Learners on the motorway.

Learners on the motorway.

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Discussion

Jonno02

2,246 posts

108 months

Thursday 26th July 2018
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Let's just say that the OP is in the right. Just for talking sake. You observed it was a learner and yet failed to take appropriate measures to give a learner driver safe distance and space. Did you pass your hazard perception? The clue is in the name; LEARNER. Even if you think people should move out of the way of your transit van, whether you have right or way or not, learners are nervous and mostly unfamiliar with road etiquette and so may not do everything as perfectly as you. I suppose you had half a lesson and then instantly passed your test?

bernhund

Original Poster:

3,767 posts

192 months

Thursday 26th July 2018
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We'll youve all got me bang to rights. There I was, a typical angry van driver who thought dual control meant two steering wheels, looking at a clapped out old Fiesta with an L plate cello taped beside the rust and thinking it can't be a legitimate driving school/teacher. fk knows how I've managed to get through life so successfully!

CarAbuser

692 posts

123 months

Thursday 26th July 2018
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bernhund said:
Having had a very near miss on the M25 today, I discovered learners are now allowed on motorways. Being a bit shocked by a passenger grappling with the steering wheel of a stty old Fiesta with L plates to avoid colliding with my van at 70mph, I Googled it. If you didn't know, they are now allowed but only in a dual controlled vehicle with a qualified instructor. I guess we might see a few more cases like mine, where people don't know the new law.
This learner and instructor (probably dad) clearly didn't know that traffic merging from the slip meant they should either brake, accelerate or get the fk over into the middle lane because there was nothing in it!
If you drive down slip roads with the expectation that traffic already established on the motorway has to give way to you, then you are a moron.

Good job conforming to the van driver stereotype.

LeoSayer

7,299 posts

243 months

Thursday 26th July 2018
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bernhund said:
Then of course when did anyone on here actually stick to the Highway Code? All well and good googling it for the same of an argument on here, but it's doubtful any of you know even a third of it.
You could have avoided the incident by following the highway code guidance on merging. What else needs to be said?

We all make mistakes and hopefully learn from them. If your attitude is to look for blame in others rather than looking at your own actions then maybe you will avoid similar in future.










bernhund

Original Poster:

3,767 posts

192 months

Thursday 26th July 2018
quotequote all
Well I know when I'm beat! laugh But I seriously didn't know at the time that the law had just changed and that learners were allowed. All I was saying in my opening post was that learners and their non professional instructors too might not know what the new law says. In this instance the instructor either didn't know he should be qualified and with dual controls or didn't care as he was probably just Joe Public teaching his son to drive.
And as for the merging part, of course I know who has right of way, but we also know what keeps traffic moving and safely. I bet there's no one on PH who has ever stopped at the end of a motorway slip to give way when there's traffic. And I doubt even more that if you came down the same slip to an empty motorway, with limited vision from a van, and the one car that was there made you stamp on your brakes that you wouldn't get the hump with them!

Car-Matt

1,923 posts

137 months

Thursday 26th July 2018
quotequote all
bernhund said:
Well I know when I'm beat! laugh But I seriously didn't know at the time that the law had just changed and that learners were allowed. All I was saying in my opening post was that learners and their non professional instructors too might not know what the new law says. In this instance the instructor either didn't know he should be qualified and with dual controls or didn't care as he was probably just Joe Public teaching his son to drive.
And as for the merging part, of course I know who has right of way, but we also know what keeps traffic moving and safely. I bet there's no one on PH who has ever stopped at the end of a motorway slip to give way when there's traffic. And I doubt even more that if you came down the same slip to an empty motorway, with limited vision from a van, and the one car that was there made you stamp on your brakes that you wouldn't get the hump with them!
You’re making it worse, clearly you can’t drive

CarAbuser

692 posts

123 months

Friday 27th July 2018
quotequote all
bernhund said:
Well I know when I'm beat! laugh But I seriously didn't know at the time that the law had just changed and that learners were allowed. All I was saying in my opening post was that learners and their non professional instructors too might not know what the new law says. In this instance the instructor either didn't know he should be qualified and with dual controls or didn't care as he was probably just Joe Public teaching his son to drive.
And as for the merging part, of course I know who has right of way, but we also know what keeps traffic moving and safely. I bet there's no one on PH who has ever stopped at the end of a motorway slip to give way when there's traffic. And I doubt even more that if you came down the same slip to an empty motorway, with limited vision from a van, and the one car that was there made you stamp on your brakes that you wouldn't get the hump with them!
I match the speed of the main carriageway and merge into a gap. The gaps between vehicles are proportional to the speed of the motorway so the only time where a gap is unavailable is when the motorway is moving very slowly or at a standstill.

In the rare event that the motorway is moving at speed and there is not a single gap available then I'd be forced to stop as the alternative of cutting up another vehicle is much more dangerous.

Francis85

176 posts

67 months

Thursday 2nd August 2018
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Learners should be allowed on motorways as is easier to drive on one of those than it is in a city.

What happened to you was a near miss as other thousand that happen everyday everywhere. By the way, when you are merging into a motorway you have to check your mirror at the very begining.

Edited by Francis85 on Thursday 2nd August 08:43

Johnnytheboy

24,498 posts

185 months

Thursday 2nd August 2018
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I don't get why people make such a big deal about motorways.

Aren't they just a big DC?

I still remember the feeling of anticlimax the first time I drove on one. hehe

JensenA

5,671 posts

229 months

Thursday 9th August 2018
quotequote all
Car-Matt said:
bernhund said:
Well I know when I'm beat! laugh But I seriously didn't know at the time that the law had just changed and that learners were allowed. All I was saying in my opening post was that learners and their non professional instructors too might not know what the new law says. In this instance the instructor either didn't know he should be qualified and with dual controls or didn't care as he was probably just Joe Public teaching his son to drive.
And as for the merging part, of course I know who has right of way, but we also know what keeps traffic moving and safely. I bet there's no one on PH who has ever stopped at the end of a motorway slip to give way when there's traffic. And I doubt even more that if you came down the same slip to an empty motorway, with limited vision from a van, and the one car that was there made you stamp on your brakes that you wouldn't get the hump with them!
You’re making it worse, clearly you can’t drive
I'd much rather all drivers were like bernhund, rather than like you.

CanAm

9,114 posts

271 months

Thursday 9th August 2018
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Nick1876 said:
I saw my first learner driving pulling on to the M25 this afternoon, a marked up learner school car.
The road was reasonably quiet, I was in the left hand lane, cruise control on 60mph.
The learner entered the motorway fine then for no reason moved into lane 2 even though the left lane was clear in front of them and just continued in lane 2.
So are instructors teaching learners to be more MLM?
I have heard young drivers say that their professional instructors have told them to stick to lane 2. eek

Jagmanv12

1,573 posts

163 months

Friday 10th August 2018
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CanAm said:
Nick1876 said:
I saw my first learner driving pulling on to the M25 this afternoon, a marked up learner school car.
The road was reasonably quiet, I was in the left hand lane, cruise control on 60mph.
The learner entered the motorway fine then for no reason moved into lane 2 even though the left lane was clear in front of them and just continued in lane 2.
So are instructors teaching learners to be more MLM?
I have heard young drivers say that their professional instructors have told them to stick to lane 2. eek
In that case the professional instructors should have their teaching licences cancelled and be re-trained.