Unlucky on motorways.

[colly0410 1,181]

On Friday I drove from Hastings to Hucknall, oh dear, the traffic on the M25 & M1 was horrendous: I'd be in a stationary lane & the other 3 lanes would be moving, I'd move to a moving lane & it'd stop dead & the other 3 would be moving, this happened ad infinitum. Why does the lane I'm in stop moving? Is there a best lane to be in? Is it better to stay in the same lane or change & swap lanes? Why am I so unlucky?

[FLY2 10,108]

Colly, it must be the same lane I'm always in.

[Beefsteak 305]

It stops moving because 'impatient' people see a bit of a gap push in forcing the driver behind to 'slam on' this braking then shoots back down the line, thus holding every body up back down that lane, your original lane moves to take up the spaces of the 'impatient' people.

The secret being, stay in your lane, keep up with the flow of traffic, don't leave gaps for 'impatient' people to try and push into and don't think "The grass is always greener"

I know it's easier said than done but that's the way it is.

No offence meant, but that's from over 20 years of driving up to 2000 miles a week for my living.

[colly0410 1,181]

I never push in. If there is a big enough gap you're allowed to change lanes as long as you don't cause others to brake or deviate & you give a signal, it tells you that in the highway code. Lane changing was part of the ADI advanced driving test, no matter what lane you were in the examiner would tell you to change to the right or left lane. On My ADI advanced driving test I was in lane 3 on the M1 in a very slow start/stop jam when he told me about half a mile away to come off at the A52 slip road, so I had to change 2 lanes. He'd originally told me we were coming off at the airport turn off so that's why I was in lane 3, but he changed his mind because of the jam & didn't want to overrun the test. I must have done it right as he passed me..

[Beefsteak 305]

No body said you did push in, so please don't try and defend the indefensible.
You asked "Why am I so unlucky?"
I've merely explained how I was told it happens, and anybody with an ADI should have already been told too.

[FLY2 10,108]

The constant changing of lanes in normal traffic conditions is the cause of most Mway accidents, as proved by researchers from Aston University. Yet it is now an offence to lane hog. It doesn't make sense to me.

If I've overtaken two or three trucks, and there's another say 400 yards in front, then I'm bu66ered if I'm going to nip into the space between them just for several seconds. It's common sense that should prevail.

[colly0410 1,181]

If you look in the mirrors & if clear signal then if safe & legal move lanes it's perfectly safe, it's when people don't look or signal that there's problems. The "unlucky" quote was a humourous observation that your lane seems to go slower than other lanes like happens at the supermarket, I call it "the unlucky Alf syndrome" after unlucky Alf on the Fast Show. Of course you have no choice but to change lanes when a big red cross appears above your lane as someone had conked out further on, however many took no notice & charged on. A thing I used to tell my pupils when wanting someone to let you in (before health probs stopped me instructing) was "signal, then make eye contact & smile at the driver & hopefully their heart will melt & they'll let you in!" Amazing how often that works, lol, of course not in the ADI's handbook though..

[colly0410 1,181]

#6 FLY 2.

Yes agree that does seem a daft rule, "only use the right hand lanes for overtaking!" You'd be in & out like a snake if you did that all the time. I liked driving in America where you can use any lane you want, (well in Florida you could) they'd overtake on the left & right, seemed strange at first but you soon got used to it, they even had off ramps on the left hand lane of the freeway, could you imagine our motorways with with right lane off ramps?

[colly0410 1,181]

A lot of people ask why motorway driving isn't part of the driving test. I asked a chief examiner this, her reply: Fairness; some areas of the country don't have motorways nearby I.E. north Scotland & the test has to be broadly the same everywhere..

[Chulla 4,946]

Yes Colly, it is an education driving in America, especially on the freeways in city areas. The education is in keeping your eyes open and your wits about you. I remember driving through that spaghetti of freeways that are in the centre of Los Angeles, in the rush period. I watched out for the sign showing my exit road - it came up with an arrow pointing down to the required lane. Got in the lane, and then another entrance appeared on my right. Cars coming on the freeway did not join my lane but stayed in a new lane. This meant that my exit lane was now not the one I moved into a mile or so back. And so it went on until in sheer frustration I came off at the next off-ramp, parked in a side road and got the map out. On the multi-lane freeways it is perfectly OK to overtake on both sides - vehicles usually stay in lane if they are not going to leave for a while.

[colly0410 1,181]

So true Chulla whichever lane you was in turned out to be the wrong one, lol. You'd think you're doing correct by being in the right lane (= our left lane/lane 1) & a sign would say " right lane turn right!" & you'd have to nip in the left lane smart-ish, of course the locals knew this & you'd think "great, I've got this right lane all to myself!" Then you'd know why! Lol..

[colly0410 1,181]

Another thing I liked was the red & amber flashing traffic lights: flashing amber meant you had right of way & flashing red meant you had to give way, they'd do this at off peak times, then be normal traffic lights at rush hour, brilliant idea I thought..

[loppylugs 8,427]

I've found my satnav to be quite useful with regard to correct lanes for exit etc. one still has to watch out, but it can get you into the correct lane quite a while before your exit.

[StephenFord 866]

I hate motorways. Full stop. I think it comes from living "off-centre" in Devon for 10 years. The M5 seemed interminable, and then so did the M42 (or M6 depending on destination). Coming up to Nottingham, we invariably turned off the M5 at Junction 11A near Gloucester and came up the Old Fosse Way. Give me proper roads any day (provided all the other traffic stays on the motorways, of course !! )

[colly0410 1,181]

Going down to Hastings last week I gave up on the M 25 & went down some A roads which were then flooded doe to a massive thunderstorm coming over from France, at least we were moving..

[FLY2 10,108]

I wrote off the firms van many years ago on the M5. I was near Gordano services about 11.30am heading south through road works and we'd just had a torrential storm, and I just driven under the previous junction bridge when the low winter sun (November) momentarily dazzled me. I braked, and had just regained my vision when I was confronted with the tail lift of a large truck. I slammed the brakes on, but aquaplaned into the back of the truck. I was fully loaded with a full trailer which somehow managed to shear off, but remained slammed up behind me. It transpired that a car and recovery truck were on the hard shoulder and the three lanes were narrowed to two at that point. Some idiot had sped up on the outside lane and dived in the gap in front of the truck in front of me. I was temporarily dazzled at this time. The cab was crushed, but luckily, I liked my seat quite well forward so although I was crushed up against the windscreen and dashboard, I could push my seat right back. My trapped legs were cut and grazed, and my pelvis badly bruised, but other than cut arms and hands from shattered glass, I was ok.

So, van wrecked, trailer damaged, load dispersed over the Mway and customer inconvenienced, all because some impatient turd dived in a tight gap at the last second. He was never traced.

[katyjay 5,090]

I think this thread should be renamed 'Sod's Law' because it doesn't matter which lane you are in, be it the bank, supermarket or traffic jam, the other lane will move faster. That is, till you move into it, then it will come to a grinding halt.

[colly0410 1,181]

Yup so true Katjay. Read somewhere that we only remember the times we get held up & forget when our lane did go faster, confirmation bias they call it. Used to see the same sort of bunching up effect down the pit: an endless rope would be driven at a steady rate by a haulage motor & the rope would run at a constant speed near the motor, half a mile away the rope would be starting & stopping, told us at mining tech college this was caused by stretch in the rope. Sometimes conveyor belts would do the same, they'd then say it was "hunting"..

[FLY2 10,108]

Whilst not advocating sharp practices when driving, there are several legal short cuts to employ when entering and leaving Mways.

M1 junction 15A leaving to join the A43 westbound. Very often at peak times, the traffic extends back onto the Mway. Therefore take the lane marked Services. Head for the filling station marked Fuel, but don't stop, just exit at the A43 turn. It saves queuing.

Likewise at the other end of the A43 where it is always busy joining the M40 southbound, the same procedure could be employed, although I think one of the offending islands has recently been removed, which makes entry to the M40 easier.

When on the M40, and you want the A34 for Oxford, don't take the first exit lane. Carrion about a mile and there is another lane. At the top of the slip road keep right as it splits into three lanes.

Another good trick was when leaving Totnes in Devon onto the A385, it is always jammed up on the left lane for Buckfastleigh. Keep in the right hand lane marked Paignton, but once on the island just go round it as the vehicle already on the island has possession.

Nobody is going to argue with a big truck are they!

[Tim in the North East 200]

An analogy I liked as to why it is stop and start on congested motorway lanes. If you set one the 'Slinky' coiled springs on its way down the staircase at any one time there are sections that are moving quickly and others that are stationary - but the whole thing advances at a constant speed