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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think you should join a fast road at speed?

86 replies

MamaPain · 01/09/2014 22:11

Or at least at the speed the traffic on the road is currently moving and that the onus is not on those currently on the road to get out of the way?

OP posts:
lampygirl · 01/09/2014 22:43

Slow cars on slip roads gives me the rage. If you are joining a busy motorway or negotiating motorway merges etc at rush hour it's not always possible to all move over on the motorway and people need to speed match. If they aren't confident at this they should get motorway lessons or something

Imagine if we had those short slip roads like the French and Swiss, would be even worse! Though their motorways are much better...

Motorway driving isn't scary, and people who find it scary make it frustrating for those who don't. This leads to accidents as frustrated people do stupid things. (Not me I hasten to add, never had an incident in 8 years averaging 16k miles a year)

gordyslovesheep · 01/09/2014 22:44

Fluffy with all respect you don't drive - if you ARE in a car with someone who can't join roads safely you need to have a word with them

grabbing the dashboard is distracting and a tad melodramatic speaking as a driver

Alisvolatpropiis · 01/09/2014 22:44

Fluffy

Yabu.

As you say, you don't drive and if the drivers you have been with have been frightened joining the motorway then frankly they shouldn't be driving on one.

fluffyduffydoo · 01/09/2014 22:45

Secondly, the second lane should be more for overtaking and what about if you aren't familiar with the road or there are almost constant slip roads.

They're all heavily signposted. Even as a non driver I see them , hardly going be a surprise for you

VelvetEmbers · 01/09/2014 22:45

Had this the other night. Unfortunately there are traffic lights just before the on slip so everyone is bunched up. The woman at the front of the queue slowed to about 30mph so almost caused a pile up. There wasn't room for all of us behind her to get onto the motorway between traffic travelling at 70mph, and once we'd got on we were all stuck at a ridiculously slow speed with everyone going round us.

MelanieCheeks · 01/09/2014 22:45

How are drivers not used to motorways supposed to get experience of driving on motorways?

gordyslovesheep · 01/09/2014 22:45

Ursula you shouldn;t be joining at speed if the traffic doesn't allow you to though - if there are no gaps you need to drive slower!

gordyslovesheep · 01/09/2014 22:46

they go on duelcarriage ways or take motorway lessons or use some common sense Melanie

UrsulaBuffay · 01/09/2014 22:48

Oops maybe I need to not whizz like fook down it til I know then. You just can't really see what's coming can you? (I'm honestly not as bad a driver as I sound!)

VelvetEmbers · 01/09/2014 22:48

Why not just keep out that lane at a junction and everyone would be happy and safe

What a ridiculous statement. So everyone approaching a junction pulls into the middle lane, including slow moving lorries. That forces others into the outside lane, and much further back everyone has to slam on their brakes. Not safe at all.

So glad you are a non-driver Fluffy.

fluffyduffydoo · 01/09/2014 22:49

no I was frigethened not the driver!

I've seen a driver in the car I was in come tearing down the road at 70mph to be met with a traffic jam and had to slam the breaks on

Motorways are unpredictable and that is way I think there should be a safer space around the slip roads

ArabellaTarantella · 01/09/2014 22:49

But what if the wankers already on the motorway don't let you in? What then?

Alisvolatpropiis · 01/09/2014 22:50

Just stay on til the end of the slip road if you're not quite sure Ursula. Every now and then you will come across than one tosser who doesn't move out to let people join on. I hate them too.

Oh and people who are glued to the middle lane no matter what.

gordyslovesheep · 01/09/2014 22:51

you should always be seeing what's coming! doing a couple of suicide checks at least - as you come down the slip road you normally have a good view of the carriage way

Original poster
MamaPain · 01/09/2014 22:51

If you a rent driving you have a lot more chance to see them. On a busy road the time between the sign for an approaching slip road and the opportunity to move over is not always sufficient.

Not everyone would be safe and happy, most people would be unhappy and the second or third lanes would be very congested and therefore more dangerous.

The most common cause of accidents on fast roads is changing lanes. More people will be at risk because there would be more cars moving over if there was the need to keep the first lane empty.

OP posts:
gordyslovesheep · 01/09/2014 22:52

I've seen a driver in the car I was in come tearing down the road at 70mph to be met with a traffic jam and had to slam the breaks on well that's just really bad driving and shit observation

MaidOfStars · 01/09/2014 22:52

Fluffy
If joining a motorway at an appropriate speed is too scary for you, may I suggest you remain a non-driver? And do you think you're somehow making it safer by grabbing the dashboard? And of course you can speed match past 70mph down a sliproad. I'd say that the police may even turn a blind eye to a brief bit of excess if they feel you were safer doing so.

And lostinindia/Ursula It is my opinion that your gap should be picked as soon as you can see the traffic in the lane. I look over my shoulder as soon as I've got a view. You should never reach the end of a sliproad needing to find that space.

UrsulaBuffay · 01/09/2014 22:52

Thanks for the advice :-) I started motorway driving last year and have done a fair few long drives and always been fine I just always wondered really, as I pick quieter times, what you do if you simply can't get on but I suppose there is a give way at the end and you just have to give way. Speed matching is a good way of putting it.

UrsulaBuffay · 01/09/2014 22:54

I'll bear that in mind next time Maid- pick my space and go for that not just blind hope that there'll be one

RobinHumphries · 02/09/2014 05:36

I've reached the end of a slip road before and had to completely stop cos the stupid driver on the main road saw me coming so slowed down for me. thing was they were parallel to me and I should have been able to slot in behind them, it was unsafe in my opinion to go ahead of them so I slowed down and they slowed further. They ended up stationary on the main road but parallel to me so effectively blocking me in. That was a dual carriageway though not a motorway.

sashh · 02/09/2014 06:03

fluffyduffydoo

I suggest you learn to drive or at least read the highway code. It is the responsibility of the driver joining to do so safely.

Near my parents is a motorway that has a slip road to join and then goes goes down to a 2 lane motorway, the left hand lane becomes the slip road for the junction to my parents house.

Any car getting on at that junction needs to move to the 'middle' lane ASAP, I'm getting off so I need to be in the left lane.

I have been the only car on the motorway, in the left lane, and a car has almost pulled in to me because the driver thought I should get out of the way and were too lazy to look where they were going.

Bunbaker · 02/09/2014 07:16

I've seen a driver in the car I was in come tearing down the road at 70mph to be met with a traffic jam and had to slam the breaks on

"well that's just really bad driving and shit observation"

I agree. Driving is all about anticipation.

fluffy It is becoming clear from your posts that you are being driven around by some really bad drivers. Why don't you learn to drive yourself? You might feel safer in a car if you are in control.

ArmyDad · 02/09/2014 07:18

Agree with most on this one. Driver should look ahead at the traffic and match speed. I only know of one junction that I use that is blind to the main carriage way, all the rest have very good visability. It is incredibly frustrating to have all 3 lanes slow down due to poor driving and those who accommodate it by moving into the OVERTAKING lanes when they are also not achieving the speed limit.

KnackeredMuchly · 02/09/2014 08:12

On the face of it yanbu but your updates yabu. It is necessary to move over to the middle lane at times.

If safe you absolutely should move into the middle lane to let cars join the motorway.

In the slip road you only have a short time to get up to speed and you don't always have the ability whilst shifting through gears to make sure you are aiming correctly before or after the cars on the motorway.

The amount of times I've seen cars refuse to move over, or speed up so cars can pull in behind them etc. Now that is dangerous.

They shouldn't be driving on motorways if they're not able to switch lanes to ease flow of traffic.

whois · 02/09/2014 08:30

It's rally scary to try and join a motorway so the areas where cars join should be free of others cars

No, it's not. If you approach at the right speed you can slot in very easily.

It's always stupid idiots who think they are the very 'safe' drivers and never speed and are happy to sit significantly under the speed limit. Usually hand in hand with sitting at 70 in the middle lame regardless of traffic flow.