Merging onto dual carriageways and motorways (highway) via a slip road
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- Опубліковано 10 гру 2024
- Merging onto dual carriageways and motorways - top tips!
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A common anxiety for people learning to drive is merging on dual carriageways, motorways and highways via slip roads. This is often due to the high speeds and high travel level involved on these roads.
Here are some hints, tips and explains on how to deal with a slip road and on ramps. Soon you will feel more confident and happy to merge onto the dual carriageways, motorways and highways.
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Thanks for this video - I passed a couple months and I've never had trouble with them, but slip roads are the part of driving that I enjoy the least.
@Thawne just worried about if there wasn't a gap. Far more confident with it now and have no issues.
@Thawne no? Don't know of anyone who does.
@Thawne because no one in the UK does?
Thanks so much for this! My driving instructor didn't /can't explain properly how to do this. It all made sense that short slip road is different technique to long slip road. Please keep up the great videos!!!
Glad the video helped and made sense :-)
this is the most detailed vid on merging that I have seen to date..very good indeed. lots of info and explanation..I will subscribe. Thankyou for taking the time to help us less learned drivers
No worries, most videos just say what to do, as in build speed and merge, but do not really go through the finer details, so this is what i wanted to do, it is my style and you will find it on my other videos. Thanks for subscribing! Have a good xmas.
Totally agree with everything you have said on this topic. You have explained about not trying to join a 70mph dual carriageway at 30 mph. I have found that you may not have a clear slip road for joining and a driver in front is trying to join at 30 mph. There's always one! My plan is to slow down and try to maintain a long clear stretch ahead behind the guy into which I can do an acceleration run. The traffic behind normally understands the situation and very soon we all fly past the pillock. Sometimes the slowster even stops and you can past easily.
Wooa this is the most detailed merging I ever seen. This helps alot. Amazing.
Thanks, glad you like the details. I was not sure if it was too much at the time of making the video, but wanted to address all concerns new drivers might have.
Soo glad you're making videos again! They're soo helpful! Best instructor :) xx
Same
A tip from a truck driver! When joining a carriageway please don’t slow down when joining the carriageway if it’s clear, we have a max speed of 55mph unless downhill then a little faster. I see powerful cars joining a fast moving carriageway at 40 mph causing trucks to slam on breaks then for them to only accelerate once on the carriageway.
Unfortunately for many drivers it is not as simple as giving them tips.
Often drivers go too slower on slip roads due to anxieties of not having a gap on the dual carriageway or because you have to accelerate when you can't see what is coming along the dual carriageway. This means they approach at a speed being ready to stop, hence only accelerating when they can see it is safe to merge, treating it much like a t-junction.
Of course being anxious of not having a gap and going slow, will then in tern mean you will not have a safe gap. So it is a catch 22 situation.
As a truck driver can I ask if you often find truck drivers tailgating each other in lane one, this makes it extremely difficult to merge if there is are 3 or 4 trucks tailgating each other in lane one.
The examples here are excellent, really help give a sense of what to expect, as well as the narration as to what gear you're using
Glad the video helped, if you could do any of the follow three it would really help to support the channel:
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This is a great video for myself, as currently learning at this present time!! thank you for the video!!
Glad it helps reconfirm things David.
I personally think in order to succeed often you need to try various different approaches, as just doing it yourself it may not click, but watching some else do it, either on a video or a demonstration drive, it may click more.
The main thing is you want to make sure it clicks before you pass your driving test, rather than waiting until you have passed and then you misjudge something and there is no-one next to you to save you.
Thanks for explaining, that I need to only use gear 3 for merging onto the motorway. Never been told that. I was always stressed about changing gear and assessing the situation. My instructor did not told me what you explained and finally you gave me the explanation I needed.
Glad it helped.
Also just note that sometimes you might use 2nd gear, if a very short slip road where you need to approach slowly to start with and wait for a bit gap. Or might use 4th gear if a very long slip road, I would not describe any on the video as very long slip roads, but you sometimes get really long ones on motorways.
Great example, this is one of my weakness. Now I have better understanding
Glad you found the video helpful.
More sure you like & subscribe for more videos like this.
I understand this is 6 years later, but for the examples you showed, what about if it’s really busy. You showed examples where there are plenty of gaps. I have to drive on the A14 and it’s horrifying. The slip road is tiny and there are barely any gaps. Last time I couldn’t join as I couldn’t get in. This is my fear. You build speed, but what if there aren’t any gaps!
I am quite comfortable with merging onto a dual luckily.
That's a great and helpful video. Thank you!
The problem is using mirrors & shoulder check no clear view of the cars on the motorway lane I merge to (as the merge lane is at an angle), so at 4:27 must be the view from rear dashcam, rear view mirror can only see traffic following your car ! Wish there is a special mirror.
What do you mean?
A special camera to see what in the side mirror and blindspot area?
The best video of this topic, thanks.
Glad the video helped, if you could do any of the follow three it would really help to support the channel:
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Thank you so much for this video. It was very useful.
Hi.I like watching your videos..my test is tomorrow afternoon at Wakefield..hope am going to pass this time🙏😄
Make sure you have a watch of this video for some tips to help stay calm :-)
ua-cam.com/video/e7vEuOLwn7I/v-deo.html
@@UKDrivingTest I failed 🤔
@@judymunyinyi3402 Do you understand why you failed and what you need to do differently next time?
I did silly and dangerous mistake..I was asked to do emergency stop instead of pressing the break pedal I accelerated
Better luck next time :-)
I know you say most drivers will move over and let you on but on my my test trying to merge I had two white van men nose to tail no intention of letting me go anywhere and I had traffic right up my tail aswell nightmare
on my lessons today I completey mess this up (sliproad onto a motorway), although the instructor said I wasn't helped due to the car behind me making zero effort to help me out. He wasn't adjusting his speed at all, OR moving to his right. I ended up making a real pigs ear of it, though! instructor had to grab the wheel and we almost stopped as we rumbled across the cats-eyes on the left on the sip road! i'm so bad at these lol. can only ever do it if it's completely empty OR the driver behind helps me out somehow EDIT: It actually looks a bit like this vid at 4:20 in terms or speed, distance and position to that black car, but the difference is in your vid he moved lanes for you, but my guy didn't.
If he's catching up to you, you need to either speed up sharply to match or surpass his speed, or slow down and slot in behind him
One thing I would also mention is that on very short slip roads it might be better to stop before you turn so that your car is perpendicular to the carriageway so that you can easily see traffic and give way. This also means that you can use the whole slip road to build speed and merge. I don't think it would be a good idea to stop at the very end of the slip road
Yes I think you are meaning extremely short slip roads, the ones on the video are just about long enough to not require this.
But I know a few, not on this video, where it might be best to stop on the corner so you can see better and have a bit of room to build speed
What happens when you're merging and car next to you doesn't slow down or move across and you run out of space to merge? Happens to me all the time had to full on stop
It has never personally happened to me.
Remember the cars on the main carriageway do not have to slow or move across, they just might do it to be a considerate and helpful driver.
If you are running out of space to merge then there could be a few issues:
- Your approach speed is incorrect, meaning it is not safe to merge in front of traffic on the main carriageway.
- You are looking for the gaps in the main carriageway too late, possibly not checking blindspot, as if you only check mirrors you will see what is happening very late.
- You are waiting for a too large gap, sometimes you will not be able to merge into a gap that gives you amble room for 'normal driving'. You might need to merge into a gap which is only a few car lengths ahead of another vehicle (assume your speed is correct, as mentioned above). Or you might need to merge behind a car and effectively 'tailgate' them for a matter of seconds so you can merge, then drop back once on the main carriageway.
Found this so helpful with the gears etc thank you!
Great to hear!
I love country roads and dual carriageway the best
Any advice on what to do if you're stuck behind a slow car on a slip road trying to join a bigger road? It feels really dangerous
Yes quite dangerous, but not uncommon, many drivers get anxious on slip roads for fear of 'not having a gap' and wanting to be at a speed so they can stop if needed. But if you don't match speed you won't have a gap. So a 'catch 22' situation really.
But to your question...
I suggest you hold WELL BACK from the slow driver, so you have plenty of space to accelerate firmly when they have merged. It does make it quite difficult, but that extra space to accelerate could just help.
@@UKDrivingTest cheers mate
Hi, how do you deal if the vehicle in front is not building speed and is going slow?
Not much you can do really, there is normally an overtaking lane on the slip road, so you can use that if they are not building speed. But bear in mind they are leading, so by the time you get to the slip road the slow driver should have been spotted by other drivers and action taken, so when you get there it should be ok, at very least other traffic on the main carriageway would have slowed.
@@UKDrivingTest Do you still have to keep a two second rule between me and the vehicle in front whilst accelerating on the slip road?
@@singletotakentv9583 Yes you should keep a safe gap from the vehicle in front on the slip road, incase they brake because they can't find a gap on then main carriageway.
However you may need to merge into a smaller gap on the main carriageway, but once you have merged you should then slow down to increase the gap from the vehicle in front.
I appreciate this video. Thank you for helping me.
Glad it helped!
I failed my motorbike MOD2 coming on to the A23 at Bolney (Brighton bound) - Looks like clip 2! I checked the car inside lane, clocked him twice, came out, he indicated, moved out - according to the examiner i caused him to slow, move out, and failed me on a serious... no idea what to do there now and i've been driving a car for 30 years!
Difficult to comment fully without seeing the incident, but I would tend to trust the examiners judgement, they highly trained to assess someones driving / riding ability .
But you do say:
"I check the car (on) the inside lane, clocked him twice, came out, he indicated, (he) moved out"
So are you saying you move in front of a vehicle and then they needed to move lanes? Or when you say "he" do you mean the examiner on his bike?
But like I say difficult to comment much further without seeing the incident.
really nice video!
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Excellent explained ❤❤🌺👍
Thank you! Cheers!
Thank you for this video, it was greatly explained and it was very helpful.
At 4:07 why is there 2 way traffic markings on the slip road if its only a one way slip road for yourself to merge with traffic on the motorway ? In other words why does the road marking have another arrow for oncoming traffic on a slip road ?
Good question, one many people ask!
The arrows confirming 'two way traffic' are there due to the houses / driveways on the left side, so the residents can turn right into the nearby village. The arrows are not for traffic coming from the dual carriageway, that would be terrifying!
@@UKDrivingTest Thanks very much for the reply , thats one less confusing issue resolved haha cheers
This is amazing. Thank you 👍🏼👍🏼
You're very welcome!
WRONG it clearly states in the highway code traffic on the carriageway has priority and it's the joining traffic that MUST adjust its speed accordingly and not interfere with the traffics progress.
Yes it sure does.
This is one of the biggest problems in the roads today, people must understand, it's the car in the slip road that has to merge into the traffic, it is not the job if the cars on the main carriageway to move over or slow down, I'm an hgv driver and have problems with this every day. I can't always pull over if I have fast moving traffic in the outside lane, and you get the typical hand gestures from cars on sliproads, when it's them that are in the wrong
@@alanshort7253 That's one reason that I work night shifts. Less traffic, less drivers that don't know how to merge, more possibilities to move to next lane to let them merge. Honestly I had 2 incidents that cars tried to merge through my truck in one year when I worked day shifts around Manchester. They tried to go THROUGH my truck. I thought that my truck was invisible. They didn't try to merge in front of the truck or behind, but they hit at the rear axle of the unit and I had a 13m van trailer behind the unit. Both said that they didn't see the truck!!!
What about emerging from a side road into road with 60mph. Because you have to emerge so quickly, and get up to the flow of traffic
Something to do a video on.
Two skills are required for such as junction, firstly as you say the ability to build speed quickly, the key is to 'max out' the gear, so pull away in gear 1 then get into gear 2 as normal (gear 1 is pretty lacking), once in gear 2 press gas firstly and build speed to a good 30-40mph, making the car rev quite a bit, then into gear 3 and build speed to 40-50mph, again letting ti rev quite a bit. This is of course not how you normally use gear, as it uses more fuel, but if merging onto a fast road building speed is more important that fuel efficiency.
The second skills is judging the size of the gap, best thing to do is to park up near a 60mph road and count how it takes for car to reach you, they will catch up pretty quick! You can then get a gauge of how far away they need to be before you can pul away. It is also worth while noting the typical driving school car with a. small engine will do 0-60 in around 15 seconds, so quite a bit of time, thus you really need a massive gap before you can pull out onto a 60mph road.
Thanks for your videos, I wish more UK drivers would watch them! I do have a couple of questions on this subject which I don't know if you may be able to help with please! I have recently started commuting on a very busy stretch of motorway (M62 & M621) and regularly encounter dangerous situations where it's difficult to know what to do.
1) Firstly, while I try to move into the middle lane to allow traffic to merge, it's not always possible when very busy. On a couple of occasions I have slowed to create a gap for a car that is trying to merge, but they have been hesitant (perhaps expecting I would have moved over) and one occasion we were in a situation where I was almost at a standstill on the running lane and they were not joining! Really hard to know when to give up and just speed up again, but what if they do the same and we collide?!
2) Secondly, when I leave the M621 it's on a very short sliproad which is both an entry and an exit sliproad. Who has priority here please? Is it me that is leaving or the traffic that is joining or neither? To confound the situation further, traffic at this point is regularly at or near a standstill on the main carriageway due to congestion further on and people regularly cut across the hatchings to leave or join. Here is a link to this location (M621 Eastbound J3):
M621
maps.app.goo.gl/pzsWrTMFdBrCxeeJ6
I'd be interested to know your opiy and thanks again. Each view of one of your videos will make our roads a bit safer 👏
1. You need to be quite decisive in these situation, give them a chance to merge if they don't take it accelerate quickly past them so they can join behind you. If they did not take the first chance you gave them then it is very unlikely they will also sudden accelerate and hit you.
2. Depends who is moving lanes, the person who is moving lanes always needs to give way prior to moving lanes.
Similar to above you need to read the speed and distance of the other drivers and then take decisive action, if they are hesitating accelerating then pull in front of them, if they are accelerating brake a bit and drop behind them.
Here is some video of my driving on motorways if it helps, of course not as busy as the situations you describe, but notice my decisions are decisive, but safe and well planned. ua-cam.com/video/NaOppJ93NOk/v-deo.html
Thanks very much for your replies and advice and keep up the good work with the channel! :)
No one in Leeds knows how to use a slip road. I always have problems on dual carriage ways with people not slowing or moving over to let me on so I have to stop before merging or people on the slip road slowing down as I flash them out then have to slow because they are slowing whilst trying to give way to them merging! Really dangerous
So basically if the vehicle in the left lane is coming fast you slow and give way and merge behind it and if the vehicle is going slightly slower then you accelerate and merge in front?
Yes pretty much, that is how I sometimes explain it, but did not say that in the video.
Same applied if you are on main carriageway and there is traffic merging, if they are going faster then slow a bit a let them go ahead of you. If they are going slower then speed up and let the go behind you. This is assume it is not safe to move lanes, as generally it is easier to do that.
Im having chicken tikka for lunch thanks for asking
How was it? ;-)
@@UKDrivingTest very nice thanks 🙂🙂
Sorry me again! (I'm just doing some last minute homework), this is a great video but I just have a quick question:
The slip road that I know will make a feature on my test comes straight after a long dual carriageway in a 70 mph zone so I'm going at around 65 or so when I approach the slip road, shall I start to slow down when I see the merging sign and go into 4th gear immediately (I'm in 5th gear when I approach the slip road) or continue on doing my speed in 5th gear and slow down only if I see I'll need to give myself some time to merge?
Ask yourself the question: "why do you use low gears on a slip road"
Answer... to build speed. As you have already built speed I can't see any reason for changing down gear.
Also what is the purpose of a slip road? To build speed to match the speed of the traffic you are merging with. If you are already at the speed then keep at it, if you slowed it could be harder to merge as you might be doing 50mph trying to merge with 70mph traffic.
Only time you might slow is if the left lane looked busy and you needed to let a vehicle pass to go behind it.
@@UKDrivingTest Awesome THANK YOU!
Could you do a video on merging a motorway slip road when it's pitch black and pouring with rain. I think some slip roads need to be better lit.
Yes that can be true! Unfortunate very tricky to film in the dark and heavy rain.
And the cars already on the motorway don't have to help you out. They should but don't have to move or slow or speed up to make it easy for you
yes true, sorry if it was not made clear in the video. I made the video with nervous learners in mind, so tried to make it reassuring, but equally confirming you do need to build speed to match the speed of the traffic on the main carriageway.
@@UKDrivingTest
If everyone was more curious then we would all be fine
Cheers mate
No worries
How do you know whether it’s a slip road or a road that will continue?
You need to look at the road signs, they will tell you.
@@UKDrivingTest I cant tell from the road sign
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519129/know-your-traffic-signs.pdf
Check out page 111, "Sign for drivers on slip road"
If you have that sign it means you do not need to merge, the lane will continue and become a new lane. (sign will be white on a non-primary road such a local / urban road, it will be green on primary road such as dual carriageways, and blue on motorways)
If it does not have this sign then you would normally assume the lane will merge.
@@UKDrivingTest thank you so much! that means a lot
If you can turn your head and see a vehicle then it is not a blind spot. Blind spot mirrors eliminate excuses.
"What are blind spots?
A blind spot is an area that can’t be seen either when you’re looking ahead or when you’re checking your mirrors. The main blind spots are
the area between what you see as you look forward and what you see in your exterior mirror
the area obscured by the bodywork of your vehicle when you look in your mirrors. Vehicles of different shapes have different blind spots - for example, those caused by window pillars and head restraints."
That is the official definition of a blindspot according to the DVSA, who are responsibly for setting safe driving standards.
Plus blindspot mirrors do not cover everything, this is based on much experience of using them.
So when you're looking directly in front and what you can see between both mirrors which is approx 160 degrees is a blind spot??? You can turn your head along with your eyes more than 180 deg so they without mirrors are not blind spots. Along with what you can see in your side and blind spot mirrors you can see vehicles at all times if adjusted properly. That's in my case driving nearly 40yrs.
Checking blind spot is NOT looking at rear view camera or rear view mirror. Your views are mirror based and not blind view view's.
This video will cause alot of accidents with improper information.
I believe people are smart enough to work out that the rear-view camera is NOT the blindspot, especially as I make it clear that where the blindspot it via a diagram and demonstration of how to check the blindspot.
To get footage of physically looking in the side mirrors and blindspot would be extremely difficult.
Really bad advice about expecting drivers in lane 1 to slow down or move to lane 2. It is 100% the responsibility of the driver on the slip road to join safely. No wonder there are so many issues with cars joining from slip roads if this is the advice being handed out. I was trying to join a dual carriageway recently and adjusted my speed on the slip road so I could slot in behind a car in lane 1. What did they do? Slowed down essentially blocking me from joining. They then moved to lane 2 forcing another vehicle to brake sharply and I almost ran out of slip road. If the other driver had just kept going none of that would have happened. You should join from a slip road with the intention of fitting in to the traffic, not expecting the traffic to fit in with you.
Thanks for your opinion.
Yes you're right it's not the existing traffics responsibility to slow down and only move over if it's 100% safe
Yup, this is a major problem on the roads just now, I see it every day as an hgv driver, drivers just drifting out expecting me to move over or slow down, it's the car joining that has to merge, and it has to be done in a way to not make lane one traffic brake or alter course
Traffic does not have to adjust their speed to let you on
Yes, but it is common sense to, anyone who does not try to help merging traffic is driving very selfishly.
I don't want to insult you as your videos are good.
It is the job of the joining motor vehicle to adjust speed, a lorry In Lane one may not be able to move over, having trafic on his right hand side, braking will cause a ripple effect and a possible crash behind . We are all curious on the road where possible but it realy is the vehicle who is joining who needs to do the work. This is something what needs stressing to students, it is a major part of motorway colossians and side swipes with hgvs. Keep up the good work though
Unfortunately you can't give a black and white answer to everything, you are talking about lorries who can't move lanes, what if there are 5 lorries tailgating each other in lane 1? How are you suppose to merge then? We need to work together to make it work. Stopping on the slip road is not really going to be a great option.
@@UKDrivingTest yeh your right, there are many different anwsers it would be nice if it was black and white.
I am a lorry driver which explains my view, I do understand about arrogant hgvs drivers who do tailgate, that's not professional at all and it makes it near to impossible to merge.
I think in your original comment you are talking about drivers going 30/40mph in the slip road (acceleration lane) and then they get scared and don't want to stop (obviously, not the idea on slip road, neither is doing 40mph) and then steer in front of someone forcing them to brake. That is certainly not the sort of thing they should be doing, which is why on my video i mention about building speed, not worrying about making the engine revving (many are scared to rev it, so can't build speed).
Useful video though I wish he wouldn't use the term "gas", that's an American expression.
Almost all driving instructor will use the term 'gas', i know it is an American expression but if you have to tell someone to "press the accelerator, more accelerator, more accelerator" it can be quite a long sentence and easily tough tied! Gas is much quicker and therefore more effective to say.
@@UKDrivingTest My driving instructor used to say "make progress" for acceleration. I know it's not a life or death issue but it just annoys me when we use Americanisms!
Oh stfu he’s using the standard driving technical term used by Almost every single driving instructor in the UK, this is no english language lesson
Why are you using American terms ?. Gas and not Accelerator, why. Gear There instead of Third Gear, why ?. Can you explain why you are not using the correct
terminology for UK drivers.
It is driving instructor terminology.
Gas is quicker/easier to say than accelerator , especially important to be clear and concise when on the move with a learner driver, when you need to say something quickly.
Do you mean gear 3 instead of 3rd gear? Saying 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc is often related to route directions, i.e. 3rd exit on the roundabout, 2nd road on the right. So to avoid confusion better to say gear 3. As an example imagine a learner driver is approaching a roundabout
Instructor: "I would like you to turn right and take the 3rd exit"
Learner: "sorry what exit?"
Instructor: "the 3rd, now into 2nd"
Learner "WHAT! the 3rd os the 2nd!"
Instructor: "The 3RD! Change to 2nd"
Learner "Arrrgh"
You need to appreciate learner driver can get very confused by things, so you need to be VERY careful how you speak.
Why wouldn't you get into gear 4 /5 on the slip road
Good question! Basically they lack power and flexibility
If you were in gear 5 and needed to accelerate to increase the gap from a car you are merging in front of there would be a massive lag/delay in acceleration.
In gear 5 it would also be 'harder' to slow down, as if you needed to let a car pass before merging you would need to brake then reaccelerate. In gear 3 you could come off the gas and use engine braking to slow and then re-gas, this would mean you do not need to move you foot from the gas pedal, saving precious time and making it easier as just 1 pedal control.
The effect is less in gear 4, but I think I put a note saying you might use gear 4 on a very long slip road where you don't need as much flexibility.
It of course also depends on your car, if you are driving a car with 600bhp use gear 6 and it will be fine, it has so much raw power the gears do not make too much difference. But your standard 1.0 litre hatchback you need to use the gears more effectively.