If traffic on motorway or dual carriageway is moving freely, there’s no excuse for stopping on slip roads. If you find need to, you’re a dangerous driver and shouldn’t have a license.
It’s really not difficult. All you need to do is match your speed with the traffic on the main road, look for a gap and then mirror, signal, manoeuvre. Piece of cake. Unless you’re driving a 1948 Morris Minor, slip roads should are more than long enough to get to 60 or 70mph. You just need to put your foot down.
If you can’t put your foot down and you’re one of the people that does make a habit of stopping at the end of slip roads than I’m afraid to say, you’re a terrible driver. Do you realise how dangerous, not to mention annoying, that is? Now, instead of safely merging into the traffic, you’ve got to find a gap big enough to safely enter a motorway, from a standstill.
You won’t though, will you. There’s going to be nothing safe about the way you enter the motorway now. What you’ll probably do is wait for a gap that looks as though it might be big enough (but isn’t), and gently accelerate to somewhere between 10 and 15 mph below the speed limit. Because we’ve already established that you don’t like putting your foot down, haven’t we?
And you’ll probably be oblivious to the ten cars that had to slam the brakes on behind you, because you pulled out in front of them without getting up to speed first. At best you’re going to cause a tailback. At worst, you’re going to cause an accident. Before long, someone’s going to get killed; and it’ll be your fault.
If it was up to me, anyone caught stopping on slip roads for no good reason should be banned. And given a really nasty Chinese burn, until they cry. Or until they’ve learnt their lesson. I’m not going to stop and administer the Chinese burn though, because I’m intelligent enough to know how dangerous it is to stop on slip roads. And I’m not even that intelligent. Because it’s not just dangerous for the cars on the motorway, it blocks up the slip road for other road users too; people who know how to drive properly (but can’t because you’re in the way).
Yes the vehicles on the main carriageway might have priority, but that doesn’t mean it’s a T-Junction. It doesn’t mean you need to stop and wait. It means you need to get up to their speed to join them. And it really is as simple as that. Sort it out.
8 responses
Has some dick just done that to you Boothy?
I never thought that would be a problem in one of the countries which utilised the first motorways in the world.
Couldn’t agree more although I’d add that this unfortunately without tackling middle lane hogging and people not moving out of the left lane to allow traffic to join should all be shootable offences!
Traffic in lane 1 should not have too move to allow a vehicle to merge onto an M way. If you need that to happen then your a shit driver.
Also using slip roads to come off the motorway and coming to an immediate stop seconds after signalling to turn lol
Amen brother! This shit crazes me, the amount of people on both the slip road AND the left lane that almost come to a halt because BOTH of them brake in panic is mental. Why cant people comprehend matching speed is so much easier and safer then slowing down. Smh
And let’s not forget that if you’re joining behind one of these idiots and you happen to crash in to the back of them when they inevitably slam their breaks on at the end of the slip road, just as you’re getting up to speed to join, it’s legally your fault. Agree or disagree with the legality, it’s an accident that should never have happened in the first place!
Great article, sad to say that the people that stop at the end of slip roads, are highly unlikely to visit 44Teeth!! Is it me? But are we seeing this awful habit more and more these days?