Life on the motorways
I have driven thousands of miles on some of Britain's motorways
Here I am driving down the slip road onto the M42 West, homeward bound. Building my speed to be safely ahead of the truck on the entry lane, I start to join the motorway. Suddenly, a car that has overtaken the truck decides to come into my lane. Fortunately, I have my wits about me and see the side of the vehicle moving in. I have enough room to go back into what’s left of the slip road, brake, and slide in behind the car.
Another thing now to add to the list of mistakes drivers make on the UK’s motorways. This one was totally unaware of my car merging onto the motorway, the driver only concerned about getting back into lane one after overtaking a truck. Whilst passing a vehicle much higher, he might not even have noticed that a slip road was coming up.
It seems many drivers today are unaware of their surroundings and the rules of the road. Many in authority describe a downward trend in safe driving since Covid and the lockdown. A large number of accidents and near misses are attributable to a lack of patience and a willingness to follow rules. It does seem patience has gone out the window for many since that time.
Must get in front!
There is also an innate desire by many drivers to want to be in front and refuse to let vehicles into their path even when the rules of the road say they should. I have seen drivers, rather than move in behind me to exit a motorway, overtake, and almost slice the front of my car to leave as the exit is fast disappearing. Strangely, it would have been quicker for them to stay behind and move onto the exit road than do this dangerous manoeuvre. But no, they want to be in front before they leave the motorway.
In recent months, I have been making many journeys to visit my daughter and clocked up many miles on the motorways. I reckon it’s in the region of four thousand miles in a ten-week period.
My journey from home takes me on the M4, M5, M42, and the M1, and occasionally, Waze diverts me after the M5 onto the M6, then back onto the M42 further along it.
Britain’s motorways are the safest roads we drive on, mainly, I suspect, due to traffic going in the same direction and far fewer hazards such as pedestrians, cyclists, roundabouts, and many types of junctions. However, if things go wrong at higher speeds, the speed limit is seventy miles per hour, and the consequences can be disastrous.
I could go on and write more about driving on the UK’s roads, but I just mention this to give you a flavour of what I have been doing. My request is that drivers relax more and enjoy the journey rather than view every other vehicle as one that needs to be passed.
Drivers need to be more aware of the rules of the road and apply them; that way, we all know what to expect. It seems the number of accidents is going up, and only, thankfully, due to modern cars having safety features, such as air bags, that there aren’t more fatalities.
What are your experiences of driving on the Britain’s roads, or indeed where you live? Let me know by leaving a comment.
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Another thing is the variable speed limits. I'm constantly having to change my speed, worrying about the cameras.
And the average speed cameras, where you risk a fine when keeping up with the flow and going 1 mph over a 50 mph limit.
I see things like you described on the motorways too, Roland.
I wish HGVs did not follow nose-to-tail in long lines in lane 1. It makes it difficult to move over when your exit is coming up. The solution, of course, is to get into that lane early. But being tailgated by a line of HGVs is not much fun.