I've been driving full time as a courier and a coach driver since 1982 and the main thing I've learnt about motorway driving is that the gap is everthing.
Those chevrons you get on motorways where it says keep 2 apart, that's not a big enough gap. I think it should be at least double that, even in perfect conditions.
If you're looking half a mile up the road or more, instead of the back of the next car you're going to see problems developing way up the road and anticipate them with plenty of time to spare.
I'm not saying you can keep this gap all the time. If you're overtaking or you've just been overtaken the gap will be a lot less, but you should get that gap back as soon as possible.
And you can't say 'what if someone pulls into my gap', you just ease off the gas untill you get the gap back then bring yourself back up to speed again. It might feel as if the person that's pulled in front is slowing you up, but if you ease back you'll soon find you're travelling at the same speed you were doing before.
It's a very easy and relaxed way of driving on a motorway.
I'm not trying to preach, it's just that I've done a hell of a lot of motorway driving, 100,000 miles a year as a courier, and I know there's a few young or new drivers on the forum and I think that when you get on a motorway you should just be concentrating on that gap.
The gap can never be too big, but it can be too small.
A guy once said to me that he never leaves a big gap on a motorway because someone will pull into it, and then you're going backwards.
It can feel like that, especially if you have to ease back off the gas to get the gap back but you've got to remember that you might drop your speed from 70 to 68 just for a few seconds then back to 70 again. That's hardly going backwards.
But what about when the motorway is really packed but still moving at 70 plus?
I regularly get into situations where the 2nd and 3rd lanes are bumper to bumper, travelling at 65 to 70, brake lights flashing on and off, but I'm on the inside lane doing the same speed with a quarter mile gap in front because no one wants to back out of the rat race and use that inside lane.
Once you've got that big gap and you're looking half a mile up the road, you'll be the first to see the stationary traffic and you'll have plenty of time to put the hazzard lights on and warn everyone behind you.