joining motorway

SparrowTown

When joining a motorway do you have to drive all the way along the acceleration lane and enter motorway when that lane merges or can you join anwhere along the acceleration lane where it is safe to do so. i know you cannot drive across hatched markings. Is there a hatch all along the acceleration lane?

Gumbo

SparrowTown wrote: »

When joining a motorway do you have to drive all the way along the acceleration lane and enter motorway when that lane merges or can you join anwhere along the acceleration lane where it is safe to do so. i know you cannot drive across hatched markings. Is there a hatch all along the acceleration lane?

short answer, yes you have to travel the full length.
if theres a continuious white line then you have to wait for it to end and turn into a dashed line.

CiniO

kceire wrote: »

short answer, yes you have to travel the full length.
if theres a continuious white line then you have to wait for it to end and turn into a dashed line.

Where that answer came from? Does in has any support in rules of the road or road traffic act or regulations?

AFAIK you joining the motorway from acceleration lane, is just a normal "changing lane". Unless there's no continuous white line, you can change lane anytime you want.

djimi

kceire wrote: »

short answer, yes you have to travel the full length.
if theres a continuious white line then you have to wait for it to end and turn into a dashed line.

Eh, no you dont! You can merge once the white line is broken, and its usually broken shortly after the hatched area and long before the end of the slip road. Once its safe to merge, you can merge over the broken white line.

ytareh

...unless of course theres one of the ignorant twits (more often than not a 'lady')who insists on maintaining their position in 'left lane'...Mad to think in England they have barriers/walls at end of slip lanes after about 100-150metres...would just be a wall of crashed cars over here !

SparrowTown

djimi wrote: »

Eh, no you dont! You can merge once the white line is broken, and its usually broken shortly after the hatched area and long before the end of the slip road. Once its safe to merge, you can merge over the broken white line.

well i know you cannot cross the hatched area anyway. i was on a motorway today and indicated to join when hatched ended but a woman behind me then indicated , she was too close behind me too- and merged. If i had merged then ... well good thing we have mirrors

CiniO

SparrowTown wrote: »

well i know you cannot cross the hatched area anyway. i was on a motorway today and indicated to join when hatched ended but a woman behind me then indicated , she was too close behind me too- and merged. If i had merged then ... well good thing we have mirrors

Yeah, that's actually very poor driving, to join the motorway from acceleration lane, even if someone is trying to join it in front of you from the same acceleration lane.
Sadly that's legal.
While I'm driving a bus, it's very often the case. I try to join, but no - because the left motorway lane is already taken by someone who was just behind me few seconds ago.

CiniO

ytareh wrote: »

...unless of course theres one of the ignorant twits (more often than not a 'lady')who insists on maintaining their position in 'left lane'...Mad to think in England they have barriers/walls at end of slip lanes after about 100-150metres...would just be a wall of crashed cars over here !

It's perfectly legal for them to stay on the left lane.
Even more - it's illegal for them to change lane to right, to let you into the motorway.
I know it's good driving practice, but it's against the law.

Other thing is, it's quite easy to join motorway unless you are driving a truck or a bus (or extremally slow car).
I just think people have problems with it, just because they are affraid to accelerate.
On acceleration lane you should be putting you pedal to the metal.

SparrowTown

CiniO wrote: »

I just think people have problems with it, just because they are affraid to accelerate.
On acceleration lane you should be putting you pedal to the metal.

you have to watch behind too , people driving too close and not paying attention to what is in front of them

irishmotorist

It's the same as changing lanes. You cannot cross a solid white line and you can cross a broken white line.

Best plan is to accelerate towards the speed limit, bearing in mind the speed of the traffic that you're trying to merge with.

Crucially, indicate early. When a driver in the driving lane sees a car indicating to the right in a merging lane, he knows you're going to merge so *should* adjust speed for you or move out of the lane you will be joining. It takes common sense and cooperation from both sides, so just keep a look out. I usually aim for a gap...accelerating to be level with it and join it. It's very rare that I'd have to re-evaluate and choose another gap.

Mycroft H

Rules of the Road


When entering the motorway, exercise care and attention, and yield to traffic on the motorway. You must follow the steps below when joining a motorway.



- Use the acceleration lane to build up your speed before merging into traffic on the motorway.

- Signal early to other motorists that you intend to merge.

- As you approach on the slip road, check in your mirrors and your blind spot for a safe gap in traffic in the left-hand lane of the motorway.

- Obey road signs and road markings.

- Do not drive on hatch markings before merging into traffic on the motorway.

- Give way to traffic already on the motorway.

- Adjust your speed as you join the motorway so you match, as near as possible, the general speed of traffic in that lane.

- Treat each lane change as a seperate manoeuvre. Stay in the left-hand lane long enough to adjust to the speed of traffic before attempting to overtake.

Pretty Simple really

Lemming

CiniO wrote: »

It's perfectly legal for them to stay on the left lane.
Even more - it's illegal for them to change lane to right, to let you into the motorway.
I know it's good driving practice, but it's against the law.

Where is it written that changing lane on a motorway to facilitate traffic merging with your lane is illegal?

Typically, any moving right that I have witnessed in the UK (my daily commute is the M1 ... ) with merging traffic has been said traffic moving slower than you; ergo not only are you changing lane to facilitate t heir merging but anticipating overtaking slower moving traffic to your left.

mathepac

CiniO wrote: »

... Even more - it's illegal for them to change lane to right, to let you into the motorway.
I know it's good driving practice, but it's against the law. ...

It most certainly is not against the law and in fact failing to change lanes to accommodate traffic merging from the left, where it is possible to do so, may be classed as careless driving.

Your statement also contradicts the information and guidance given by the RSA in their Rules of the Road booklet under the heading "Section 11: Motorways and tunnels".

jaffa20

I wish people would put their foot down and join the motorway at the appropriate speed. The amount of people i see slowing down when merging onto the lane with other cars travelling 100-120kph is ridiculous.

CiniO

Lemming wrote: »

Where is it written that changing lane on a motorway to facilitate traffic merging with your lane is illegal?

OK, I just went through ROTR, and found a point about changing lane to allow to accomodate traffic entering the motorway.
I'll check tomorrow what the Road Traffic act and Road Traffic Regulations say about it.
Because sometimes it happens, that ROTR say something different then the acts. And that's the Acts and regulations that apply, not ROTR.

CiniO

mathepac wrote: »

It most certainly is not against the law and in fact failing to change lanes to accommodate traffic merging from the left, where it is possible to do so, may be classed as careless driving.

What about trucks and vehicles towing trailers?
They are not legally allowed to travel on right lane (if there's two).

stoneill

You should see the antics at the junction of the N4 to M50 south, two lanes sweep around and join onto the M50, with cross hatch makings - nobody pays any heed to them! The amount of times you see cars crossing two, three or even four lanes in one maneuver, it's unbelievable.

mathepac

CiniO wrote: »

What about trucks and vehicles towing trailers?
They are not legally allowed to travel on left lane (if there's two).

I'm not sure where you drive or what rules apply there, but for Irish roads this is nonsense.

Esel

CiniO wrote: »

What about trucks and vehicles towing trailers?
They are not legally allowed to travel on left lane (if there's two).

mathepac wrote: »

I'm not sure where you drive or what rules apply there, but for Irish roads this is nonsense.

CiniO obviously meant to say 'right lane'.

corktina

jeez, its quite simple why do people talk such crap on here?

You accelerate (clue in the name:rolleyes:) to match your speed to the traffic already on the motorway and move into a suitable gap. If you are already on the motorway and have any manners or roadcraft, you make allowances for anyone wishing to merge, adjusting your speed or position if necessary.

Padraig Mor

kceire wrote: »

short answer, yes you have to travel the full length.
.

CiniO wrote: »

it's illegal for them to change lane to right, to let you into the motorway.
.

mathepac wrote: »

in fact failing to change lanes to accommodate traffic merging from the left, where it is possible to do so, may be classed as careless driving.".

Wow. One page - so much ignorance.


It ain't that ****ing hard TBH. Mash accelerator, merge across dashed lines at first safe opportunity. Hardly rocket science. You DO NOT wait until the end of the acceleration to barge your way in (unless necessary, and always yielding) - this is your 'last chance' to merge. Traffic in the left lane DOES NOT have to adjust their speed to accomodate you - they have right of way. They also DO NOT have to chhange lanes to give you space - although this is good driving practice where they do not interfere with traffic already in the right hand lane.

Mycroft H

TBH its the bullsh!t over two these two pages that makes you wonder if Irish people can drive on the motorway.

Follow the rules of the road - dead simple. There is nothing else to worry about. If your still confused, go talk to a driving instructor and get lessons.

Watch this. It applies to Dual carrigeways and is in england but the same rules and practice applies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX7BFeOCgAQ

**Timbuk2**

I found the above video helpful! However, has anybody ever needed to stop because they couldn't see a gap? As a newly qualified driver (full licence for about 4 months) I have driven on many motorways, but usually when I drive on motorways they are large and have very long merging lanes (i.e. there is a long section of the road with a broken white line to merge across) e.g. on the M1 and M4.

However, I was a passenger in the car the other day around Dublin City. The M50 merging lanes are a lot shorter. Even on the M1, some merging lanes are very short, e.g. the airport slip-road heading northbound. It's not that the acceleration lane itself is short, but rather they only have broken white lines at the end for a few metres, so you have to adjust your speed to make sure you arrive there when a gap arrives.

Has anybody ever had any difficult merging on before, either having to stop or continue onto the emergency lane (or hard shoulder in the case of a dual carraigeway)? My thought is that if you stop, it would be very difficult to merge on as traffic on the carraigeway is moving so you would have to look for a very large gap and boot it once you join the dual carraigeway.

CiniO

CiniO wrote: »

It's perfectly legal for them to stay on the left lane.
Even more - it's illegal for them to change lane to right, to let you into the motorway.
I know it's good driving practice, but it's against the law.

You must be joking
Where do people get this stuff

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

I found the above video helpful! However, has anybody ever needed to stop because they couldn't see a gap? As a newly qualified driver (full licence for about 4 months) I have driven on many motorways, but usually when I drive on motorways they are large and have very long merging lanes (i.e. there is a long section of the road with a broken white line to merge across) e.g. on the M1 and M4.

However, I was a passenger in the car the other day around Dublin City. The M50 merging lanes are a lot shorter. Even on the M1, some merging lanes are very short, e.g. the airport slip-road heading northbound. It's not that the acceleration lane itself is short, but rather they only have broken white lines at the end for a few metres, so you have to adjust your speed to make sure you arrive there when a gap arrives.

Has anybody ever had any difficult merging on before, either having to stop or continue onto the emergency lane (or hard shoulder in the case of a dual carraigeway)? My thought is that if you stop, it would be very difficult to merge on as traffic on the carraigeway is moving so you would have to look for a very large gap and boot it once you join the dual carraigeway.

Yeah it's happened in heavy traffic where a bunch of us were stuck nearly stopped on the slip road trying to merge. Though if the traffic is that heavy, the motorway traffic is generally probably slower anyway so you can merge a bit better. I start looking over my shoulder a bit once I'm on the slip road to gauge what's happening and do I have a better chance if I do xyz
I hit the accelerator to the floor where I can otherwise
And finally, people may be generally stupid on the motorway but a lot of them thankfully seem to have enough etiquette to pull over where they can to let you on

Anan1

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

I found the above video helpful! However, has anybody ever needed to stop because they couldn't see a gap? As a newly qualified driver (full licence for about 4 months) I have driven on many motorways, but usually when I drive on motorways they are large and have very long merging lanes (i.e. there is a long section of the road with a broken white line to merge across) e.g. on the M1 and M4.

However, I was a passenger in the car the other day around Dublin City. The M50 merging lanes are a lot shorter. Even on the M1, some merging lanes are very short, e.g. the airport slip-road heading northbound. It's not that the acceleration lane itself is short, but rather they only have broken white lines at the end for a few metres, so you have to adjust your speed to make sure you arrive there when a gap arrives.

Has anybody ever had any difficult merging on before, either having to stop or continue onto the emergency lane (or hard shoulder in the case of a dual carraigeway)? My thought is that if you stop, it would be very difficult to merge on as traffic on the carraigeway is moving so you would have to look for a very large gap and boot it once you join the dual carraigeway.

It's all about advance planning - you have to pick your gap well in advance, and be aware of what is and will be going on all around the car. I'm constantly amazed at the number of people who think they can safely merge without moving their heads at all!

Guy:Incognito

irishmotorist wrote: »

Crucially, indicate early. When a driver in the driving lane sees a car indicating to the right in a merging lane, he knows you're going to merge so *should* adjust speed for you or move out of the lane you will be joining. .

The traffic on the motorway should not have to adjust speed or do anything in fact. The driver looking to join should be at the correct speed to merge with tthe traffic .

djimi

I see a lot of people say the traffic on the motorway should not have to move, which is technically true. However, I will move into the right hand lane when possible to allow traffic to merge onto a dual carraigeway/motorway; I consider it common courtesy. Is this not considered to be the done thing? Right or wrong, I always consider someone to be a right prick if they persist in driving in the left hand lane with the right hand lane free when Im trying to merge.

Seth Brundle

esel wrote: »

CiniO wrote: »

What about trucks and vehicles towing trailers?
They are not legally allowed to travel on left lane (if there's two).

CiniO obviously meant to say 'right lane'.

Even if he did, he is still wrong.
Certain vehicles are not allowed into lane 3 on a 3+ lane motorway (IIRC it doesn't apply to regular dual carriageways)

CiniO

esel wrote: »

CiniO obviously meant to say 'right lane'.

Yeah, thats right. Corrected now.
My mistake.

CiniO

kbannon wrote: »

Even if he did, he is still wrong.
Certain vehicles are not allowed into lane 3 on a 3+ lane motorway (IIRC it doesn't apply to regular dual carriageways)

They are not allowed on most right lane of the motorway.
If it's 2 lane motorway, so they are only allowed on the left lane.
It's clearly said in rules of the road and road traffic act.

mathepac

kbannon wrote: »

Even if he did, he is still wrong...

+1 Section 11 ROTR (see above) details the circumstances when certain vehicles may use the lane(s) closest to the the central median on motorways / dual-carriageways

slimjimmc

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

I found the above video helpful! However, has anybody ever needed to stop because they couldn't see a gap? As a newly qualified driver (full licence for about 4 months) I have driven on many motorways, but usually when I drive on motorways they are large and have very long merging lanes (i.e. there is a long section of the road with a broken white line to merge across) e.g. on the M1 and M4.

However, I was a passenger in the car the other day around Dublin City. The M50 merging lanes are a lot shorter. Even on the M1, some merging lanes are very short, e.g. the airport slip-road heading northbound. It's not that the acceleration lane itself is short, but rather they only have broken white lines at the end for a few metres, so you have to adjust your speed to make sure you arrive there when a gap arrives.

Has anybody ever had any difficult merging on before, either having to stop or continue onto the emergency lane (or hard shoulder in the case of a dual carraigeway)? My thought is that if you stop, it would be very difficult to merge on as traffic on the carraigeway is moving so you would have to look for a very large gap and boot it once you join the dual carraigeway.

Yes, not often but on one or two occasions, and I've seen others too.
Joining the N7 from the Citywest junction is one such location. The turnoff for Saggart is only about 30m ahead so at peak times you can have a bunched up line of cars in the left lane with no room to merge. You can't do the nasty and stay in the hardshoulder because there is none and the traffic island ahead won't do you or your car much good.

In addition as you're coming down the slip road things such as the bridge, the slight bend in the N7 approaching under the bridge and the curve in the slip road all conspire to limit your view of traffic back up the N7. Basically you only get a good view if there's a gap coming up behind you once you're parallel so the opportunity to adjust for merging can sometimes be brief.

Gumbo

CiniO wrote: »

Where that answer came from? Does in has any support in rules of the road or road traffic act or regulations?

AFAIK you joining the motorway from acceleration lane, is just a normal "changing lane". Unless there's no continuous white line, you can change lane anytime you want.

ehh did you read my post? i said you have to ttravel the full length of the continuos white line, until that white line turns into a dashed line, you cant cross it?

whats so hard about that to understand?

djimi wrote: »

Eh, no you dont! You can merge once the white line is broken, and its usually broken shortly after the hatched area and long before the end of the slip road. Once its safe to merge, you can merge over the broken white line.

Eh, isint that exactly what i said? i dont see the need to try correct someone and then post exactly what that person said?

what i said :

kceire wrote: »

short answer, yes you have to travel the full length
if theres a continuious white line then you have to wait for it to end and turn into a dashed line.

CiniO

mathepac wrote: »

+1 Section 11 ROTR (see above) details the circumstances when certain vehicles may use the lane(s) closest to the the central median on motorways / dual-carriageways

And they say clearly, that trucks and vehicles towing trailers, are not allowed in most right lane (even if it's only 2 lane motorway).
This means in short words, that these vehicles can use only left lane of the motorway. Of course there are exceptions, but they don't apply in this case what we are talking about.
Truck can't legally go on the right lane, to allow accomodate traffic from merging lane.

CiniO

kceire wrote: »

ehh did you read my post? i said you have to ttravel the full length of the continuos white line, until that white line turns into a dashed line, you cant cross it?

whats so hard about that to understand?

I did read your post.
It was quite inconsistant, becuase first sentence denied the second one.

I quote the first one anyway:

short answer, yes you have to travel the full length.

This is obviously not true.

Gumbo

CiniO wrote: »

I did read your post.
It was quite inconsistant, becuase first sentence denied the second one.

I quote the first one anyway:


This is obviously not true.

yes the slip road ends as soon as the line turns from continuos to dashed, so in effect you are travelling the full length, no?

djimi

kceire wrote: »

Eh, isint that exactly what i said? i dont see the need to try correct someone and then post exactly what that person said?

what i said :

Actually, no thats not what you said. The OP asked do you have to travel to the end of the merging lane before merging and you said "short answer, yes you have to travel the full length". This is not the case, as in fact the continuous white line becomes a broken white line long before the end of the merging lane, and once it becomes a broken white line you can cross it to merge onto the road.

Sorry if I took you up wrong and this is in fact what you meant, but its not what you said.

djimi

kceire wrote: »

yes the slip road ends as soon as the line turns from continuos to dashed, so in effect you are travelling the full length, no?

I would have thought the slip road ends at the triangular point at the end of the slip road?

There will be a broken white line well before that point.

CiniO

kceire wrote: »

yes the slip road ends as soon as the line turns from continuos to dashed, so in effect you are travelling the full length, no?

I thing each of us is talking about something completely different

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Gumbo

djimi wrote: »

Actually, no thats not what you said. The OP asked do you have to travel to the end of the merging lane before merging and you said "short answer, yes you have to travel the full length". This is not the case, as in fact the continuous white line becomes a broken white line long before the end of the merging lane, and once it becomes a broken white line you can cross it to merge onto the road.

Sorry if I took you up wrong and this is in fact what you meant, but its not what you said.

look at my original post, it hasnt been edited at all, so what i said is right there in black and white tbh.
the merging lane ends when the continuous line turns to dashed, and then you can cross it imo.

djimi wrote: »

I would have thought the slip road ends at the triangular point at the end of the slip road?

There will be a broken white line well before that point.

not really, out at my junction to the M50 for example, it starts with the tri-angular hatched markings, then continuos line then dashed line, and at the point it becomes dashed, you can cross it to join the motorway, thats my opinon of it, my understanding is that the OP wanted to cross the hatched area or the continuous line to joine the motorway, which you cant.

anyway, were probably way OT now, so i hope the OP got their answer.

CiniO wrote: »

I thing each of us is talking about something completely different

yeah sounds like it, im talking about a merging lane from a normal road to a motorway.
maybe our explainations dont come off too well in print, anyhow, im off to watch united beat everton..................hopefully

djimi

Ok I think were talking about the same thing, but youre getting mixed up in the terminology. From what I took from the OP they were asking if there is say for example 100m of dashed white line between the merging lane and the main road after the hatching do they have to travel the full 100m to merge or can they merge before the 100m provided it is safe to do so. The answer to this is they can merge once the white line is broken and it is safe to do so; you do not have to wait until the end of the merging lane.

The merging lane is still a merging lane until it narrows to a point and either becomes the hard shoulder or disappears. Hatchings, continuous white lines or brokes lines do not change this. A merging lane can be 100m long or more sometimes (Ive seen some very long ones), most of which will have a broken white line, but it is still a merging lane.

RandomAccess

DAMN - had a big response typed up and F**** session timed out.. How the hell do I get it extended?? Always bloody happens.

slimjimmc

RandomAccess wrote: »

DAMN - had a big response typed up and F**** session timed out.. How the hell do I get it extended?? Always bloody happens.

Write it up in Notepad or whatever external text editor you have then copy and paste.



My understanding of a merging/slip lane is that it extends to the point where the solid white line on your left tapers across and joins the left side of the main lane. Using that definition you don't have to drive the full length of the lane to merge if you can merge legally and safely beforehand where the dotted white line permits. If you can't merge safely before you reach the end you must stop (i.e. not cross the solid white line tapering in from your left) and wait for a safe opportunity (though many folks just tear up the hs or 'create' their own 'gap').

Gumbo

djimi wrote: »

Ok I think were talking about the same thing, but youre getting mixed up in the terminology. From what I took from the OP they were asking if there is say for example 100m of dashed white line between the merging lane and the main road after the hatching do they have to travel the full 100m to merge or can they merge before the 100m provided it is safe to do so. The answer to this is they can merge once the white line is broken and it is safe to do so; you do not have to wait until the end of the merging lane.

The merging lane is still a merging lane until it narrows to a point and either becomes the hard shoulder or disappears. Hatchings, continuous white lines or brokes lines do not change this. A merging lane can be 100m long or more sometimes (Ive seen some very long ones), most of which will have a broken white line, but it is still a merging lane.

+1
yeah thats what i am (trying) to post

Lemming

Captain Morgan wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

If you're talking about Irish motorways, I've fixed that for you

sentient_6

I tend to always move out to let people merge in & i appricate when people do the same for me. What drives me mental though is when you tipping along in the left & slightly ahead is a car merging. No problem ill move to let him in, & some dick ripping up behind in the overtaking tears by just as you'd like to move out. I find this happens alot at the athlone by pass where there is alot of exits in a short distance. I wish the cough*bmw dicks*cough relaxed with the 160 kmph overtaking on this one section, cos of all the merging.

RandomAccess

sentient_6 wrote: »

I tend to always move out to let people merge in & i appricate when people do the same for me. What drives me mental though is when you tipping along in the left & slightly ahead is a car merging. No problem ill move to let him in, & some dick ripping up behind in the overtaking tears by just as you'd like to move out. I find this happens alot at the athlone by pass where there is alot of exits in a short distance. I wish the cough*bmw dicks*cough relaxed with the 160 kmph overtaking on this one section, cos of all the merging.

Back in your lane Cretin!! I have more headlamps than youuuuu!

mathepac

CiniO wrote: »

... Of course there are exceptions, but they don't apply in this case what we are talking about...

As I suggested above read the ROTR Section 11 (fully and ask back here if what's written isn't entirely clear to you) then look at what you posted above - if there are circumstances where they can use the outer lanes, then driving them in the outer lanes is not illegal; your post above stated it was illegal. It's not illegal.

CiniO

mathepac wrote: »

As I suggested above read the ROTR Section 11 (fully and ask back here if what's written isn't entirely clear to you) then look at what you posted above - if there are circumstances where they can use the outer lanes, then driving them in the outer lanes is not illegal; your post above stated it was illegal. It's not illegal.

It is illegal, unless these circumstances occur.
I'm not sure if you remember, that I was talking about trucks and vehicles towing trailers, on the right lane of motorway.

So I'll say it again. If the truck is driving on the left lane of 2 lane motorway, and someone is approaching from merging lane into the motorway, it is illegal for truck to go to the right lane, even if the truck driver does it just to allow merging traffic to enter the motorway...
Do you agree with it?

slimjimmc

CiniO wrote: »

It is illegal, unless these circumstances occur.
I'm not sure if you remember, that I was talking about trucks and vehicles towing trailers, on the right lane of motorway.

So I'll say it again. If the truck is driving on the left lane of 2 lane motorway, and someone is approaching from merging lane into the motorway, it is illegal for truck to go to the right lane, even if the truck driver does it just to allow merging traffic to enter the motorway...
Do you agree with it?

To be fair CiniO, there was no mention of trucks in Post #8 or in Post 15 so I'm not surprised you were challenged. The first reference to trucks came in Post 16.