The Beard said:

The parking and joining the motorway films are just as relevant today as they were then. There seems to be a fairly widespread belief that traffic already on the carriageway must give way to those joining, when of course it's the other way round.

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this is true but flow of traffic also relies on the space to be there, we need a new film with the entering motorway combined with don't tail gate and dont slam your brakes on when level with some one on slip road.

I be like man in film look back early, see the space adjust my speed to merge in after the ( where lorry is in this film) but tit in lane will brake just as im about to merge in behind them.

or i'll be the bloke behind the lorry, some one will come out of slip road but they haven't adjusted speed first pull out and make me have to brake hard.

the most important bit of the film is the look back i see way too many people never look back but just stare into their side mirror instead they can see nothing in that until they are half way out and most certainly cant judge others speed in it:bang:

I agree, largely, with what you say here, but I can't help thinking that there needs to be a step back to basics. The vast majority of drivers when waiting to get out of a side road onto a major road will generally wait until there's a reasonable size gap before emerging, yet when joining a motorway there seems to be almost a presumption of right to join. That doesn't alter the fact that the broken line between Lane 1 and the entry slip road is in fact a Give Way line, and if necessary, a driver waiting to join the carriageway should stop.

On the other hand, if you can't merge with motorway traffic when you're moving, you'll have even less chance from a standing start, which is why I said above that drivers need to take a step back to basics.

Sometime, probably in a different bl**dy century, a government will get a grip on the matter and make some form of post-test training compulsory, and if they really have some cojones they'll bring graduated licencing into effect. At least if drivers are shown how to join a motorway straight after passing the test they might stand some chance of doing it properly when they're on their own.

In the meantime,

1: When joining a motorway use the entry sliproad/acceleration lane to build up speed to that of traffic on the main carriageway.

2: If the sliproad runs downhill use the right hand lane, if it runs uphill use the left.

3: Start your observation as soon as you can see what the traffic on the carriageway is doing. Is traffic heavy or light? Is it fast moving or slow? Are there any vehicles in lane 2 over your right shoulder that might move into lane 1?

4: If it will help other road users give a signal in plenty of time.

5: Try and pick your space and settle for a good one early on rather than going for a tight space right where the acceleration lane disappears.

6: Keep the observation going until you're safely in lane 1.

7: Don't think that moving from acceleration lane to lane 3 in one fell swoop is a good idea. A colleague, who's now retired, almost lost his lower leg when on a blue light run down the M60 on Honda Pan European in lane 3, someone did just that, and pulled right across to lane 3. The angle meant that even if the driver used his door mirror he almost certainly wouldn't have seen the 'bike anyway. The Cop ended up squeezing between the car and the Armco on the tarmac and managed to strike the barrier upright with his shin. Luckily it was a glancing blow and his leathers and boot saved his leg. It didn't save his career though and on return to work ended up in the Crime Prevention Department instead.

portland_bill said:

Non-fault claims are still counted against you, but not as highly. A view is taken that you were in a place where you got caught, whereas many of us manage not to be caught, so you are seen as higher risk.

With any collision involving more than one vehicle, someone got something wrong, but could the other person have seen it coming, or done anything to prevent the collision? Often the answer is yes, so the insurance companies are happy to penalise you, as its more profit for them if then you don't get caught.

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About 5 years ago I was driving Mrs. B's Stilo when I came to a Give Way junction where I was turning left. As I rolled up to the line there was a Transit minibus reversing into the road. Because there was no pavement there and high shrubs I didn't see the Transit until the last second and, although I'd stopped, he didn't see me at all. I gave a good long blast on the horn but that didn't stop him hitting me at about 10 mph.

At first the company and driver tried to make out it was my fault until I popped into see the manager and he recognised me then. Who said clothes maketh the man? I took it to a local body shop that just happened to be a FIAT approved repairer. They were very good and once I'd explained the circs were quite happy to deal direct with the other party keeping our insurer out of the loop. Not only that but they provided a courtesy car and used genuine FIAT parts. Still, it all came to nought when Mrs. B managed to customise the front end by creating a Stilo/ Nissan X-Trail interface. Ah well, Que sera.

and maddies mum still reckons she did nothing wrong.



young members watch till the end, that was how tv finished for the night, every channel would be switched off about the same time and everyone would go to sleep

dave said:

(UK) Public Information Film: Joining The Motorway - YouTube

Park Right you wally Public Information Film - YouTube

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Is this the Reginald Molehusband parking camplaign from the 60's?
They were hilarious.
Along with the "Follow the Country Code" films:
Couple see farmer raging and waving his stick at them for leaving a gate open and letting all the livestock out:
"Eee look Petunia, ee's doin' one o them country dances!"
Classics.
They should bring all those films back.
After all, there are plenty of people who would benefit from seeing them.

there are a few Joe & Petunia pif on youtube

joe the original chav