How can you NOT get onto a motorway?

[purplecurtaindog]

I have driven on motorways for many years and avaerge 15,000 miles some years as I drive for work. I consider myself a very confident yet safe driver. I have experience driving lorries and an extended professional license.

Never in my 20+ years of driving have I had trouble getting onto a motorway...

Yet my friend told me today that she was not able to join a motorway today, that she matched with speed of traffic but there were 'no gaps.' She got stranded at the end of the slip road, DC in car, and ended up getting a vehicle recovery service to come out and get her car as she was too scared to move onto the motorway from a stop.

She says it was not her fault and that this was not due to fault of her driving.

However I can't see how you could fail to get onto a motorway if you were merging correctly?

I've always matched my speed with the traffic, indicated right, ended up on carriageway. If the traffic is slower, you still match your speed! My guess is she want too fast or slow. Yet she insisted this was not her fault.

So AIBU to not see how a safe and competent driver can get stranded at the end of a slip road? And AIBU to ask if this has ever happened to anyone/ if they've witnessed it?

I personally never have in all my years of driving.

Friend has been driving for ten plus years. I did mention that this shouldn't happen and that it was very dangerous, but I wasn't harsh or rude.

Thank you.

I’ve only had it once, when the car behind me moved into the gap that I was moving into, there were no other gaps, no one moved over and I just ran out of slip-way. It was terrifying and I totally sympathise with your friend.

wow after 6 months living in california I think I am cured of any issues with UK motorways. We have to go everywhere by freeway. sometimes there are TWO slips roads that merge together onto the freeway (yes!) and the exit ramp is just a few hundred feet further on, so I am indicating to exit right and decelerating (and tryng to enter the right lane, which I keep out of to allow traffic to enter the freeway safely) while two lots of traffic are accelerating onto the freeway. within our first 2 weeks we saw about 4 accidents. crazy drivers have no clue, never let you in (and not out of aggression, just never been taught to do so in their driving culture) but it sure has toughened me up!

* The solid white line along the hard shoulder is a HUGE clue that actually; you do no such thing.*

Note how the Highway Code says should not not must not,

Ahem

Rule 264
(...) You MUST NOT drive on the hard shoulder except in an emergency or if directed to do so by the police, traffic officers in uniform or by signs.

An emergency might be a few yards of hard shoulder to avoid stopping at the end of the slip road, in which case you might have to still use the hard shoulder to join, but not more than that.

An emergency might be a few yards of hard shoulder to avoid stopping at the end of the slip road, in which case you might have to still use the hard shoulder to join, but not more than that.

An emergency is absolutely not this.

Yes it's possible and no your friend isn't a competent motorway driver- from your updates your friend expected cars to move for her and wasn't merging correctly.

I do feel for her though. I've been there twice: once having recently passed my test I certainly wasn't competent enough and so got passplus lessons! The second time was when a car emergency braked going onto the motorway, just before you lose the barriers. A learner driver suddenly realising with accidental idiot parent teacher who hadn't. About half a dozen of us stopped for several minutes and finally the parent switched places with learner. All of us had to get on from stationary with barely any run up.

I don't think merging is actually taught in the UK driving test/lessons considering the amount of arguing that goes on on MN about it!

What I learned - and I have been learning abroad but I've accessed lots of learning to drive stuff for UK learners because of the language barrier, so I've ended up learning the two rules - is that traffic already on the motorway has right of way and is not required to move over or create a space for vehicles wishing to merge. It is entirely the responsibility of the merging driver to match speed and find an appropriate space. I have noticed that DH who learned in the UK tends to move over and/or make space for mergers whereas the German and American drivers I know do not. I mentioned to DH about it being his right of way and he said "I know, I just think it makes it easier for people". It's definitely a part of UK driving culture which is interesting even if it isn't a written rule.

Slip roads are generally shorter in the country I'm in which is nerve wracking as a beginner but another factor is that the merge lane often turns into an immediate exit lane, so if you don't find a gap you may well find yourself leaving the motorway before you've even got on it!

I got the hard shoulder idea on MN I think - but very clear that it would be an extremely unusal situation not to be able to merge and so used as an absolute emergency measure, not just as a normal thing to do!

I can't really picture simply stopping further up the slip road to look/wait for a gap but perhaps I'm unfamiliar with how UK slip roads work - I wouldn't have thought you'd be able to see?

Poor poor woman

This thread keeps popping in my head and I feel for her so much

Motorways are fucking scary and let's face it the place we are statistically most likely to die -and horribly--

Perhaps this person does what we are supposed to do when accessing a motorway/dual carriageway I.e. adjusts speed, indicates and then moved out when there is a space. You are probably a motorist that shoots up the slip road, puts indicindicator on and then moved on causing others to adjust their speed, or move over if they actually have room to do so, not always possible, or slow down to prevent collision. An awful lot of drivers think because they are there with indicator on that they have automatic right to squeeze in. For those in doubt, check highway code. So in answer to your AIBU yes you are.

I've had this happen a couple of times on a busy motorway when there have been back-to-back HGV's in the slow/left lane, meaning I couldn't join.

On one occasion I pretty much stopped, think I was in 2nd gear when joining right at the end of the slip road.

The other occasion I'm ashamed to say I saw there were lots of lorries, panicked that I wouldn't be able to join/would have to stop, and floored it and er....I guess undertook the big lorry? He/she quite rightly beeped at me for being such a twat. Can't believe I did it and was a little shaken for a bit, as realised how dangerous I'd been.

I've been driving for nearly 20yrs btw (passed when I was 17) so not a new driver. Motorways are scary places sometimes.

Actually statistically, you're many, many times more likely to die from illness than any accident or other external factor (murder/suicide).

The biggest cause of accidental death is falls, apparently. Almost twice as many as transport accidents.

In addition, motorways are actually the safest type of road to drive on. Only 5% of fatal accidents occur on motorways, yet motorways take about 20% of all traffic. Country roads are by far the most dangerous roads to drive on with over 50% of fatal accidents occurring here.

I agree they are scary and should be treated with respect.

I agree Bertie and I hate country bloody roads too

But barely a week goes by without a horrific motorway pile up so they do appear dangerous

I hate country roads I have to visit family members quite often who live in the sticks and I just hate driving there and back esp in the dark.

I join the motorway frequently where the slip road is very short and there’s no hard shoulder so I get it is scary I cannot envisage a circumstance where I would ever call the AA to get me off the road though! So stupid and dangerous

Motorways are fucking scary and let's face it the place we are statistically most likely to die -and horribly

Eh? I thought you were statistically likely to die from cancer, a respiratory disease or Alzheimer's and therefore likely to die in a hospital, hospice or home, not on the M6!

Bertie is right that motorways are generally safe to drive on. However, I live in Italy and in my region, motorways have more fatal accidents than any other roads. I hate them!

Less than 100 people die yearly in motorway accidents. It's not actually very many considering the amount of driving we do and the population. I think pile ups make the news because they are both dramatic and fairly rare. But pile ups are really nothing to do with merging - in fact if you saw a pile up when you were preparing to merge, you'd be very likely to be able to stop safely, put hazards on and potentially even get out of the car up the verge and well out of the way of danger before someone smashed into the back of you.

If you follow good practice WRT stopping distance you also avoid much of the danger from pile ups.

Oh yes I was using UK stats - can't speak for anywhere else! :)

Joining a motorway from a slip road, be aware that cars already on the motorway have right of way, if they can they may move over if they have a space to do so, if not they keep going, they should NOT brake or start to slow down to allow traffic to come on from a slip road, this could cause traffic behind to run into the back of them.
The traffic joining a motorway must give way to cars already on the motorway and join if safe to do so, DO NOT JUST BARGE ON thinking traffic has to let you on, they do not.
If you run out of slip road then stop, do not drive down the hard shoulder.
The give way lines at the end of the slip road tell you to do just that, give way to traffic already on the motorway.

Yes Vicky1990, correct! And for those saying this isn’t taught in UK driving lessons, I learned to drive 10 years ago and was taught this.

I used to confidently drive for miles on a variety of motorways, in my old tiny 2 seater car...but after a few very scary tailgating/undertaking incidents at 80mph+, I now get very anxious on motorways and as such avoid driving on them at all costs, especially as it can be miles before an exit if a panic attack does happen.

I saw someone stop on the slip road to a motorway just a couple of weeks ago. They were in front of me doing about 15MPH down the slip road. I was really worried because I was behind them so doing the same speed and I thought I'd have no chance joining.

Luckily there was an enormous gap so I pulled into that and put my foot down to get up to speed before something rear ended me.

Mr/Ms 15MPH decided not to bother joining and just stopped. I have no idea what they did next but it was completely horrific driving.

I've more often experienced problems joining dual carriage ways because there are fewer lanes and the slip roads are usually shorter. the A40 used to be awful for this. These days they have addressed the problem by making the slip road the right of way (think Hanger Lane and Park Royal junctions). So traffic in the inside lane has to go off and then traffic joining occupies the space those cars recently vacated. Can cause tailbacks and crappy driving with people cutting in and out though so I have no idea if it's actually safer. The authorities just keep dropping the speed limit and putting more cameras in to compensate I think!

There may well have been something wrong with their car. Hopefully there wasn’t an accident.

The car had been fine until the started going down the slip road - they'd been doing 40MPH in the 30MPH road approaching the junction, just decided to slow down when they got on it. And if they'd had something wrong they should have pulled over and put their hazard lights on rather than block the slip road.

Migraleve. Sorry if I've misunderstood your post but the lines on a slip road to join a motorway are not give way lines! Vehicles on the motorway have to allow space for adjoining traffic from the slip road if safe to do so. There is no excuse as the motorway traffic had a sign telling them in advance of the merging traffic so gives you time to assess speed and distance to allow a gap. People drive too close to the car in front which creates the problems. The person merging also needs to be conscious of speed to fit in with the traffic they're joining. All common sense really.

I quite agree, YogaDrone, it was very poor judgment certainly. Hopefully there wasn’t an accident, as I said, it sounds like an accident waiting to happen.