Motorway sliproad, stay same speed, move over or slow down?

[WyclefJohn]

This is more of a question about what do most people do, rather than what is reasonable.

Yesterday, I was driving up a sliproad to join a motorway, and I saw what looked like I big gap in front of a van, but I was going a bit slower (maybe 5mph or so, although I was getting faster), so the van was gaining on me a bit. I was fully expecting him to slow down a touch and let me in, and I was getting a bit nervous as I thought I would have to brake sharply. Eventually they did and no problem, but I could have caused an accident, but my strategy hinged on the strategy of the other driver (or player, it's a bit like game theory).

My DP and I then had a conversation about what is the reasonable thing to do as the driver on the motorway in the similar situation. If you're on the main road, and you see a car coming on, you're going to clash, there are three strategies

1. Move over if there's space
2. Slow down
3. Keep going at normal speed, and force the person coming on to react

My DP argued the right thing to do is 3) keep going. However, I think that "most people", would either follow strategy 1) or 2), to allow someone on.

I think my DP is technically correct, but moving over a slowing down seems more natural. I also get it can vary from situation to situation (difference in speeds, how much braking is required). What do most people do and what is right in this situation?

I've usually done (and encountered) 1. Sometimes 2 but only if I can't move over because I'm being overtaken by another vehicle at the time. But I've never been blocked from joining a motorway; if I signal and get up to speed people let me in, either by moving over or allowing a gap.

By law, the person on the slip road might not have right of way way but in a practical sense if someone's at standstill on a slip road and the rest of the traffic on the motorway is doing 65mph or more it's very dangerous and almost impossible to get on. So I think most drivers give a little to maintain the smooth flow of traffic. You'd have to be properly hemmed in on all sides (or a true arsehole) to block a driver from joining the motorway and I've rarely seen it. Personal experience and YMMV of course.

There should be a special place in hell for people who barge out of slip roads, or come out & then slow down. It's crap driving and dangerous in the wrong situation. If you can't speed up to join, then slow down & join behind the car/van/whatever.

Op I don’t think you are taking account of the impact on motorway traffic of people breaking. One car shows breaks lights for a second the car behind will probably match that but slow down more or for fractionally linger and you get a cascade reaction which can cause accidents. If, when you are driving you cause someone to break for you you are doing something wrong - it’s not about curtesy it’s about avoiding other accidents.

I’m dyslexic -excuse spelling mistakes.

The Highway Code is quite clear, traffic already on the motorway has priority. It is your responsibility to match speed with the motorway traffic on joining to prevent vehicles in the left lane having to brake or slow down. The onus was on you to either speed up and slot in in front of the van or slow down to join behind it.

It is nice to be courteous but not at the expense of safety or good driving practice.

Here is the link: www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/joining-the-motorway.html

I am an advanced driver, I have licenses for car, bike, lorry & bus and have done police driving courses.

If you're joining an A-road or motorway, it's your responsibility to moderate your speed to fit into the traffic. That may mean coming to an absolute stop in the worst case scenario to allow traffic to pass and then you can join safely. So you need to be prepared for that, but I find usually I need to increase my speed to join appropriately without causing an incident! You definitely have no right of way.

Having said that, I live on an A-road, and generally use dual carriageways wherever I go, and people who use them day in and day out are conscious enough of the potential difficulties joining them, to move out and give someone space and time, or to slow down to allow people to join. You just can't rely on someone doing that and as you say, it's worrying to consider how easy an accident can happen.

I’d slow or speed up a tad if that was possible as a first move. I’d move over if 1 wasn't possible but 2 was possible. If neither are possible safely and without affecting anyone already on the motorway I maintain my course and speed for safety reasons. If traffic has to stop it’s better that it’s in the slip than the motorway.

And yes, it IS a courtesy but defensive and courteous driving makes life more pleasant, less stressful and depending on the situation, a little safer. A bit of decency goes a long way.

There was a thread over the weekend about lorries where this came up.

I confessed to moving into the middle lane if safe to do so to make it easier for people coming down the slip to join the motorway. Big mistake to admit that.

It is nice to be courteous but not at the expense of safety or good driving practice.

I suppose what I feel like I'm getting at, and some others are, is that being courteous, and anticipating the slip road, so maybe taking the foot off a gas a little is good, safe driving practice. I feel in reality, if cars did barrel on without any consideration for cars in the slip road, then it would likely end up in harder braking, because people (wrongly) do pull out.

I always look out for people joining and make an obvious 'move' so they can work out quickly if they are going in front or behind me.

I view it as a form of assertive driving to see them coming and do something to make it clear what will happen next.

It almost always works.

agree with your last post OP. Its up to everyone to signal their intentions....letting a sticky situation develop because technically you have right of way, its just slightly pants driving imo.

I move over if I can, otherwise I just keep going at the same speed. That way, I'm being completely predictable and the driver on the slip road can judge their speed / distance accordingly.

Why didn't you speed up?" - my engine wasn't allowing me to! :-)

You were in the wrong gear then! You should be in a low enough gear to provide you with sufficient acceleration to match speed.

Sometimes it's really difficult to join a motorway. When it's busy and everyone is driving a bit too close to the vehicle in front in lane 1and the other 2 lanes much the same it would help to be a mind reader.

As a general rule, if I see anything on the sliproad and it looks like we'll 'meet' if one of us doesn't take some kind of action, I try and preempt that and move into the middle lane if I can. If not, I adjust my speed to give them a space.

Me too Seven but that was met with horror on the other thread.

People don't always move over or can't. If I wasn't going fast enough to get on safely I would slow down to avoid being in an accident. You've got to take responsibility for yourself.

I make an effort not to end up in a crash, even if it is another car ricocheting off mine, so I make room for the other driver. Who had right of way becomes a moot point if you're dead.

I always move into the next lane if I see I'm about to go past a slip road with cars on it, I've rarely been on a motorway too busy to allow me to do that.

The lines joining the motorway indicate to give way to the right according to the Highway Code.

I won't slow down if someone is behind me, it's the joiner's problem. I will pull out if the lane to my right is clear.

There are plenty of warnings for junctions and particularly if I know a stretch, I'll pull over early - but only if there's not a lot of traffic that I'd be holding up.

When I see a sign saying there's a junction one mile ahead, if I am in the inside lane, I aim to get into the middle lane around the 200 yds/metres sign (earlier if traffic is heavy). I stay there until I have passed the slip road and then move back into the inside lane. Then it's not my problem!

^^ This ^^

was just about to mention wrong gear but you beat me to it

I tend to pull out if I'm approaching a slip road & can see people are coming down it, or if I can't I'll ease off or speed up as required to try and make it smooth for everyone.

If I'm joining I'll boot it as required and get on as quickly as possible - sometimes over 70mph to make sure I'm in front - there's few things as dangerous as stopping on a sliproad on a busy motorway & trying to join from being stationary.

Sparkling, dare i ask why people were horrified? I usually move over to the middle lane when I see a slip road coming up! Why is it wrong?

I had the opposite scenario the other week: driving in the left lane and the slip road to exit the motorway ahead was blocked - so the van in front of me who wante to come off at that exit stopped dead in the left hand lane of the motorway, waiting for space to clear.

The middle lane was full, I couldn’t slow down fast enough and came within a whisker if the van before managing to dart out around it. The whole world seemed to go into slow motion; I’ve never been so afraid. I didn’t really want to get back I the car after that.

You should have adjusted your speed so, since you couldn't speed up, you would have been better to slow down and join behind the van.

I usually slow down a bit to let people on but I am guessing he thought you would speed up to go in the gap and therefore didn't need to change speed.

What really irritates me is when the motorway or dual carriageway I am on is empty apart from me and idiots still expect me to change lanes when there is plenty of room for them to get on if they just change speed a little. Sometimes it's like they don't even look and just expect everyone to move out of their way!