To find four lane motorways very stressful

[stressedout677]

I was driving into London the other day and found myself on a four lane motorway. I'm not the most confident of drivers (and don't drive very often either) and found it really difficult keeping an eye on four lanes of traffic rather than the usual three. I was really relieved when it dropped down to three lanes. Does anyone else find this or is it just me?

Four lanes are ok, it's when the inside lane keeps disappearing to be an off-lane and then reappears again as a slip road that it annoys me as I keep having to change lanes to stay on the motorway.

If you are on a 'smart' motorway then you are right to be very concerned Hard shoulders are dangerous too. The problem is the lorry drivers not paying attention and the sentences passed on them need to be much stiffer. Although the "smart" section on the M1 around Sheffield without anywhere for a pedestrian to go is somewhat crazy (if a lorry is hurtling towards you, the only way to get away is to jump off an elevated road - certain death either way :( )

Yanbu. The M3 has a four lane stretch with a stupid smart motorway.

The worst is when it's a 4 lane and you've been doing the correct left-lane-except-for-overtaking but then all the lanes are feeding off onto different junctions and you have to get into the 3rd or 4th lane which people are still using for "overtaking" (ie going at 100mph+).

Yes, so much this! Shudder.

Driving anywhere is stressful especially now lockdown has eased off a lot more. Drivers are mostly inconsiderate and drive too fast!
I try to avoid motorways if I can and admire people that can do this on a daily basis.
I don't think your in the minority feeling this way about the roads.

Motorways never bother me at all when driving... city centres on the other hand
I would rather drive from Lancaster to Oxford on a motorway than drive in Manchester City centre

I dislike motorway driving, but tbh I don't find 4 lane motorways any worse than 3 lane ones. Exactly the same rules and road-use methods apply.

Yanbu. If you mean motorways with no hard shoulder, then yanbu at all. They are absolute death traps. I now refuse to drive on the "smart" section of the M3 which adds almost half an hour to my journey south. Luckily I don't do it often but I feel for people who have to run that gauntlet every day.

Yy QueenPaw. I don't like motorways, but driving in city centres is about the most stressful activity I can think of. Fortunately I live fairly rurally. My nearest city is so small it's not like a city at all really.

YANBU at all. I'm getting a real phobia of it since having DC. When you see how some dickheads zip between the lanes, barely signally or giving a shit about other drivers it feels like a miracle there aren't more pile-ups. The US is even more terrifying, not just cos there's more busy lanes, but they all have huge vehicles and somehow with them being automatics it feels much more like they're all flooring it with minimal stopping distances. At least with gears you have to pay more attention whereas there it feels like go go go and even more likely to crash.

I prefer them. I find that the trucks that are normally clogging up the left hand lane take the first lane and I usually treat the second lane as the 'slow lane'..saves having to overtake them every five minutes.

OP I am fine on stardard 3 lane motorways but bugger me 4 and 5 and I am useless,I know the principle but it terrifies me incase I or someone else make a mistake and it all goes pear shaped I could be at my sons house in 15 mins if I used our 4 lane motorway instead I go the other way with takes me through villages and towns and 45 mins!! They laugh at me here but I am driving where I feel safe and most competent to handle any situation. You are not alone in your nervousness I can assure you,

The M25 makes me shudder and I'm fairly a confident driver, have driven across the UK and Europe.

Something about the constant combination of so many junctions, aggressive drivers, overhead speed changes makes me nervous.

It's as if everyone just tunes up the aggression by 10%, leaving less room between cars, less thinking time. And then there's madness like a doddery car sat at 55mph in the 3rd lane.

I prefer it when it's congested and you're not allowed to change lanes. Somehow simpler.

Does anyone else find this or is it just me?

No, but that is because I had a regular commute on the M1 at Sheffield, which is 4 lanes. If you don’t drive very often I can see why it is so daunting.

I've noticed that on 4 lane motorways there are loads more people who just seem to pick a lane and stay in it. So you'll have someone doing a steady 60 in the third lane

Yes, I find that happens a lot. When I drive down the M1 the hard should becomes the inside lane at junction 35A, so if you were in the second lane you suddenly find yourself in the third lane. A lot of drivers don’t seem to know what to do. Four lane motorways didn’t exist when I took my driving test.

@RaspberryCoulis

But it's the same principle whether you're on a dual carriageway, motorway, 4 lane motorway, 7 lane superhighway.

Stay left unless overtaking.

I agree.

Although the more lanes there are the more likely you are to find someone pootling along in a central lane with no idea of what's going on around them. I used to get worked up on the M1 with people bumbling along at 60 in lanes 2 and 3, pushing everyone else out to lane 4 which then slows down because of volume of traffic. Grr!

You don’t exactly need to watch all four lanes constantly, though. You watch what is adjacent to you and what might impact you

No, you don’t need to watch them constantly. But I think the issue for me is that when switching lanes on a three lane motorway, you can quickly and easily assess the situation and what other drivers are going to do. But on a four lane motorway, if you’re in lane 1 and want to move to lane 2, you have to be sure that no one in lane 3 is likely to move into lane 2 at the same time, and that obviously depends on what someone else might be doing in lane 4. Add to that the very heavy traffic, people speeding and occasionally undertaking and it’s quite stressful.

Can anyone give me any tips on how you would deal with the scenario in my previous post?

@RickiTarr

You don’t exactly need to watch all four lanes constantly, though. You watch what is adjacent to you and what might impact you. If you try to watch everything equally, you won’t be paying enough attention to what’s around you.

Have you thought about having motorway lessons for confidence? Either that or simply driving more often?

Of course you need to watch all lanes. Your eyes should constantly be scanning forward as far as you can see, around you then behind you.

@RaspberryCoulis

But it's the same principle whether you're on a dual carriageway, motorway, 4 lane motorway, 7 lane superhighway.

Stay left unless overtaking.

👏👏 I reaaaaaaaally wish more people did this!

@stressedout677 I only worry about what affects me, so lane 4 wouldn't be my issue, that's for other people in lane 3 to worry about
It's exactly the same as any other motorway, I try and know what car is behind me, in front and also to the side/overtaking so I check that constantly
Indicate, check and move

Stay left unless overtaking.

And unless people are joining the motorway from a slip road, surely, at which point you should move from the far left lane into the next lane across to let them in?

I only worry about what affects me, so lane 4 wouldn't be my issue, that's for other people in lane 3 to worry about

But what if someone in lane 3 sees someone about to pull out of lane 4 into their lane due to getting stuck behind a lorry say (dangerous driving I know but it does happen). They might then quickly switch to lane 2 just as you’re pulling in from lane 1.

My nearest stretch of motorway is 4 lanes, the nearest with intermittent hard shoulder, and a bit further on, all lane running. I rarely need to use lane 4 and often don't bother with lane 3 as I tend to only go a few junctions. It does feel like there is more to be aware of, particularly with faster vehicles from the right. They are an easier playing ground for drivers that like to go at 90+

Although at quiet times I do seem to end up trundling along in lane 1 and find there's a lane 3 hogger and end up using every lane to pass the stupid sod.

In heavier flows I'm happy keeping left and having the bigger stopping distances than the high speed bumper to bumper in lanes 3 & 4.

@stressedout677 just watch lane 2. Don't try and spot people moving in lane 4, your only worry is someone moving over into lane 2 from lane 3. If you try and watch lane 4 as well you will end up in a right middle!
Ignore lane 4, pretend it's not there

4 lanes don't bother me. No hard shoulders make me feel sick everytime

Four lanes does not bother me when I drive (not very often now as only when I hire a car), but I get that they can be strange. Not helped by those who have the strange condition yet to be diagnosed by medical science which means they are frightened to ever go in the left hand lane.