Nearly in a serious car accident - hand hold please

[Usedandhurt]

Im literally shaking. Just had a driver nearly kill me and my dc on the motorway. He/she must have not checked before they pulled onto the motorway from a slip road, I literally had to slam on the breaks to avoid crashing into them and thankfully the driver behind me and the one behind them etc etc were able to stop also. My dc would have been very badly hurt - it was a huge bus and I can only imagine the driver got distracted.

Im a nervous driver at the best of times and Im literally sick with nerves.

And there was me thinking you were the bus driver in question.

I understand it just fine. It is dangerous to stop on a slip road, especially for large vehicles, which is why large vehicles assume other vehicles will know this and give way.

If the OP had followed the rules herself -

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Traffic on motorways usually travels faster than on other roads, so you have less time to react. It is especially important to use your mirrors earlier and look much further ahead than you would on other roads.

She would have seen the slip road ahead in plenty of time and could have taken action to minimise the risk of having to react at the last minute. Instead she drove beside a slip road, saw the bus on it, and took it for granted that it would stop. It's absolute madness to not be aware of hazards around you, or to try to minimise them, especially when you have children in the car.

There’s some really nasty people on here tonight - you’d think they would be busy seeing as it’s nearly Halloween
Sorry someone nearly wiped you out Op, of course you’re in shock , your life passes in front of your eyes at moments like that . Thank goodness your reactions were quick ( sign of a good driver I’d say !)
Hope you feel better in the morning . Enjoy the wine & chocs

@NoTouch It's acceptable to have to stop at the end of a slip road, especially on busy 2-lane roads that are not motorways.

Too many drivers think they have right of way off a sliproad.

They don't.

If the traffic is busy and there is no gap, you do have to stop and wait.

The alternative is to pull out anyway and possibly cause a pile up.

The bus driver should have stopped, not force themselves on. The slip road is actually a give way, if there is no room then they wait, giving way to people already on the motorway. Now, generally we move over to let people on or we slow down slightly because it helps traffic flow, but we don’t have to and people on the slip road shouldn’t force themselves on.

Why don’t you increase your speed by 10mph? The onus is on the person joining the motorway to match their speed correctly to safely join the traffic already on the motorway.

If you anticipate correctly and adjust your speed an accordingly, a good driver will never have to stop and wait on the slip road.

Right of Way or Priority is just semantics. You'd be just as dead if a bus crushed you.

The Op didn't expect the bus to stop. She, reasonably and in accordance with the Highway Code, expected it to merge normally. Given that the people driving behind also stopped without hitting the OP it is very very likely there was room to merge in behind the OP at a sensible speed.

So scolding the OP for being the innocent driver in a near-miss, then scolding her for being shaken up by it, and now calling her a liar!

The behaviour of some posters on this thread is appalling.

I would be unsurprised if the police phone the bus company and have a word about the standard of that driver. It's a quick call and one more job done for the stats. Buses are often fitted with cameras and it's in the interests of the company to check the footage to verify the report because the driver in question may require additional training. No bus company wants to make the headlines of the local paper, nor inside of a court room, as the employer of an at-fault driver and owner of the vehicle involved in a fatal collision.

Rubbish.
Adjusting speed, either slowing or speeding up happens all the time, other wise you d go into the back of slower moving vehicles in your lane if you can't move across for whatever reason.

Being right but ending up in morgue is no consolation, sometimes you just have to drive for other people.

No one should be stopping on a M/Way slip, they would then be joining 70mph traffic doing 10mph, not too mention someone going into the back of them, adjust your speed and filter in but not everyone does this, so drive accordingly.

@Usedandhurt If you are a nervous driver, is it worth thinking about doing an advanced motorists course and getting more experience on the motorway?

My DH did a course provided by his company (he was instructed by a former police driver) because he drove in excess of 25K miles a year.

It was a real eye opener to learn defensive driving skills which means thinking 2 steps ahead all of the time, assuming other drivers are stupid, and using all 3 lanes of motorways in the right way.

Maybe look into it?

Most carry a sticker “ if you can’t see my mirrors then I can’t see you” but even that doesn’t cover all the spots. I notice they’ve even got a TV as now warning drivers. So you need to be especially careful near them, whether behind, overtaking or like you having them joining etc.

More excuses for a poor driver, the 'blind spots' refer to the rear, if he/she can't see traffic in front the she/he shouldn't be driving. Having driven the 'wrong handed' car both in Germany and in the UK, we had one LHD and one RHD, it's up to the driver to take more care.

Legally, they are very different things.

As for your implied point about defensive driving, I don't think a single person has advocated against driving defensively.

What I and others have done is refused to blame OP.

What I and others have done is refused to blame OP

Exactly this. There’s been a pile onto the OP when the person at fault was 100% the bus driver, regardless of what some posters mistakenly believe.

Of course you should do what’s right.

What a ridiculous comment.

OP did slow down if you read it again.
She had to slam on her brakes because he was speeding and pulled out in front of her.

Luckily she didn’t do what you are suggesting and pull out in front of another driver in the middle lane.

Dramalama
you were not nearly killed
you nearly had an accident
when you approach a junction move to the middle to let vehicles in

I have read the first four pages of this thread and it's really excelling at bringing out the nasty fuckers.
You didn't do anything wrong OP and your reaction is completely understandable.
Talking about the experience and processing it is the right thing to do, otherwise you could get flashbacks and lose more confidence with driving.
Talk to someone more sympathetic than some of the nobs on here and go gentle with yourself tonight. Try to get back on the motorway preferably with someone who's a supportive calm passenger soon so you don't develop an avoidance.
I'm sorry you had such a scary experience.

It’s worrying how many bad drivers there are on here, blaming the OP.

These are the people that speed, pull out in front of you and change lanes without checking and they’re the reason for the road accidents.

To all the posters on this thread who are seemingly unaware that if you're on a slip road then you need to either have a gap to join or to stop and wait for one when joining a motorway. This is obvious. The increasing amount of traffic on the roads mean that this is something that needs to be taken more into account where people can't pull over to let you in.

No one should be slowing down on a motorway to let traffic merge in from a slip road.

My son did motorway lessons after passing his test. He was advised by his instructor to move right if possible, but that if traffic was too heavy for that, then to adjust speed to make gaps to accommodate merging traffic.

Its just what people do on motorways. 🤷🏻‍♀️

If both drivers had done what is “right” in this case then there would have been no issue as the bus driver would have adjusted his speed to give priority to the OP who was already on the motorway. The bus driver was in the wrong, not the OP.

All this talk of not necessarily having to do what is “right” is just nuts!

Oh no. My car rolled 5 times and it took them 6 hours to cut me out….

I was pregnant though so do understand that part.

But in this case the bus driver did not. Drivers do twatty things. Mostly it's a crunch and loss of no claims but at speed it can be loss of life, though motorways are generally safe.

I think it's wise to watch out for inconsiderate drivers including those who rigidly stick to rules that sensible people realise will be flouted and fail to take anticipatory or safe avoiding action.

Don't you agree?

Both types of drivers are a danger which is why these days I am happy to mostly travel in a big bus than a car or bike.

The police won't do owt.
I was clipped by a lorry on the motorway, it spun me round. Rush hour on the m6 with my 2 kids, that was a fun morning 🤣
Police attended and lorry driver was sent on his way whilst I waited for the breakdown lorry 🙄

I am so shocked at the lack of empathy here. Clearly all these posters telling you it was your fault have all done advanced driving courses/have never ever been in a sticky situation not of their own making. If it's any consolation, I'm a confident, experienced driver and that would really have shaken me.

I really feel that drivers are becoming more and more careless/reckless. I feel that it seems to have coincided with the rise in popularity of very big cars/SUVs as it seems to make people feel invincible. Driving in London feels like permanently being in defense mode.

I do hope you and your dc are ok, what a horrid thing to happen. 💐