When does lane 1 become a slip lane and when to change lane?
 

See Highway Code rule 266
You are on a motorway. You are 1 mile from a junction. The road sign shows lane one goes off, lane 2 and 3 carry on. The white lines between lane 1 and 2 do not change.
When does lane 1 become a slip lane?
At the mile marker?
When the white lines between 1 and 2 change?

At what point should you change to lane 2? At the mile marker or some safe point before the white lines change, bear in mind moving to lane 2 if lane 1 is not a slip lane may impede traffic as some vehicles cannot move to lane 3 to overtake and if they undertake could be done for due care and attention or something like that. Lane 1 and 2 may now bunch.

For me, moving to lane 2 is condition dependent. Light traffic and easy to move to lane 2 wait until close to where white lines change. If heavy traffic and risk I may struggle to get to lane 2, move "early"

macafee2

If you are travelling at the maximum speed allowed then no one needs to overtake.--:shrug:---If they wish to break the law it's up to them. However you are not obstructing them.---;)

maximum for car is 70mph, car and caravan is 60mph.

macafee2

Can just say...

lane one is for driving inn. Th other lanes are for overtaking.

If some one is undertaking you and not breaking th speed limit. Are you in th right lane???

Drive a motorhome?

IMHO as soon as the sign says that Lane 1 becomes a slip road.

If you don't want the slip road move into Lane 2 as soon as it is safe to do so.

The speed limit is a maximum and as such folks can't expect to be travelling at it all the time. They need to leave a safe stopping distance from the vehicle in front, and they should be responsible and courteous.


This always makes me smile:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-high...ers-103-to-158


General rules, techniques and advice for all drivers and riders (103 to 158)

Signals, stopping procedures, lighting, control of the vehicle, speed limits, stopping distances, lines and lane markings and multi-lane carriageways, smoking, mobile phones and sat nav.

This section should be read by all drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders. The rules in The Highway Code do not give you the right of way in any circumstance, but they advise you when you should give way to others. Always give way if it can help to avoid an incident (my highlighting).

Possibly not.

But how about the car in Lane 3 of a 4 lane motorway doing 65mph while Lanes 1 and 2 (and often 4 as well) are empty?

I believe that they can be prosecuted (as can anyone who undertakes them) but it seems that the policy is that they need to be followed for something like 3 miles by a traffic car in order to do so. I've no idea how many successful prosecutions there have been but as there are a microscopic number of actual Police traffic officers out there I can't imagine that it's a great number.

I do know it's a pain when you're wafting along nicely with the cruise set at 70mph and have to go from Lane 1, to 2, to 3, to 4 to overtake them and then back to lane 3 and 2 and 1 to resume the wafting along in a still empty Lane 1.

Speed cameras are much more useful (aka profitable) because as we're all repeatedly told......Speed kills and some numpty in completely the wrong lane isn't a hazard at all, are they.....

so you are saying that at 1 mile, if the sign shows lane one goes off then at 1 mile, lane 1 becomes a slip road, is that right? What about the white line markings between lane 1 and 2, if they do not differ between what was before and what is after the sign until about 300 yards from where lane one veers off, does that make a difference or will you still go by the sign?

macafee2

Sorry for been a broken record... But. lane one is for driving inn. Th others are for overtaking. "Lane hogging" carries a #100 fine and 3 points.. Lorry drivers/reps/coach drivers/law abiding cars ect who obay th law in general follow this rule... So why carnt anyone else??

I've always found it possible to waft along in the inside lane, sometimes for many a minute. The problem is that as soon as you come up behind HGV's or slower traffic the next lane is always occupied (even though the lane behind one is empty) and thus one is not able to overtake.

In my area the markings on the road change to smaller oblongs (like the give way one's) about a mile before the change.

Would we pass ther driving test now? ;)

Kev