Nervous driver and motorways

[Gangreeeeen]

I'm looking for tips, specifically on how the hell to join a motorway safely. It may be that I'm unlucky in my local motorway being a building site for a smart motorway with a joining ramp with 2 seconds to decide whether to live or die, but I just don't GET it.

I look in the mirrors, and over my shoulder, but how do you judge the speed of the traffic and whether to merge without running out of lane, slowing down or crashing into the barrier?

I've managed to do it 3 times and it is terrifying. I really want to take a 3 hour trip up 3 motorways but I cannot pluck up the courage :(

Definitely book a lesson. When I learnt i had a dual carriageway A road that was pretty much a motorway and used to spend lessons getting on and off at junctions.
If you can't get a lesson (cos of Covid they seem hard to come at the moment) then go at a quiet time of day such as early on a weekday morning. If traffic is flowing well then you should anticipate the cars in the inside lane will be 60-70mph and any lorries, coaches etc 50-60mph so you need to get your speed up that on the slip road in order to merge in.