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BEFORE YOU HEAD out on a motorway please read and study the RSA booklet ‘Motorway Driving’. I don’t just mean this for newbie motorway drivers, everybody should read it and if you have read it before, read it again.
I would also recommend getting advanced motorway driving lessons once you have passed your driving test.
But anyway, let’s get started. OK, assuming you have read the Rules of the Road, and you know you are legally allowed to drive on a motorway, let’s do this in baby steps.
Step one:
Build up speed on the acceleration lane before merging with motorway traffic. In an ideal world, those already on the motorway would merge into the middle lane when approaching an on-ramp and the vehicles wanting to join the motorway could do so easily.
However, this does not always happen so when joining the motorway you have to build up your speed, give way to the traffic already on the motorway and then change your speed to safely and legally merge with the traffic in the inside lane (Lane 1).
Step two:
That’s it. Well done you. You’ve joined the motorway and you are in the correct driving lane. Yes, this is the driving lane. No, it is not the ‘slow lane’. Now stay in this lane until you need to exit the motorway.
Step three:
If for some reason you need to go faster than the car in front of you, you will have to overtake that car.
But before you do so, ask yourself these questions:
If you have decided that you do want to overtake you need to check your mirrors, signal and wait until it is safe to manoeuvre – indicators are signals of intent, not a right-of-way.
Get your speed up and move over into the middle lane (Lane 2) swiftly and ACTUALLY OVERTAKE.
Overtaking does not mean driving alongside the other vehicle at the same speed. You have to increase your speed to pass the car in the inside lane and then you move back into the inside lane.
Do not drive in the middle lane of the motorway. This screws up lane discipline and safe driving for those in all other lanes. Do you feel safer in the middle lane? Well, your driving is inconsiderate and dangerous for others. Move over.
On a three-lane motorway, you may stay in the middle lane while there is slower moving traffic in Lane 1.
Step four:
If you would like to move from the inside lane to overtake the cars in both the inside and middle lane then you have to treat this as two manoeuvres. You need to follow the steps above to move into the middle lane and then again to move into the overtaking lane.
Yes, this lane is called the ‘overtaking lane’. That means it is only used for overtaking cars. It is not the ‘fast lane’ and you do not drive in it just because you are driving fast. Also, just because you are driving at the speed limit does not mean you can hog the overtaking lane acting like self-proclaimed motorway police. You also do not drive in the overtaking lane trying to catch up with the car in the middle lane 400 metres ahead of you.
When you have overtaken the car that is in the middle lane you move back to the left and then again back into the inside lane.
Step five:
The Rules of the Road state that you should only use lane 3 (the overtaking lane) ”if traffic in lanes 1 and 2 is moving in queues and you need to overtake or make room for merging traffic. Again, you should move back to lane 1 as soon as it is safe to do so.”
As you can see, you do not ‘sit’ in the middle lane or overtaking lane. You do not ‘hog’ the lanes. You drive in lane 1 and the other lanes are for overtaking. Got it?
Step six:
When you want to exit the motorway signal your intent and leave by the slip road. Because you are a decent and good driver and have been driving in the correct lane you will not have to recklessly speed up and cut in front of other drivers to exit the motorway.
If there is a queue to exit the motorway, JOIN THE QUEUE. Again, don’t be that person who speeds up, cuts in and jams on. Those people are not only arrogant road users but dangerous ones too.
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All common sense instructions for motorway driving. Unfortunately common sense in not very common on the roads.
Thank you for this article. It won’t make any difference but thanks for trying
There is little hope of ever seeing most Irish motorists ever driving correctly on a motorway.
Maybe this is just me, I’m not sure how everyone/ the majority of other people feel about it – but the standard of driving not only on the motorway, but on all roads in Ireland is absolutely disgraceful, and has been for the best part of 10-15 years now, back since when the Driving Licences began to be issued like confetti.
There are so many people who seem to drive as if the World is revolving around them, complete oblivious to every other car on the roads with them, as their mobile phones, texts, make-up, etc all take priority. The same people refuse to use indicators or mirrors at all, instead just swerving violently and sharply into the lane of choice, or else force/bully their way in to the desired lane/position – this includes 2-3 lane manoeuvres over an incredibly short distance without any possible way of knowing if the left/right hand destination lanes are clear, then they seem shocked and offended when they get beeped/have an accident. The levels of self-entitlement are obscene.
One solution to help resolve half of these problems, which myself and a few friends and colleagues who have been driving for a quite a large number of years and who also drive for a living have come to is, that all brand new cars should be fitted as standard with dash cams, and people should be report the information of these type of instances to the local Gardai to help them police these people, who odds on, are the one’s causing or having most of the accidents on our roads.
It may seem extreme, but there is one certainty from it all, once the fines, penalty points and disqualifications for dangerous driving, etc start to roll out, people will swiftly begin to drive normally, responsibly and with consideration for their fellow drivers.
Laziness to indicate is not an excuse, its down right dangerous. Ignorance is also something which no one appreciates or needs to be present on our roads, neither is not having enough manners to be excused for driving like a total a**e. All 3 of these are potential causes for a fatality or serious injury, if someone who knowingly drives like that and thinks is it acceptable, then they should not be allowed to drive on the roads.
The main problem we have seems to be though, that the attitude to these scenario’s, much like the attitude to most issues in our Country is, “if you cant beat them, join them”. This only makes the whole situation exponentially worse.
I come across this situation all the time and while undertaking on the left side is dangerous, doing what seems like the right thing is also dangerous and needless. Wonder what is the official best thing to do in these situations?
When correctly driving along in the left lane of a 3 lane motorway, and you come up behind…..
1) a car going slower than you, and incorrectly just driving along in the middle lane (not overtaking anything) – should you continue past them in the left lane, OR go across into the middle lane behind them and then again into the far right overtaking lane to go around them and then back across two lanes to the left driving lane again?
2) a car going slower than you, and incorrectly just driving along in the far right overtaking lane (not overtaking anything) – should you continue past them in the left lane, OR cross over the two lanes and wait behind them until they pull over into the middle lane?
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