to fear motorway driving?

[steben]

Has anyone overcome this and if so how? I have been driving for about 2 years and cannot bring myself to go on the motorway - but it is a fear I really want to get over so that I am not restricted in where I can go. A few years ago I witnessed a really bad accident which is where I think a lot of the fear stems from - and I have only really just now built up my confidence to drive locally.

Yes, it's the joining the motorway that's difficult at first, you have to get speed up to the motorway norm in order to merge easily; if you go too slowly down the slip road it's hard to slip in to the traffic.
You will learn, it''s easy after a while

You won't be able to do the Pass Plus if you passed two years ago, there's a time limit on when you can take it after you've done the basic test.

I just did a two hour motorway lesson. It was cheaper than Pass Plus anyway and it let me experience a different way of driving without freaking out. I felt safe, and I felt safe when I drove on my own because of the confidence it gave me.

I personally think that a 2 hour introductory course should be mandatory once you've passed your test - it's madness to let a load of new drivers bomb down a motorway. It'd also help stop it becoming such a big, scary obstacle for more nervous new drivers.

For me it's how close everyone drives when you're trying to get onto the motorway, or how some will come up behind up behind you and overtake as you're joining the motorway

Seriously, some people are just idiots, but once you've got a few strategies in place and know how to keep safe

i.e

maintaining a GOOD distance, always checking blind spot, be wary of not driving in other people's blind spot, be wary of lorries, be vigilant so if anyone around you makes a mistake you can mitigate it, be ready to drive in the emergency lane and not to panic if you really can't join the motorway in time.

"always checking blind spot, be wary of not driving in other people's blind spot"

yes yes yes! Too many drivers sit in blissful ignorance of the fact that they're totally in my blind spot. Muppets.

Also - be careful changing lanes. Many a time I have seen people start to move from the left lane into the middle to overtake a lorry when someone else is moving from the right lane into the same place in the middle lane.

Basically just try to be aware of all the traffic around you, so that if one of them does make a sudden manouvre, you're better prepared to deal with it.

I just don't do motorways. I've been driving for 30 years. I haven't had an accident (apart from the odd parking knock) and I reckon that's because I don't drive beyond my capabilities!

I'm not hurting anyone. The bit I don't like is the joining and leaving motorways and when others join in front of you making you slow down.

If I could go at 30 miles an hour in the middle lane when there were no other cars I'd happily do motorways. If I have to, I take a train or coach to get to my destination.

so glad this thread has been started. i passed 3 and a half years and have been to scared to do motorways. i'm a pretty fearless person so i feel so pathetic that this is the one thing that turns my hair grey!

as others have said, it's the joining on that worries me. how are you supposed to catch up to their speed and how do you just "slip" on? it seems like an accident waiting to happen. also, if i'm in the left lane, what's the best thing to do while someone is trying to join? do i move to the middle lane if it's safe to do so? do i slow down to let them on?

joining a slip road is just like pulling out to overtake
i spose you do overtake?

this is pretty pathetic tbh

Does it help to know that statistically you're much safer (six times safer, no less!) on a motorway than an ordinary single carriageway a-road:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/10454356

You use the length of the slip road to accelerate up to 60-70 mph, other drivers tend to move into the middle lane when they see traffic joining a motorway, it sounds more complicated than it actually is. I don't know about anyone else but I tend to gauge where the 'gaps' in the traffic are using mirrors and looking over my shoulder as I am coming down the slip road.

GingerWrath - the horror of the A1 is fresh in my mind as I drove up and down it last weekend.. I remember thinking that if I lived close to it, I'd probably never leave the house! :o

motorway driving is scary, i don't get why so many think it's easy

though i suppose it depends where you live. the M25 is full of arseholes up yer arse, foreign drivers cutting across etc

you'd be lucky to reach 70 on the motorway let alone the slip roads

I have been driving for 14 years and have NEVER driven on a motor way.
I am quite happy to tootle around town all day if necessary but the furthest I have been out of town whilst driving is 16 miles on an A road.
I am terrified of motorways and my husband has to do all the driving when we are on holidays in our motor home. I know it is unfair on him , especially as his job is mostly driving too. But I feel that my fear makes me too nervous a driver to make decisions quick enough and have fast enough responses to situations which are ever changing on Motorways.I know I am a good driver, a sensible driver but I have seen so much craziness and near misses etc It scares the crap out of me. Also my husbands job is working alongside the police and he has to deal with the aftermath of nasty accidets when the police call him to come and pick up mangled cars from accidents, some fatal. The sights he has seen and the accidents he has attended over the years are frightening. He has stopped telling me details has he knows how anxious I get. It isnt just that I dont like driving or wont drive on a motorway I am also an impossible passenger , very nervous , putting my foot on imaginary brakes....I am a nightmare. I know this. I am lucky that my husband is understanding

I passed my test, drove for 2 years (never on a motorway), then didn't drive again for over 10 years.

I avoided motorway driving until one day we were visiting friends and OH was too drunk from the night before too tired to drive. Glad I got that experience in 'cos now I have to do all the driving myself.

I would suggest doing it in stages:

Build up your confidence on dual carriageways

First time on a motorway, go early on a Sunday morning. I find it's quieter then.

You don't need to overtake at first if you don't want to. Get comfortable driving in the outside lane. Anyway, it's more fuel efficient to drive at a steady slower pace.

Once you feel comfortable and you have got used to your speed and the speed of others around you, you could try overtaking.

Once you feel comfortable doing this, you could try driving at dusk or in the dark, when people have their headlights on. I found it more difficult to judge people's speed in these conditions (hence my not agreeing with an earlier poster who said go in the late evening on your first attempt).

It took me about 3 motorway trips not to see them as something to psych myself up to doing, and about 5 to feel totally comfortable. Now, 18 months on, I don't think twice about being on the motorway and feel able to cope with all conditions.

Good luck!

Get a sat nav. Then you wont be worried about missing your junction etc.

I passed my test in February and have been on the motorway about 4 times now. Getting on was scary at first because I couldn't judge how fast the cars were coming but soon learnt that if I just put my indicator on early enough and didn't look like I was slowing down (even though I wasn't hairing it down the slip road) people would hold back . But I do have a kind of mini motorway in my city which I drove on my driving lessons. So the extra motorway lessons sound a good idea for you.

I agree with Imnot about going early at the weekend and the progress to dusk as I found it worse to judge distance and speed with the headlights.

YANBU. I continue to try to avoid driving unless absolutely necessary.

• Get a motorway driving lesson or two.

-Be very careful about your destination/reason for your first trip; make it somewhere you feel absolutely comfortable and supported; think about the time of day and check up to date traffic reports before you set out so there's no worries about jams or roadworks etc.

• Is it something you are in a place to tackle right now? Not too many other pressures? What are you afraid will happen?

Good luck.

don't rely on satnavs on the motorway you have enough to look out for, just follow signs and plan ahead

as a complete aside yesterday i saw an old bloke reverse on a roundabout

I am really frightened, after a bad accident about 15 years ago. Before DCs I used to have to go on the motorway for work occasionally, so kept my hand in. Once the children were born DH just drove whenever we went very far.

My really problem is I like a lot of room between me and the vehicle in front (was in 5 car pile up), enough room to land a plane my DH jokes!

I am only now making myself go on the motorway for short journeys.

I agree with the above great advice.

I try to do about 62 mph in the slow lane, get in behind a fast ish lorry, leave plenty of room but am going just fast enough to stop people cutting in and reduce the gap in front of me.

If I get panicky I repeat my mantra "just drive carefully".

Good luck to both of us

..

You may find this useful, from the Highway Code:

"Driving on the motorway
259
Joining the motorway. When you join the motorway you will normally approach it from a road on the left (a slip road) or from an adjoining motorway. You should

?give priority to traffic already on the motorway
?check the traffic on the motorway and match your speed to fit safely into the traffic flow in the left-hand lane
?not cross solid white lines that separate lanes or use the hard shoulder
?stay on the slip road if it continues as an extra lane on the motorway
?remain in the left-hand lane long enough to adjust to the speed of traffic before considering overtaking
On the motorway
260
When you can see well ahead and the road conditions are good, you should

?drive at a steady cruising speed which you and your vehicle can handle safely and is within the speed limit (see Rule 124)
?keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front and increase the gap on wet or icy roads, or in fog (see Rules 126 and 235)"

The critical thing about joining the motorway is to remember that it is not your right of way. You have to wait until there is a gap in the traffic. Usually traffic will move into the middle lane to let you in, but if it's busy then that won't be possible, so you have to wait until there is a gap that is big enough for you.

Treat it like any other road junction - look and think. Be cautious and, if necessary, slow and stop if you run out of space until there is time/space to pull in, and then accelerate smoothly until you're travelling at a good speed. You do not have to join the motorway at 70mph!

The key is not to panic (easy to say I know!), but keep your cool and drive sensibly.

i would book some lessons with driving instructor, and try do it on a weekend morning, quite early. when i was learning to drive, i started early sat mornings, esp when we started on the normally v busy bypass near our home. i found at half 8 on sat mornin theres hardly anyone about, and i managed to get used to the roads easier, then when driving at rush hour i didnt panic. theres also a lot fewer lorries about that time on a w'end too

I too am a non motorway driver. The thing that I worry about most is joining and that there won't be room to let me in; what happens if you try and join and it is really chocca? Would you have to just stop and then try and get upto speed or what?

OOps just seen end of Beacuses's post, so you would need to stop and accelerate, have fears of causing a pile up!

If it's really chocca the traffic won't be moving that fast anyway, you'd stop with your indicator flashing and wait til someone lets you on!