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fear of driving on motorways
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,721 Bot
in General Chat
sorry if this is in the wrong thread.
within the next week or two, im going to HAVE TO buy a car for commuting to and from work.
anyway, the majority of my journey to work is going to be on the motorway.
heres my problem...im terrified of the things. im terrible as a passenger and i dont know how im going to cope driving on one. its not the traffic im scared of...its big lorries. they drive like maniacs some of them! they are so huge and i find it impossible to keep my eyes open as a passenger when i pass one! how on earth am i gonna drive past one?!!! im just scared of them driving into the side of you and crushing you. they also get right up your arse.
are motorways really hard to drive on? should i just stay in the outer lane? im scared of moving into another lane and hitting something.
another thing that concerns is actually getting onto the motorway. when you go down that slip road thingy, what if nobody lets you in? so many cars go past, what if there isn't enough room? what do you do?
eurgh. im so scared of driving on them. im scared enough as it is about driving on normal roads. i passed my test 20 months ago now and haven't driven since and now suddenly, ive got to travel 40 miles per day, mostly on a motorway as theres no public transport that is suitable.
:nervous: :crying:
within the next week or two, im going to HAVE TO buy a car for commuting to and from work.
anyway, the majority of my journey to work is going to be on the motorway.
heres my problem...im terrified of the things. im terrible as a passenger and i dont know how im going to cope driving on one. its not the traffic im scared of...its big lorries. they drive like maniacs some of them! they are so huge and i find it impossible to keep my eyes open as a passenger when i pass one! how on earth am i gonna drive past one?!!! im just scared of them driving into the side of you and crushing you. they also get right up your arse.
are motorways really hard to drive on? should i just stay in the outer lane? im scared of moving into another lane and hitting something.
another thing that concerns is actually getting onto the motorway. when you go down that slip road thingy, what if nobody lets you in? so many cars go past, what if there isn't enough room? what do you do?
eurgh. im so scared of driving on them. im scared enough as it is about driving on normal roads. i passed my test 20 months ago now and haven't driven since and now suddenly, ive got to travel 40 miles per day, mostly on a motorway as theres no public transport that is suitable.
:nervous: :crying:
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
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Comments
Otherwise, remember that the truck drivers are - for the most part - decent drivers. They are paid to deliver something from A to B, not to crush you on the way and damage their paintwork.
Joining a busy motorway is something of an art, but you will get more practised at it as you do it more. Generally people will give you a gap. Sometimes people don't. So remember to indicate, and judge your timing. If it doesn't look like you have a gap, slow down until there is one. The one thing to remember is to be consistent - if you're wanting to slow to go into a gap, then do so, don't flip between slowing and speeding up, as that's confusing to other people. It also helps if you don't cane it down the slip road when you know that the motorway is busy (queuing for example) as you have less time to react.
Remember, if you're joining and don't have a gap, you can (normally) just carry on down the hard shoulder if all else fails and join as soon as you safely can. I'm not saying you should do that, but if you really tried and didn't have a gap, it's a better option than side-swiping someone.
You *could* just stay on the inside lane and not overtake anything, but there shouldn't really be a need. If you do find yourself having to overtake, just make good use of your mirrors and remember to signal. Decent drivers will move over or flash you to let you come out, if it's appropriate.
A pass plus could help as it is tailored to help you feel you can tackle motorways better. If that isn't an option i would think it would be a good idea to do it a fair few times in relaxed circumstances (ie not when you actually have to be at work in X amount of minutes) with your OH to help you get used to it.
you can get anywhere in the country without having to use the motorway, it just takes longer on other roads, but that extra time might be worth it the first few weeks of being a new driver which need to build confidence.
im going to be living very close to the m62 and the m62 is what is going to get me into manchester within 30 minutes. going around the roads takes at least double that and costs more in petrol so its not really an option really.
I haven't been on the motorway yet myself - passed in May. But I'm having a motorway lesson with my old intructor next week to gain a bit of confidence with them.
If you haven't driven for 20 months since passing I would definitly invest in some lessons just to get used to it again.
I think being a passenger is always more scary than being the driver because you have no control over what's happening and have more time for worrying because you're not concentrating on driving. I'm a terrible passenger and get really nervous with someone else driving, but I feel really confident and safe when I'm at the wheel.
As my instructor always said, there's room for one idiot on the road, it's just when two meet that you get accidents. If you're prepared for the unexpected and stay alert you're unlikely to get in a crash.
The UK HGV drivers are better drivers than most of the other traffic out there. And I fail to see how they drive like maniacs on a motorway and get up your arse where they're limited to 60mph?
The outer lane is the fastest one, the furthest on the right. The inside lane is the one next to the hard shoulder and the furthest on the left.
No they're the easiest and safest roads to drive on. If you don't like changing lanes stay on the inside lane.
Ideally stay on the inside at 70mph (in most conditions) and pull out to the middle or outside lane lane for overtaking lorrys and slower limited traffic.
The important thing is to get your speed right. Unless there is heavy traffc or there's a restriction on speed between 60 and 70 is good. It becomes dangerous when you hesitate and then try and join the motorway to slow.
i've never heard of those!
The only things to look out for are not driving in someones blind spot as they could hit you, and make sure when changing lanes or merging you do your observation, signal and manouvre in plenty of time every time.
Hope that helps.
I started off with little drives to the Trafford Centre and Cheshire Oaks then I drove to Alton Towers in rush hour on morning and had no problems. My fear is not knowing where I am going and which junction to come off at even with a sat nav helping me
I've got to drive to Wlaton Hospital in rush hour next wed for an interview at 9am...I'm not looking forward to that :no:
Cool I hope it's working better than ours, which last time we used it persisted in believing that we were 50 yards to the left of our actual location.
After that my stepdad came with me as a passenger and gave me advice on when to pull out etc, we drove about 30 miles, pulled in at a service station for lunch then turned around and went back home. That helped alot.
Now I love driving on the motorway! It is way better than driving along country roads or really built up areas. You will be fine, at first you will hate it but give it time and you will be wondering what all the fuss is about. Definately do those courses you said you want to do and drive with someone as a passenger who can drive for the first time. Stick to the inside lane unless overtaking, don't do what many do which is hog the middle lane! (avoids having to keep pulling out to overtake and means others can still pass you on the right, but really annoying, remember the other lanes are for overtaking only, if you're not overtaking keep far left).
I drive on the motorway every day, and 95% of the time it's absolutely fine. The 5% danger I find is just arsehole drivers. They come in all shapes and sizes, and the best solution is avoidance. Keep your distance and let them arsehole past you and bob's your mother's brother.
i've never had a problem getting on the motorway, most cars will see you coming and move out into the middle lane. sometimes lorries are a bit of a problem and don't move but just slow down, wait for them to pass, then move out.
you could stay in the inside lane if you wanted to, although don't expect to get anywhere going quickly and to be honest, i think that would scare me more because you'll most likely to be stuck behind lorries.
when you overtake, just remember to look properly and make sure there is a gap. if it's busy it obviously makes it harder to overtake, but signal anyway and usually someone will let you in or move out to let you in.
whatever you do, dont just sit in the middle lane if you're not over taking! soo many people seem to do this and it just makes it harder for everyone else.
I think the best thing you can do for yourself is to do the refresher course.
You seem to be making this into a much bigger deal than it is (not trying to offend you).
Driving on the motorway is a fairly easy thing to do.
Just apply common sense. Ensure you check your mirrors and blind spot and indicate well in advance of any intended manouveres, such as lane changes etc. Keep to a sensible speed - sometimes traffic cars and camera vans are located on the motorway.
Keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front - if you need an indication of this, watch said vehicle pass a lamp-post or sign, then count at least 2 seconds until you pass. If it's quicker than this, you are too close.
Finally, although quite hard to do, anticipate other drivers. It can be hard to do sometimes, but other people do the most unexpected things.
Good luck
It is daunting when first getting on and driving down it - as Skive said if you are afraid of a lorry sticking it up your arse you only need to do 57mph and they will never catch you as they are limited to either 54 or 56.
First time i drove on a motorway on my own i got into the 3rd lane and did 114mph, got it out of my system, slowed the fuck down hen saw how it worked!
The number one tip for safety on the motorway is always check your blind spot when changing lanes, if you check your blind spot you will never hit anyone!
After about 2 weeks you will get so tired of driving down the motorway you wont even wonder why you were afraid of it, when you understand it as simply a dual carriageway with a 3rd lane it gets a lot easier, the M62 is also a very nice stretch
http://vbulletin.thesite.org/showthread.php?t=134526&page=2
Always look as far ahead as you can, pay attention to what it going on behind you, use the lanes properly and give plenty of indication of an impending lane-change.
Most lorry drivers are utterly fantastic at what they do - just watch out for the foreign ones, as they sit in the wrong side of the cab, and can't always see what's going on in the adjacent lane properly.