To not give way on dual carriageway?

[Cheerstoyoutoo]

So I’m driving down the dual carriageway in the left lane and there’s a car waiting to turn into the lane I’m driving on although it’s not a slip road or anything, it’s just a straightforward juction so the car was stationary indicating left and waiting to turn. I continued to drive but I think they expected me to move over for them as I got the finger, flash, etc. I always move over where possible for cars merging via the slip roads but this wasn’t the set up here. The car is question turned after I and the car behind me passed so it’s not like they were even waiting very long. I’m a really nervous driver following a collision some months ago so I tend to avoid changing lanes unnecessarily but it got me wondering should I have moved in this scenario? Thanks.

This makes me feel like you might have a problem. I get anxiety whilst driving, I had an aversion to right turns onto major roads for a long time following a collision in my early 20s, but this mindset of ‘avoiding changing lanes’ will not be helping you to be a safer driver. Driving is complex and you have to be prepared to react, which will include changing lanes. Perhaps some further tuition is needed.

It really depends on the road. Near me there is a long, straight, wide 60mph single carriageway road where you can see a good mile ahead most of the time, so overtaking is very safe. There are also a lot of roads near me where it's not safe because you can't see what's coming, not that that stops some people from trying. Doing that assessment on your own is part of safe driving. Also guessing when someone else is going to do something stupid so you can react accordingly!

Pass Plus is great for this sort of thing if you're considering it, normal driving lessons will get you through the test but it's almost like you then have to start learning to drive in the real world and there's no shame in seeking help with that.

Well, if you’re driving on one side of the road and a car is turning into the opposite side of the road then it’s not any different to a car turning into a dual carriageway when you’ve moved into another lane..? And if you moved over you’d be well out of the way of them before they even made the turn. I don’t understand the logic.

And I don't understand the logic of inviting someone to do a manoeuvre in front of you at 60mph with a car behind you.

Exactly! There is a reasonable change the car would have pulled out into the path of the second car. If much safer surely to wait until there is a visibly safe gap.

Omg, you don’t even overtake tractors? 🤣😂😆

By that logic no one should ever move over.

I would ha e moved into the outside lane. Usually the car behind the takes that as a cue to move out too - but I have no control over that and would assume the driver waiting to join would wait until both cars had moved over.

I regularly use a junction which joins a dual carriageway and it's bloody annoying when there's a clear outside lane and folk don't move over to let me out.

I think part of the problem is because I live very near the A1 (single carriageway in parts and rural so lots of tractors) and I see people doing stupid overtakes all the time. I had somebody crash into me because they were overtaking a HGV on a bend! The worst part is they were a couple of miles away from the dual carriageway so they could have killed us, snd themselves through their impatience. Better to just get somewhere five minutes later than take a risk.

Your instructor is correct. However we are talking moving over on a dual carriageway which is a very different thing, you have the lane to move over into with no opposing traffic. All you need to do is check to see if the right hand lane has space.

Is it concern that you may miss something? If you’re hyper vigilant you’re unlikely to miss seeing a vehicle, or is it judgement of speed of any cars on that right hand lane?

It’s plainly routed in anxiety and certainly worth trying to get over as driving should be pleasant, not anxiety inducing!

The only time to overtake, even a tractor, is if the road is straight and clear, and you can see for certain that you can do it. I wouldn't dream of doing it otherwise, and I'm very comfortable in all road situations.

Driving threads on Mumsnet make me despair.

He sounds like he was a knob anyway so he got what he deserved.

I'm a nervous driver too, until you're more confident you just have to say "whatever".

Safe driving!

If you can safely change lanes then you should.

If you're a nervous driver and try not to change lanes etc, PLEASE get help from an instructor - you're a danger to others.

If it's a give way not a merge you absolutely did the right thing.

If you can't complete a simple manoeuvre of changing lanes to allow traffic to join, you sound too nervous driving to be safe on the road.

You did nothing wrong, you could have changed lanes to allow the car to pull out but you are not obliged to at all.

However, if you are so nervous about driving that you don’t feel comfortable changing lanes when it is clearly perfectly safe to do so you may want to consider some refresher lessons to get your confidence back.

Perhaps he was hoping both cars would pull over? It sounds just like the main junction near my house. It is always nice if people move over to let me on, but if they don't, I can wait.

The only little thing I would add, OP. If you are going to sit behind tractors then move back from it so that cars behind can overtake you first then the tractor rather than trying to overtake you both.

Other than that you did nothing wrong and the driver was a d*ck.

Friend of mine failed his first test for not overtaking. He was coming down a road with a hatched section in the middle with broken lines, he came up behind a milk float, couldn't remember if broken lines meant you could cross and overtake or not, so didn't. Failed for causing an unnecessary hold up to other road users, add by the time he got to the end of the mile or so long road he had caused a huge queue of traffic.
Not moving over or not over taking isn't always the safest/correct option.
I'm this scenario or would've been courtesy to move over, but not necessary. The fact that you are hyper vigilant and afraid of simple manoeuvres and have a child in the car is cause for concern. Please book some additional lessons. Overly hesitant drivers cause accidents.

The driver must have felt wound up and tense about something else - you just got the brunt of it. You did nothing wrong at all.

I wonder if you are one of those people who overtakes cyclists when there is someone coming the other way.

It is often not safe to overtake tractors (or cyclists) and you have to wait.

And it's not sensible to move over to allow someone to join a dual carriageway from a standing start. It's different when there's a slip road, although I tend to slow down (or speed up) to create a gap when I see someone coming on, rather than trying to pull over when there is someone in the outside lane.

The road must have been very wide and straight with no traffic coming the other way for quite some time.

Usually roads are quite windy - or when you get a straight bit, someone is coming towards you. I fail to see how someone could fail their test in those circumstances. However, if examiners are taking this view, it might explain why so many people overtake cyclists when I am coming towards them and apparently think I should slam on my brakes to avoid a head on collision.

@parkrun500club it is a very long straight road , slightly downhill, basically joins two roundabouts, one lane in either direction and the hatched bit in the middle is as wide as another lane at points

Don’t forget your blind spot!! Go on an advanced driving course