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.

Probably not a good idea to accuse other people of being hard of thinking when you haven't read the post properly. If you do, you will see that I started from the premise that OP was (mostly) in the right. I would ask again, how much consolation is that going to be when OP's righteous refusal to take avoiding action by slowing down means there is an avoidable accident?

Honestly, people round here seem to think that being right excuses you from all logical thought. If you are on the right side of the road and you see someone tanking towards you on the wrong side, should you grip your steering wheel saying to yourself "I won't slow down or take any avoiding action because I'm in the right, I'll just hope he realises he's in the wrong and stops. If that driver was driving according to the rules I wouldn't be in this position"?

Sometimes you can’t move over to let joining traffic in, and slowing down on a motorway to let traffic on can range from annoying to dangerous to impossible.

There are too many drivers these days who just don’t follow the rules of the road. If everyone did, there’d be no problem! It’s definitely become a “thing” in the last few years where people joining a motorway expect to be let in… they need to get better at learning how to join a fast-moving road from a slip lane.

And my first response was to say that the OP was right - she didn’t have to move out of the way. Clearly avoiding an accident - where possible - is better than being proved right.

Oh ffs I have never heard such utter bollocks and bullying as I have in this thread. I seriously worry about the driving skills of half of the posters on here. The OP may well not have seen the bus until the last moment as it is entirely dependent on what her visibility was like - some slip roads are short - one I can think of is definitely too short for purpose.

I can also assure you that the police where I live would be very attentive to calls regarding dangerous driving. Some of you morons calling OP a liar etc want to take a look at yourselves. She did nothing wrong! I very much doubt that a clean record of 20 years would indicate that she is a dangerous or incompetent driver. OP ignore the pathetic posters - they are clearly projecting. I hope you and DC are ok.

just fyi traffic merging on a motorway does not have the right to endanger all other road users ! I’d have done exactly what OP did- there was no room to move to the right lane - or will the cast of dumb and dumber be along now to tell her she should have teleported.

I’ve waited on many occasions on a slip road because it was not safe to merge and I am responsible for merging!!

there are some sad bullying individuals on here in it’s a pity as it used to be a kind supportive forum.

Absolutely this - all this talk about what the OP should have done and nothing about the stupidity and recklessness of the bus driver from posters who still can't seem to grasp that people merging need to adjust their speed up or down. Merging is a tricky business, it takes a lot of practise, and what it shouldn't do is rely on others to give way to you. It might be nice when they do, and if you're pushing into a gap at speed and they slow down then that's good defensive driving on their part - but be assured, if your merging causes an accident you will found liable.

I would love to know where MN people live that they regularly see people sitting stationary at the bottom of a slip road waiting for a gap to join when the traffic is flowing freely.

Northern Ireland, various parts of England - I’d love to know where you like that you don’t?- so I can avoid the area 🤦‍♀️

The M42 & round Birmingham springs straight to mind. Flowing but with variable speed limit in action.

Definitely

Also bizarre that people are criticising the OP for not seeing the bus and adjusting their speed accordingly when that is exactly what the bus driver should have done, as the Highway Code clearly sets out. It is not her responsibility, it is his.

It's everyone's responsibility to avoid crashes. It's not so black and white to say I'll just keep driving because I'm in the right, fuck the consequences. He is a massive bus with constraints that come with that and regardless of priorities and who should wait, she only had to slow down a little to let him in.

Massive buses don't come out of nowhere. If you're in lane one near a slip road you should be checking blind spots etc just in case. Both are in the wrong here and reading this thread makes me realise how pig headed everyone is. I drive approx 2/3k business miles each month and see pricks like all these on here hourly.

Teddles I totally agree- from what I’m reading the OP is being attacked for not being in a position to allow the bus to safely merge - he was speeding, so no notice, even if she had saw him in time there appears to have been cars behind, and definitely cars to her right - what could she do? - if a vehicle joins the motorway it has to be done with the understanding that they are to wait until a safe gap appears- not a move over I’m here attitude

I agree - and in this instance the OPs good driving prevented it. There is a slip road where my mum lives where there have been several accidents as the slip road is very short and cars speed along it.

the OP may well have not been safely able to slow down - I’d say she was terrified slamming on the breaks but what option was there? Move over into a lane where no spaces were available and cause an accident there?

its thanks to her and the drivers behind her who are clearly better drivers than the so called professional bus drivers that no one was hurt.

I think it varies, in 20 years of driving regularly on the motorway I've only ever seen traffic stopped on the slipway when it's standstill/crawling traffic so really merging isn't an issue as they match the speed of the rest of the traffic hah. It sounds like some motorways its more common for vehicles to have to stop, although sounds wild if the inside lane is too busy to be able to merge for the length of the slip road then you have to find a big enough gap to safely join and have time to get up to speed. Can a bus even speed? Most are limited aren't they.

Blimey! Just blimey!

You do not merge onto a motorway, you join the carriageway when you have room and time to do so. It's not merge in turn.

Marmalade71 · Today 07:07

That wouldn't be the Silverlink going South to the Tyne Tunnel, would it?

The only motorway i drive with regularity is joining the M6 around birmingham, so also the M5 and m42 junctions along it.

Everyone merging sensibly adjusts their speed to the traffic flow, because its that busy, to do otherwise, would be to cause carnage.

I drive a 12T horse box and have an HGV licence. Yes it is everyone’s responsibility to avoid an accident but the first responsibility is to follow the rules of the road as set out in The Highway Code. As has been said repeatedly, that is the basis on which blame will be apportioned in the event of an accident.

What are you on about? Merging in terms of driving isn't limited to merging in turn.

OK, which Highway Code rule tells you to merge onto a motorway?

Amused by the arrogance of some posters who think they know the law better than the police.

I believe the police clapped OP as well.

What the fuck do you think you do? Fly? Do you understand what merge actually means? The highway code doesn't spell it out, plenty of other documentation does though. Why does the wording matter though, trying to prove a point and failing hey?

Yes, I know what merge means and you are not supposed merge, ie take turns, to join a motorway. If that's what you do, at some point, you're going to cause a crash.

If there isn't room, you should slow down and even stop, if there isn't a safe gap to join the carriageway.

Seriously, read the Highway Code, get some lessons, take a test and get a licence - for all our sakes.

You do not “merge” on to a motorway. Like any other junction or road turning you join the carriageway and motorists already on it have priority.

I’m amazed at the people here who say OP should have adjusted her speed for the incoming bus. How on earth can she know what he is thinking? If they had both subsequently slowed down they would have been in the same position, hence why the Highway Code clearly sets out the priorities. It is a basic tenet of driving that you shouldn’t blindly assume what another driver is about to do.