Stressful incident on motorway, scared

Voted YABU for still being worried, people beep for all reasons now. He should have moved over or slowed down/sped up to allow you to merge

Reported by who?

slip roads are tricky when busy, key is to take early action - to slow down or speed up accordingly so you can fit between two vehicles. Many people change lanes to accommodate people joining the motorway but there are always arseholes around so you need to ensure you are merging (and adapting your speed) from the first merge opportunity.

No one's going to report you. These things happen.

It will get easier with experience. Honestly, there is nobody to report you to . Nobody reports others in that situation, you were just a little nervous. Don't let it knock your confidence.

If you are a bit nervous, book a new driver lesson for a motorway & duel carriageway driving.

Just chalk it down to experience, nobody is going to report you. Was there anyone in the middle lane? As the previous poster says, it was up to him to slow down (he obviously could as he did!) or move over. Nothing happened. I'd get out on the motorway again as soon as you can so it doesn't become "a thing" for you.

I've been driving for years and I still high five my husband when I successfully merge onto the motorway.

He’s not going to report you. Practice and experience at merging and gauging the speed is all part and parcel of building confidence. If you really think there’s nothing you could have done differently then there’s no lesson to be learned.

First off nobody is going to report you. You didn’t crash and neither did anyone else.
From a driving point of you it’s up to you on the slip road to match your speed correctly. Although it’s a courtesy for the driver in the left lane to move over or adjust their speed, they don’t have to.

of course you slow down, you can't just drive straight into him can you?

Either you should have gone faster and used the gap he gave you when he slowed down, or it was a dick move from him if he just kept slowing down blocking you in.

Either way, no drama?

Don't worry. It's just an unfortunate incident that may help you become a better driver. It's not up to the driver in the left lane to slow down for you. It's up to you to assess the oncoming traffic and decide how and when to merge. However, if I'm driving in the left lane and see there is a slip road up ahead, I usually move to the middle lane to allow drivers on the slip road to merge easily. A lot of drivers do this. It is annoying when drivers in the left lane tootle along and seem oblivious to people trying to merge from the slip road. But that's people for you.

You’ll get used to it, happens all the time, people are selfish when they could be kinder. That’s driving these days.

It is your responsibility to match the speed of the traffic already on the road. No one on the road should have to slow down or move over, you need to looking for a gap and matching that speed.

It is one of the hardest things to get the hang of as a new driver, not because it is complex but because it requires a bit of nerve and judgement. Your judgement will improve rapidly with experience.

I don't think there is any general expectation that someone in the lane you are trying to enter should slow down, is there? So s/he was probably expecting you to accelerate to the necessary speed and was confused when you didn't.

Something like that, any way. There doesn't seem to be ANY need to worry about being reported. It's not illegal to lack experience. x

As the joining car, it is your responsibility to alter your speed to merge in safely. The cars in lane one should be travelling at a consistent speed. Although most people will move over if they can to create space, you cant rely on this being a guarantee. Make sure you leave enough distance between you and the car in front to give yourself the room needed to adjust your speed accordingly. And dont look for cars (obviously be aware of them!) look for the gaps to merge into instead.

If someone is barrelling at 70 in the slow lane it’s not always possible to follow that to the letter! Fact the guy had a heavy hand on the horn suggests he wasn’t making it easy either.

like others I move to the middle or adjust my speed when I see a merging lane to my left. It’s just good practice.

It's not a question of selfishness, in all likelihood. The driver already on the road has to take account of the cars all around him/her and it may well not be safe or appropriate to slow down suddenly to accommodate the unexpected hesitancy of someone trying to merge.

I was reading the first replies wondering how anyone hadn't actually said this immediately!

No it wasnt up to the other driver to slow down, they have right of way and the OP was responsible for entering the motorway in a safe manner.

Yes, the other driver could have been helpful and possibly moved over, but they dont have to, nor may it have been safe to do so.

OP, as soon as you start at the top of the slip road you need to be planning your 'gap'. Look at the motorway to gauge where you can slot in as soon as the motorway is visible. It takes practice, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it

It happens, so dont worry. Not sure why you were beeped. Maybe they were too close behind you, which is an issue, and panicked.

Sounds like he was expecting you to speed up and merge in front but only you know if that was possible or not.
Genuinely don’t worry about it

I think a motorway lesson may be helpful for you. It's concerning that you expected the driver on the motorway to slow down for you. As PP have said it is for the joining car to identify a gap and safely merge into it. This can involve slowing down, speeding up or in a busy situation stopping but it is the responsibility of you as the joining car.

You won't be reported but you do need to improve your understanding of how slip roads work and ideally get some practice with an instructor next to you to.

Other driver sounds like twat. It’s common sense for those already on the motorway to adjust their speed and position to help drivers joining from a slip road. It’s also safer even though, as a PP pointed out, they don’t actually have to.

You are in one bit, you got throughout it, there is no way you will be reported.

There is no slow lane! The left lane is a 70 limit, same as lane 2, 3...

No, those on the motorway should maintain a consistent speed and the joining traffic should merge safely.

Literally the opposite of the Highway Code. And there is no “slow lane” on a motorway.

Shit drivers absolutely everywhere, honestly.

Do you mean the person in the left hand lane of the motorway didn’t slow - you were merging from the slip road into that lane?

It’s your responsibility to merge not his responsibility to slow. You’re joining the road, you’re meant to judge your speed to merge in safely