First time on Motorway.

Co45

Quick question.

I recently got my full licence. I've been driving for a few months but never on a motorway. I have to drive to the airport tonight and the only thing that I'm worried about is merging into the motorway off slip roads.

Now I know I have to be going 120km coming off the slip road but I quess I'm worried what if no cars let me out and I run out of space??? How can you give right of way when your going 120km and running out of space????

Nerves are shot about this, HELP.

Absurdum

Co45 wrote: »

Now I know I have to be going 120km coming off the slip road

oh jesus

Mc Love

Depends on where you are coming from. Some parts of M50/M1 are 100kmh. And its up to you to determine what speed you need to be doing to merge safely. Observation etc

oxegen85

remember to stay in middle lane

blond45

Co45 wrote: »

Quick question.

I recently got my full licence. I've been driving for a few months but never on a motorway. I have to drive to the airport tonight and the only thing that I'm worried about is merging into the motorway off slip roads.

Now I know I have to be going 120km coming off the slip road but I quess I'm worried what if no cars let me out and I run out of space??? How can you give right of way when your going 120km and running out of space????

Nerves are shot about this, HELP.

thats your problem your to nervey. in that case someone should be with you . you might cause an accident. there are to many careless drivers out there, not saying you are but dont go on your own.

stealthyspeeder

You will be let on, hold your nerve, dont slow down on the slip road unless you really need to (only slow if your actually going to run onto the hard sholder, in that case stop and wait for the road to be clear), if you slow down on the slip road you actually make it more stressful and more likely that you wont be let in as nobody wants to stuck behind someone going really slowly!

neilthefunkeone

Note to self.. stay off M50

theteal

Absurdum wrote: »

oh jesus

ah give the lad a dig out, he said he's nervous and inexperienced. OP you should really go over the rules of motorway driving again now before you set off

where are you joining the M50? at night time the M50 really isn't that busy, this will probably be a great chance to increase your confidence. increase your speed coming down the ramp, the slip road is there to allow you adjust your speed to the traffic on the motorway. cars on the m50 will (should) be aware of cars coming down the on-ramp

my bet is, you'll do it easily and be wondering what the panic was over

Cookie_Monster

there is very very little difference in doing 120 on the motorway and 100 on a national road though, should be well used to that kind of speed by the time you passed your test!

corktina

ah give him a chance...

accelerate down the slip road and match your speed to the traffic in lane one, indicate right and pull decisivley into the best gap available which should (if the people in lane one can drive at all) open up for you by them either adjusting their speed or pulling into lane two.(you dont HAVE to do 120k btw)

well done on passing your test, NOW is when you REALLY start to learn.

stevenmu

Most of the M50 is now 100kph. Also, you do NOT have to get up to that speed to merge.

You should be aiming to be at the same speed as the traffic in the lane you are trying to merge with. Failing that just be at the right speed to make it into a big gap without forcing the car that will be behind you to brake. If you can't do that slow down until a gap appears. If you really have to just come to a stop at the end on the sliproad, do not force your way in.

Don't worry too much, in 8 odd years of driving I've never had to stop on the slip road, and I've only occasionally had to slow down by a small amount a few times. You should be fine going at 60 or 70 starting on the slip road, then when you spot your gap increase or decrease speed accordingly.

Maybe have someone who's more experienced with you to guide you.

L1011

oxegen85 wrote: »

remember to stay in middle lane

If your not being sarcastic, please remove yourself from the gene pool immediately.

KEEP LEFT unless overtaking. Ignore any morons who seem to assume you use the middle lane - if you can somehow use your mind to make them crash in to each other and die horribly and painfully, do...

cailineile13

Treat it like you would a filter lane onto a dual carriageway-it's the exact same, only difference is the speed.(and maybe an extra "slow" lane)
Coming down the slip road, get your speed up, check your mirrors, check your blind spot, indicate, and move into your lane at a decent speed.

Like someone else said, it should be fairly quiet if you're doing it tonight. It's like any other new experience when driving, it's kinda scary/unnerving the first time, but once you've done it, you'll wonder what you worried about....you'll be grand OP!:)

kazul

stealthyspeeder wrote: »

(only slow if your actually going to run onto the hard sholder, in that case stop and wait for the road to be clear)

Bad advice IMHO, merging from a stop on the hard shoulder is trickier than merging in motion from a slip road.

OP, go thru town onto the M1, no merging. Just watch for the lane change to the left to get to the airport. Take it easy and stay calm, you'll be fine.

My first time ever driving alone, and still on L plates, I took a wrong exit from a roundabout and ended up on the M50.
As long as you're not causing havoc or breaking the law don't worry too much or let other road users bully you.

There has to be a first time for everything

-Chris-

Can people be helpful to the OP rather than smart? If they take up your sarcastic advise as proper advice and get in trouble, you'd have a hand to play in that...

oxegen85

MYOB wrote: »

If your not being sarcastic, please remove yourself from the gene pool immediately.

KEEP LEFT unless overtaking. Ignore any morons who seem to assume you use the middle lane - if you can somehow use your mind to make them crash in to each other and die horribly and painfully, do...

my sarcasm mustnt be as good as I thought as this forum never talks/rants about the middle lane hoggers

but on a serious note it will be fine. when you are actually doing it you will think its easy and never think about it again on motorways

Big Nasty

What time do you reckon you'll be on the Motorway at OP? Probably a good chance it will be fairly quiet by the time you hit it at this stage. Chill and don't worry about it to much you'll be grand!

As someone already said most of the M50 is actually a 100 limit anyhow. In relation to coming off the slip road go as slow as you like until you see a big enough gap to join then merge in. Keep to the left lane unless and only move out to another lane when you are passing and move back in to the left lane once the manoeuvre is completed.

Best of luck!

stealthyspeeder

kazul wrote: »

Bad advice IMHO, merging from a stop on the hard shoulder is trickier than merging in motion from a slip road.

Driving on the hard sholder is illegal, stopping is what you are meant to do if you are not let on.

Of course its easier to merge when moving, thats why the majority of my post advised the OP not to slow down, the small bit in brackets which you singled out for comment is only if you are not let on. What would your advice be? drive on the hard shoulder? that would be illegal and IMO that would be bad advice.

kazul

Unless the M-way is moving at a crawl, around 30kmh for example , this should never apply. Speed matching and blind-spot checking are the crucial skills for merging.
I sometimes forget that I am one of the few considerate drivers who will temporarily move to the overtaking lane to allow others to merge safely.
I have never had to slow down considerably, never mind stop, to merge onto an M-way but I rarely use the M50 as I think the toll charges are a stealth tax.

Absurdum

Alright I'll try to be helpful, first off the OP didn't mention the M50, the airport is just off the M1 where the speed limit ranges between 60 km/h and 120 km/h depending on where the OP is coming from. You need to be matching the speed of traffic already on the motorway to join it smoothly - there's no point in accelerating to 120 km/h if the traffic is crawling by at 50 km/h! I wasn't trying to be a smartarse with my "oh jesus" thing - seriously if you are this nervous about it you should really take someone experienced with you, or else get some practice in on a less busy motorway. No time like the present either, traffic should be reasonably light at this time of night so out you go!

bigbadbear

Its like a giant game of frogger.

1: see gap
2: go to gap
3: match speed of gap
4: Move in

Its absolutely crazy that someone has to come on the internet to find out how to drive on a road after they've passed their test. When will they realise that motorways are just like any other road and should be part of the test.

gooch2k9

cos not every county has a motorway so how do ya intend on that workin bigbadbear?

bigbadbear

Everyone should have to do their test in dublin.................

Only messin. I meant the test should have a separate theory part that goes thoroughly through motorway driving. I drive a serious amount of miles on motorways and from what I can see more people than not have no idea how to use them.

When I see people sitting on the horn as they undertake a guy who is trodding along obliviously in the overtaking lane it makes me laugh because the majority of people dont even know why they are being beeped at.

-Chris-

OP, here's everything you need to know:

http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie/rules-for-driving/motorways/index.html

L1011

gooch2k9 wrote: »

cos not every county has a motorway so how do ya intend on that workin bigbadbear?

Mayo, Cavan and Kerry are the only counties left with no dual carraigeway of any description. Going by your username you might be in one of those though! Although Kerry has one under construction.

R.O.R

If the OP is coming off the M50 then they don't need to merge at all. Once past the Ballymun exit keep going in to the left most lane as soon as it appears (and you can enter - not across hash marks) and that takes you all the way to the airport roundabout.

If coming from the Port Tunnel you have to merge in to the M50/M1 slip once past the M50 junction. At rush hour in the evening this is very, very heavy so you want to be in the left lane, let people on to the M1 from the M50 slip and then merge in to the Airport slip once past the hash marks.

If coming from the North, take the Airport slip road and right at the roundabout. This is the worst scenario though as you have to cross at least one lane where there might be faster traffic coming from the left. The Slip from the Roundabout brings you in to the lane that ends up right turn only at the Airport roundabout. Heading to Santry from the M1 this way can be a bit hairy if traffic is heavy as you only have about 300m to cross from the outside (4th lane) to the inside lane.

Big Nasty

I would say he's done the journey by now!

How did you get on OP?

Co45

Hey guys, thanks for those who gave me helpful responses. It was fine in the end

Though on the way back I mistakenly missed my turn off for the city centre and ended up going southbound on the M50 all the way to Tallaght.....I was going to Harold's Cross!!!

Big Nasty

Co45 wrote: »

Hey guys, thanks for those who gave me helpful responses. It was fine in the end

Though on the way back I mistakenly missed my turn off for the city centre and ended up going southbound on the M50 all the way to Tallaght.....I was going to Harold's Cross!!!

Well done OP!

That M1/M50 junction isn't terribly well laid out / signposted. I've done the same myself!

Absurdum

don't forget to pay the toll!

cynder

I was joining the motorway the other day and was not let out and had to continue driving on hard shoulder for another 150 meters before i could enter the 1st motor way lane.

i did not stop because 1 i would have to get up to speed to enter motor way lane (cant enter motorway lane at 50kph you need to be doing at least 80 -120 kph depending on traffic flow and speed) and 2 what if a car was behind me it would run into the arse end of me.

To join the motorway keep an eye in your drivers side mirro and indicate your intentions to enter motorway lane get to speed with the other cars , you may have to slow or go faster depending on the other cars speeds to be able to move out on to motorway when there is space. there is a long enough run off so you shouldnt have to drive on hard shoulder.

my advice go with the flow and yuor senses should tell you when its safe to pull out. ( i went to the uk last year and was terrified of the 3 lane motorways it was fine, but the double roundabouts were a little wierd)