To ask- top tips for motorway driving

[AnxietyForever]

Not really a regular user of the Motorway but have used occasionally in the past however tomorrow we have a 3/4 hour journey.
Any top tips??

Research the route you’re taking to ensure there are no roadworks or diversions last minute, make sure your tyres are at the correct pressure, fill up your water reservoir for the screen wipers, take a break every two hours.

When on the motorway, stay in the left lane unless you are overtaking. Try and use the middle lane by slip roads to allow other cars to join. Don’t slam your brakes randomly, slow down gradually and if you need to brake suddenly - do it so with your hazard lights. Don’t forget to check blind spots and to indicate!

Motorway driving is my favourite part of driving. It’s so easy and you don’t have to overtake anyone if you don’t want to. Have a safe drive.

Never pull back in until you can see the headlights of the car you’ve overtaken in your rear view mirror.

@YesPleaseMary

Mirrors, mirrors, mirrors and good lane discipline.

↑This↑

Always always be aware of what is going on behind you because that will massively affect how you react to what is going on in front.
And if it gets a bit busy leave plenty of room in front of you - yes it will get filled by lane changers, which is irritating, but keep that gap.

3/4 of an hour or 3-4 hours?

Join the motorway at the speed of the traffic so you can slot straight in between traffic

Good advice if it's not busy, however accidents happen when someone panics and forces themselves into oncoming traffic because they've built up too much speed to stop and wait. People on the slip need to be mindful that they need to give way until there is space to join safely.

observation, observation, observation.

Allow for MUCH longer than 3-4 hours as it's Bank holiday!

MN will tell you to live in the left hand lane because middle lane hoggers cause problems to those overtaking.

But theres a reason why people middle lane hog; and thats because the left hand lane is not a very nice place to be (lorries, visibility, merging traffic on and off etc.)

The key is not to drive slowly in the middle lane, you need to be at least 70+ (most drive in middle lane about 75ish); you wont set off a motorway speed camera if 79 or under.

So drive where feels comfortable to you, keep a good distance and don't make rash decisions if someone is being a dick - stay in the same lane, consistent speed and move when its safe to do so.

if you need to brake suddenly - do it so with your hazard lights.

And thats an important one!

If you come to a serious slow down/stop and the traffic behind is still travelling at speed - put the hazards on.

Good audio books!
Keep to the left.
Mirrors.
Indication.
Keep your distance

The key is not to drive slowly in the middle lane, you need to be at least 70+ (most drive in middle lane about 75ish); you wont set off a motorway speed camera if 79 or under.

This is terrible advice. Do not drive at 79 and think you’ll be safe from speed cameras. Do not stick to the middle lane if the left lane is empty and think it’s ok because you’re not doing 70. Terrible advice from start to finish. If I could banish the post from the internet I would 😂

@LemonSwan

MN will tell you to live in the left hand lane because middle lane hoggers cause problems to those overtaking.

But theres a reason why people middle lane hog; and thats because the left hand lane is not a very nice place to be (lorries, visibility, merging traffic on and off etc.)

The key is not to drive slowly in the middle lane, you need to be at least 70+ (most drive in middle lane about 75ish); you wont set off a motorway speed camera if 79 or under.

So drive where feels comfortable to you, keep a good distance and don't make rash decisions if someone is being a dick - stay in the same lane, consistent speed and move when its safe to do so.

Disagree with all of this.

OP you've had some good advice on the rest of this thread. Do not follow the advice from this post.

Carry bottles of water and snacks. If you get stuck behind a crash it can take hours to clear. If you have little ones, carry lots of extra nappies & wipes. And a fully charged phone, and a charging cable.

Make sure you have recovery, check your tyre pressures/treads, oil level, coolant level & washer fluid before you set out.

Plus coats for everyone in case you break down and need to get out and off the carriageway.

*Disagree with all of this.

OP you've had some good advice on the rest of this thread. Do not follow the advice from this post.*

Look I am not here for a bunfight I am just being honest.

Its how most people drive on motorways which is why its such a hot topic on MN. Because its annoying because everyone thinks they should be the one to overtake.

OP is a beginner on motorways so I am not going to tell her the 'how to drive if your a perfect and experienced motorway driver'

I am going to tell her the way 80% of average drivers drive as its most comfortable and the least hair raising.

She will likely end up doing it after an hour anyway in the slow lane.

So lets give OP all the options and she can decide whats safest and most comfortable for her on the day.

Don't sit in the outside lane at 70

@LawnFever

Fill up with petrol before you join the motorway, we didn’t do this yesterday and got stung with ridiculously expensive petrol at the services but had no choice but to pay it.

This. Or check which junctions have fuel available nearby (my satnav shows petrol stations). I passed Charnock Richard services yesterday and saw the petrol prices - £1.50 a litre! Fortunately I know that by coming off at J27 and going to the nearest BP (which is on the northbound side) I'll save about 20p a litre. Same at Tebay, nice posh M6 services, but petrol is silly prices and there's plenty of fuel places if you go to Penrith (Gulf or Morrisons) instead. Same goes for food - I'd rather take my own than eat m/way services offerings

Patience of a saint, given the number of people who drive on motorways and indeed in general who should lose their licence in my opinion.

Motorway driving is the easiest driving there is. We live by the moors now and I'd take motorway driving any day over dodging sheep and tractors.

Just stay left, drive at a sensible speed, watch out for any road changes (lane closures, accidents, smart motorways) and if you're turning off, make sure you get in lane in plenty of time.

Oh and always check your car before a long journey. Make sure your tyres are pumped up and in good condition and you've got petrol.

You definitely can set off a motorway speed camera under 79mph. I set one off at 77mph.

Plus, it's not that mn disapproves of middle lane hogging. It's that it is an offence that can attract £100 fine and points.

By all means give OP 'options'. But also be kind enough to point out what the legal consequences there might be.

If you're asking how to drive on a motorway. Then maybe motorway driving isn't for you

Use Google Maps to navigate, it’s really up to date with traffic delays so will always keep you on the fastest route depending on what’s happening ahead. If you get into a delay you’ll know how long it’ll be.

Don’t hog the middle or outside lane to drive slowly, I watched this yesterday on a dual carriageway and it was utterly painful. I was turning off but found it incredibly hard not to undertake with the outside lane driver going so slow!

Look ahead and where a slip road is joining, check mirror, indicate and manoeuvre into middle lane a few hundred yards beforehand. This will avoid sudden braking to let incoming cars that have misjudged the speed in. A few hundred yards beyond the junction, when the incoming cars have joined and settled into lanes, check mirrors, indicate and smoothly move back. This puts you in control of your own space on the road, not someone cutting in fast from the slip road.

Take bottled water, a few snacks/sweets/fruit/wipes/rubbish bag. Make sure all in reach of passenger/oldest child to distribute (not in boot -my usual trick!).

Nicest services are the Farm ones (Gloucester and Lake District?)

Have read a few threads on here about motorway driving I never drive on the motorway we only use it for trips away and my DH drives he is a really bad passenger.
I have yet to see all the traffic keeping to the left hand lane only moving over for overtaking. It’s usually absolutely full of slow moving lorries and the odd car
Now it is usually very busy on our trips DH moves over to middle lane then to the outside lane if there is lots of fast moving traffic He will obviously always move back to the slower lanes if something is coming up hard behind him
An extra pair of eyes is always handy for overhead lane changes and no he is not a bad driver and his car is more than powerful enough to keep up. I find the worse thing you can do on a motorway is to dither and not indicate

Anticipate all the time. Other people do stupid things.

Like others have said try to join the skip road at at least 60mph. That way you can speed up to get ahead of a lorry match cars in lane 1 or settle in behind a lorry who can only do 56 ish mph.

When moving out to lane 2 or into lane 2 keep do a quick shoulder check for other cars moving into the same spot.

Lorries often indicate to move lanes sometimes when alongside. Usually this is because it's busy and they are indicating their intention to cars behind not because they haven't seen you. Having said don't hang around next to them if you can avoid it.

Lots of people exceed the speed limit in the outside lane so don't hang around there doing 70mph if you can move in. Speeding drivers get impatient and may undertake you.

Remember that while people will often move over or let you in especially if very busy it is your responsibility to merge safely or give way etc.

When it comes to leaving give yourself time to get over to lane 2. My instructor used to say you are so my just over 1 mile a minute so if the junction is 1 mile away you have a minute to get in the correct lane.

Yes keep left if you can but bear in mind you do not want to be weaving in and out because if it is busy and there's a lorry ahead in lane 1 you might get stuck in lane 1 if traffic behind won't let you out again

Watch out for elephant racing ( lorries slowly overtaking at slow relative speeds ) and get into the outside lane in good time.