centre of the shoulder and then stay in the drivers seat. The police officer should then approach your passenger side and speak to you either through the window or by opening the door. Follow their instructions - although they may want to speak to you about an offence or infringement, their first duty is to keep everyone safe, so they will give you very specific instructions and its very much in your interest to follow them.
When your encounter with the officer is over and you're about to set off, please get up to speed on the hard shoulder before rejoining lane 1. In other words, treat the hard shoulder as an acceleration lane in much the same way as you would with a slip road, then look for a suitable gap and join lane 1.
I think that'll do for now. Stay safe!
Edited by R_U_LOCAL on Sunday 1st June 19:22
timjswan said:
Whats the app that lets you get access to cameras? Cheers.
UK Traffic Lite...https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/uk-traffic-lite/id...
A free app last time I checked.
TheInsanity1234 said:
I find your posts really well-written and excellent. They'll be a lot of use to me when I turn 17 and start learning how to drive 
Just wondering, when will you be able to post your 4th instalment in this "series"?
Not sure. It was seven years between parts 1 and 2, so it won't be that long. I have a list of titles and a few ideas scribbled down, but I just write whatever I'm in the mood to write when I've got the time. Just wondering, when will you be able to post your 4th instalment in this "series"?
I'll guess at "within the next couple of months".
Thanks for your comments.
bitwrx said:
Quick question for Reg (or anyone else who knows what they're on about).
My employer has just decreed that since most of our near misses are due to people driving to places, we need to get breakdown cover in the event that we er... break down. Theory being it will reduce our time standing on the motorway embankment, and therefore time exposed to danger.
I'd always assumed that if I broke down on the motorway, the ETB person would just put me in touch with the local breakdown company who could take me to the nearest garage to get the thing fixed (much like the minimum cover provided by AA/RAC membership), and my time exposed to danger wouldn't be much different than if I'd taken out breakdown cover.
Is this likely to be the case? Or will I really be safer if I join the AA?
I'm a few years out of date with my control room knowledge, so if anyone more current would like to comment, I'm happy to concede to their more up-to-date knowledge. Here's my potentially out of date answer though.My employer has just decreed that since most of our near misses are due to people driving to places, we need to get breakdown cover in the event that we er... break down. Theory being it will reduce our time standing on the motorway embankment, and therefore time exposed to danger.
I'd always assumed that if I broke down on the motorway, the ETB person would just put me in touch with the local breakdown company who could take me to the nearest garage to get the thing fixed (much like the minimum cover provided by AA/RAC membership), and my time exposed to danger wouldn't be much different than if I'd taken out breakdown cover.
Is this likely to be the case? Or will I really be safer if I join the AA?
The control room operators will call whoever you like to get you off the motorway as long as they can get your car removed from the hard shoulder in less than 2 hours. Years ago they called my dad for me and he turned up with a tow rope and a grumpy face and towed me home.
They will ring the AA, RAC, Green flag or any other recovery company on your behalf, but if you're not a member of a recovery service, your car will still have to be removed from the motorway within 2 hours, so they will call out a recovery firm - usually the next one on their rota of approved companies.
If a rota garage attends, you'll be paying the bill for recovery and its up to you to negotiate where you want the car taking to. To be clear though, this service isn't free, apart from when there is a section of roadworks with cameras and "free recovery" signs. These are usually set up when the hard shoulder has been taken up with roadworks and any breakdown is in a live running lane. Even so, the limit of the free recovery will be off at the next junction into the first lay-by and then its over to you to organise your further recovery.
I'm not sure what the arrangements are for the new sections of "managed motorways" (hard shoulder as a running lane), but I imagine its similar to roadworks arrangements for free recovery.
My advice would be to get at least a basic level of breakdown recovery so that at least you can be sure that you'll get home in the event of a breakdown.
Swanny87 said:
Am I doing this right? I've started to pick up on what I think is a bad habit; when changing lanes after a car has just passed me I start to move across as soon as the car has passed me. I feel as if I leave it a bit longer the gap I want to move into will disappear. I do come off the throttle once in the new lane to create braking space behind the car that just passed me.
I guess the problem with this is if the driver brakes sharply as I'm coming in behind them I don't have any braking distance. I can however just pull back left and cancel the manoeuvre.
The reality of driving on motorways these days is that traffic is much busier than it used to be and generally travels much closer together than it used to. If your forward observations and assessment of other vehicles' speeds are good, then there is nothing inherantly wrong in moving in to a close position behind a vehicle which has just overtaken and still has "plus speed" on you. Your forward observations should identify if there is anything which may force the vehicle to slow and your speed assessment should tell you if the vehicle behind is matching its speed or catching up. The plus speed of the overtaking vehicle means that the gap will quickly open up to a safe following position and as long as your move is accompanied by some appropriate acceleration, you won't hinder the vehicle behind.I guess the problem with this is if the driver brakes sharply as I'm coming in behind them I don't have any braking distance. I can however just pull back left and cancel the manoeuvre.
It may not be textbook roadcraft, but I don't have any issues with it.
XJ Flyer said:
The idea of zip merging at the point of the lane closure is flawed in that it means all the traffic has to slow to a crawl to allow the traffic in the closing lanes time to merge before running out of road.
I don't agree. Merging in turn does not cause the traffic to slow - it is the fact that vehicles travel too close together and too quickly which generally causes the slowing. To explain further, there is a phenomenon called "traffic waves", whereby if a number of vehicles are travelling quickly but too close together, when the front vehicle brakes, the next vehicle brakes fractionally harder and longer, the next one brakes a little harder and longer etc, etc, until the traffic much further back comes to a complete stop. This is what causes those otherwise unexplainable tailbacks in heavy traffic when there is no obvious physical cause and you eventually move off wondering what the hold up was.At roadworks with reduced running lanes, traffic simply backs up due to vehicles travelling too close and then entering a semi-permanent traffic wave, but in this case with an obvious, physical cause. The actual merging of vehicles wouldn't cause traffic to slow if people kept more reasonable distances between their vehicles.
XJ Flyer said:
What's needed is for the lane closure advanced warning signs to be the first signs put out at the 2 and 1 mile points which allows the merging to be done at higher speeds because there is a lot more room ahead before the obstruction.The rules also need changing to give traffic in the closing lanes the priority when changing lanes to the remaining open ones instead of relying on muppets in whatever lane to follow the zip merge idea.While the idea of merging at the point of the obstruction also contradicts the idea of advanced lane closure signs and the red cross,all well before the obstruction/closure,in other cases.
This wouldn't really be making the best use of the available road space though. If merging is left until vehicles are right up to the roadworks, the potential tailback on a three-lane stretch of motorway could, in theory, be one third the length of the tailback caused if vehicles were forced to merge early. A longer tailback has more potential to cause knock-on traffic problems for other roads and more potential to cause accidents.XJ Flyer said:
Firstly how can traffic that needs to merge from a closed lane/s ahead maintain speed when it's already on top of the said closure.IE at that point it has to slow to a relative crawl or hit the cones.In which case the traffic in the open lanes also has to slow to a crawl to allow that traffic to merge.The fact is anything other than lane 1 is for overtaking only and there's no way that anyone can overtake if the overtaking lane/s are closed or no longer overtaking lane/s because of the closure of lane 1 .Which is why on the continent lane closures are usually subject to no overtaking warning signs long before the closure and that's the time to get all the merging done and finished with.
There is no ideal answer, mainly because the majority of the motoring public tend to conform to what they think is correct, rather than what may be considered to be a "better" approach. As I pointed out in my original post, the best approach (perhaps I should have stated the best theoretical approach) is to merge at the closure rather than before, because of the advantages I listed, however I did also state that there are also real problems with merging at the closure, foremost of which is that most other drivers don't understand the principle, and feel that they are somehow being moved backwards in the queue if they allow someone to merge in front of them (which, again, is a bit daft as they're still generally moving forwards at this point, but the position of other vehicles presents the illusion of being forced backwards).The reality is that if everyone left a much larger gap between vehicles on the approach to roadworks, and allowed merging in turn, all the vehicles would actually get through the roadworks more quickly and efficiently. Hence the increasing numbers of motorway roadworks governed by 40mph limits rather than the 50mph limits we're more familiar with.
Perhaps these misunderstandings are based on the current absence of any motorway training for most drivers, but that may be an argument for another thread.
Suffice to say, as in my original post, whatever the theoretical best practice is, the actions of the majority of other drivers means that in this case, I don't actually practice what I preach and I tend to compromise by merging earlier than perhaps is ideal.
XJ Flyer said:
As for leaving it until the obstruction,as I said,that would also obviously contradict the idea of advanced lane closure warnings and the red cross sign all long before the actual obstruction.So why the selective difference in some cases but not others.
As I also previously mentioned, the advanced warning signs are a legal requirement and should allow drivers to start their plan for the roadworks, as opposed to suddenly being faced with a lane closure whilst driving at speed.Illuminated red cross signs aren't generally used for roadworks and are usually reserved for emergency incidents. Continuing in a lane governed by an illuminated red cross is an offence. Is that the selective difference you're referring to?
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