Motorway behaviour
Discussion
Hi
Driving on motorways every day, I've noticed some habits and I was wondering if anyone else recognises these in themselves or others.
The first is that when wanting to change lanes, drivers tend either sit and wait for a gap big enough or they indicate immediately and wait for someone to let them in. I am in the second group as I couldn't just sit there with an indicator on.
The second thing is that when I'm in a line of fast-moving cars in lane 3, I'd rather be in a lower gear than a (probably correct) higher gear. This means that instead of having to keep dabbing the brake when the line slows, I can let the gearbox slow the car down. I'm sure this is bad for fuel economy - and probably the gearbox - but it's just the way I prefer to drive.
Driving on motorways every day, I've noticed some habits and I was wondering if anyone else recognises these in themselves or others.
The first is that when wanting to change lanes, drivers tend either sit and wait for a gap big enough or they indicate immediately and wait for someone to let them in. I am in the second group as I couldn't just sit there with an indicator on.
The second thing is that when I'm in a line of fast-moving cars in lane 3, I'd rather be in a lower gear than a (probably correct) higher gear. This means that instead of having to keep dabbing the brake when the line slows, I can let the gearbox slow the car down. I'm sure this is bad for fuel economy - and probably the gearbox - but it's just the way I prefer to drive.
If you leave a big enough gap between yourself and the car in front and you look well ahead and not just at the back of the car directly in front of you, you should rarely, if ever, need to dab the brakes as the traffic slows.
When I was learning to drive I was taught the idea of indicating in thick traffic as a way of asking someone in a line of overtaking cars to hold back and let me pull out. Generally I wait for a big enough gap. Again forward planning and awareness can help you here. Leave a big gap in front to act as a run up and you can accelerate to level yourself with a gap in traffic coming up alongside you then slide out into it. Of course you have to watch out for things like the traffic in front slowing as you accelerate, people on your left moving out into the gap in front of you and the guy you're aiming to pull out in front of seeing you indicate and closing the gap because he thinks letting you change lanes will shrink his willy.
When I was learning to drive I was taught the idea of indicating in thick traffic as a way of asking someone in a line of overtaking cars to hold back and let me pull out. Generally I wait for a big enough gap. Again forward planning and awareness can help you here. Leave a big gap in front to act as a run up and you can accelerate to level yourself with a gap in traffic coming up alongside you then slide out into it. Of course you have to watch out for things like the traffic in front slowing as you accelerate, people on your left moving out into the gap in front of you and the guy you're aiming to pull out in front of seeing you indicate and closing the gap because he thinks letting you change lanes will shrink his willy.
maccboy said:
Hi
Driving on motorways every day, I've noticed some habits and I was wondering if anyone else recognises these in themselves or others.
The first is that when wanting to change lanes, drivers tend either sit and wait for a gap big enough or they indicate immediately and wait for someone to let them in.
You've missed a couple of groupsDriving on motorways every day, I've noticed some habits and I was wondering if anyone else recognises these in themselves or others.
The first is that when wanting to change lanes, drivers tend either sit and wait for a gap big enough or they indicate immediately and wait for someone to let them in.
1) the ones who indicate just as you're passing them causing you to panic because surely if they'd seen you they'd have waited a second or two for you to pass before indicating?
2) the moses indicator - it goes on and the driver expects a the lin of cars to part and a space to automatically appear for them to move into
What about the ones who start to pull out, then indicate and THEN look in their mirror?
Thus causing me to lift/dab to make them a space they seem insistent to enter and them to panic and pull back into their lane.
Or the irritating "everyone is too polite" issue where I slow down to let someone onto a motorway (or vice versa) whilst they slow down to go behind me, I speed up when I see them slowing, as they speed up because I was slowing and so on - and we end up at the end of the on-ramp with one of us either dropping a cog and making a gap or braking hard.
Thus causing me to lift/dab to make them a space they seem insistent to enter and them to panic and pull back into their lane.
Or the irritating "everyone is too polite" issue where I slow down to let someone onto a motorway (or vice versa) whilst they slow down to go behind me, I speed up when I see them slowing, as they speed up because I was slowing and so on - and we end up at the end of the on-ramp with one of us either dropping a cog and making a gap or braking hard.
(this probably makes me seem really old...) I recently went on the M25 for the first time in a few years....my god you get a few numpties!
I'm happy to set the cruise at 70 in the inside lane and just let those who wish to go faster have the remaining lanes, afaik I'm not holding anyone up, those who want to overtake me can....but the number of middle laners not seemingly caring just dawdling. I lost count of those I 'undertook' just by staying in lane.
I'm happy to set the cruise at 70 in the inside lane and just let those who wish to go faster have the remaining lanes, afaik I'm not holding anyone up, those who want to overtake me can....but the number of middle laners not seemingly caring just dawdling. I lost count of those I 'undertook' just by staying in lane.
Mound Dawg said:
And the ones who treat their indicator as if it's a force field generator that will stop you from hitting them even if they just wade out regardless.
That'd be the white BMW estate on the M4 a couple of days ago. Had the cheek to flash at me when I didn't slam on my brakes to let him into the safe gap I was keeping.Edited by Mound Dawg on Tuesday 14th October 16:29
AlexHat said:
(this probably makes me seem really old...) I recently went on the M25 for the first time in a few years....my god you get a few numpties!
I'm happy to set the cruise at 70 in the inside lane and just let those who wish to go faster have the remaining lanes, afaik I'm not holding anyone up, those who want to overtake me can....but the number of middle laners not seemingly caring just dawdling. I lost count of those I 'undertook' just by staying in lane.
I use the M25 a lot, I've come to the conclusion lane 1 is the fastest route.I'm happy to set the cruise at 70 in the inside lane and just let those who wish to go faster have the remaining lanes, afaik I'm not holding anyone up, those who want to overtake me can....but the number of middle laners not seemingly caring just dawdling. I lost count of those I 'undertook' just by staying in lane.
Rubberneckers FFS.
It's a 5 mile tail back bumper to bumper, then a broken down car and an RAC van parked up on the hard shoulder appears on the horizon.
As you pass @ 5MPH the road ahead instantly clears of traffic but the other side of the motorway is now tailback due to the nosy f
kwits over there as well.
It's a 5 mile tail back bumper to bumper, then a broken down car and an RAC van parked up on the hard shoulder appears on the horizon.
As you pass @ 5MPH the road ahead instantly clears of traffic but the other side of the motorway is now tailback due to the nosy f
kwits over there as well.Zod said:
troc said:
What about the ones who start to pull out, then indicate and THEN look in their mirror?
.
.
The Manoeuvre, Signal, Mirror Brigade!kers that do this. One fker did it to me on my bike once and not only was it my fault he didn't see me the didn't even bother to acknowledge that he'd made a mistake. I really wanted to put my fist in his face and my boot in the door but seeing as the first option wasn't feasible and the second would probably thrown me into the road I didn't bother. V8A*ndy said:
Rubberneckers FFS.
It's a 5 mile tail back bumper to bumper, then a broken down car and an RAC van parked up on the hard shoulder appears on the horizon.
As you pass @ 5MPH the road ahead instantly clears of traffic but the other side of the motorway is now tailback due to the nosy fkwits over there as well.
This is my biggest annoyance. It's a 5 mile tail back bumper to bumper, then a broken down car and an RAC van parked up on the hard shoulder appears on the horizon.
As you pass @ 5MPH the road ahead instantly clears of traffic but the other side of the motorway is now tailback due to the nosy f
kwits over there as well.cptsideways said:
This = not looking far enough ahead, leaving too small a gap to allow speed adjustment. This imho is the root cause of almost all motorway congestion.
Yep, totally agree.I remember Clarkson saying once that you should never have to brake on a motorway, and he's right, if everyone drove properly you wouldn't have to.
GetCarter said:
It was driving on motorways for many years that made me move away to somewhere I never had to.
Bliss.
Except in summer, I'll bet Bliss.
, when the self same motorway plonkers bring their brand of motoring skills9 or lack of it) to a road near you. You know the saying "you can take a *******er ( ref 1()out of *****land, but you can never take *****land( ref 2) out of a ******er( ref 3)". Substitute thick motorway plonker for ref 1 , thick for ref 2 and motorway ploker for ref 3 and note the similarity .Try Glencoe in high summer- it's like observing a funeral drivers day out.
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