I'm just home from an epic road trip to Liverpool and Rochdale to collect some floorboards and plant with my Land Rover and trailer. Lumbering along, thrice I was nearly taken out by drivers crossing three lanes to just make a slip road exit. It used to be a manoeuvre you'd see on Police Camera Action when trying to evade the POlice, it's terrifying to find yourself sharing the road with such bellendery
Was I just unlucky or is it a Northern thing?
I don't know as it's a "Northern thing" but it certainly happens. Some people are fin du cloches.
The reverse manoeuvre is also pretty "interesting", as I've witnessed a few times. I would say it's a "driver" thing, not a "Northern" thing.
Doesn’t happen in Cornwall. We don’t have roads with three lanes down ere.
Did they crash? No? Sounds like pretty cool driving to me.
80 pages
😉
Another driving thread.
The perfect storm. 😀
As a Supermarket trucker who spends his time on the highways of North West England I can assure you it's a frequent event.I'm not sure if it's a behavior that's unique to the North West though..
is it a Northern thing?
Yes. It’s part of the driving test in Yorkshire.
(Done on a test track in Holmfirth as it’s not legal to drive on a motorway at that point)
Ahhh. The Three Lane Death Swerve....
I think as mentioned you may of just encountered some knob heads. Unsurprisingly they are nationwide and not limited to the north.
Although I did coin the above phrase in my youth after performing said manoeuvre and then getting pulled over by a copper sat on the roundabout of the junction. He wasn't impressed. I've never done it again
Ohh I live in the north 🙄
Have noticed it dozens of times in the North, of Ireland that is. It's a behaviour that seems almost unique to the drivers of two car brands. No need to name them.
Doesn’t happen in Cornwall. We don’t have roads with three lanes down ere.
True, you have to get into Devon before finding three lanes.
And big trucks only have one lane to pull into at the same time as they indicate, so hitting the brakes is the only option, there being no outside lane to escape to.
Still, having the two lanes over Bodmin will make a big difference come grockle season, once they finally finish it...
They’ve finished it.
Up here it tends to be fannies already on the motorway determined to let folk in off the slip road, who then brake to merge behind them and then subsequently end up in some twisted reverse drag race until either the slip road runs out or the merger boots it hard enough to get out in front of the idiot who doesn't understand the highway code.
3 lanes? We dream of dual carriageway in the North.
Happens down here in Cambridgeshire a lot.
Last year someone hit the front of my parents car while doing it on the A1 at the exit of the Hatfield tunnel and then sped off without stopping.... 😐
So, not just a Northern thing!
Nah it’s just crap driving and it happens everywhere in the UK.
Well except on the M25 since all 3 or 4 or 5 lanes are usually full in the rush hours - hard to move across one lane!
It's more that they are more multi-lane roads in England than up here.
We'd **** it up just the same if we had the chance.
3 lanes? We dream of dual carriageway in the North
I really hope you aren’t suggesting that “dual carriageway” refers to the number of lanes 😉
It’s not really a northern thing, I see it all over..
the last vehicle I saw doing it was a 7.5tonne rigid truck...
it is however way more dangerous than going a bit over the speed limit whilst driving in a straight line.
I'm more shocked that someone from Scotland is referring to Liverpool and Rochdale as 'northern'!!
I'm more shocked that someone from Scotland is referring to Liverpool and Rochdale as 'northern'!!
Agreed, That is quite odd.
I thought maybe he’d moved.
Imagine the removal quote paperwork.....
3 sofas, 4 wardrobes, dining table, 6 chairs.....
12,000 tonnes of firewood. 🙂
I really hope you aren’t suggesting that “dual carriageway” refers to the number of lanes
Oh shit!
Just remember that Fife's motorway is only two lanes each way...
Motorways are dual carriageways...
Too busy on the Sat nav/iPhone to look at the signs and then bolt left...
It's a 'sign of the times'
Ten minutes detour to the next junction to turn around safely.
Ain't no one got time for that. Especially important people.
I thought maybe he’d moved.Imagine the removal quote paperwork.....
3 sofas, 4 wardrobes, dining table, 6 chairs.....
12,000 tonnes of firewood
I can't ever see myself moving again, when I do it will be in a Viking style holzhausen cremation plume. I've left strict instructions that my sister in law has no access to my wood.
😆
I've left strict instructions that my sister in law has no access to my wood.
Your brother must be pleased.
Oh shit!
Sorry 😉
I've left strict instructions that my sister in law has no access to my wood.
Solid life advice that 🙂
Last minute slip road diving. Is it a Northern thing?
No, it’s a **** thing.
Happens everywhere.
Amazingly the driver survived this in Belgium....
Amazingly the driver survived this in Belgium....
Fooooooooooooock me!
That was horrific!
I actually flinched and closed my eyes watching that.
😯
Having lived in Northumberland, I’ve found the driving standards worse the more you head south. West Yorkshire is pretty bad
West Yorkshire is pretty bad
We are proud of it too 😆
Just to derail the family menage for a moment,
in the south we prefer our drivers to bimble down the entirety of the sliproad at 35 mph and pull onto the motorway 2nd lane (triple/quadruple carriageway 😉 as we've all got cars 8) )
Belgian driver presumably only survived as driver is on the left in them remoaner cars. Oh, and ... 😯
Scardeypants, didn't you get the memo? It's a slip road, not a drag strip!
squirrel: HC 259, point 2 ? 😀
(I also missed out the important point ... "without looking at all" )
I believe that what mcmoonter describes is compulsory for at least 18% of all users of the M27 and M3. Of those at least half must cross the hatchings during the manouevre.
A further 17% must drive past a half mile long gap (hogging the middle lane at all times) before overtaking someone and then hauling on the anchors and swerving across into a gap that would have been plenty big enough had they not swung in to it still going 30mph faster than the car that is now straight in front of them but now seems alarmingly bigger and closer than it did 2 seconds ago.
Edited too long and self-indulgent!
I believe that what mcmoonter describes is compulsory for at least 18% of all users of the M27 and M3. Of those at least half must cross the hatchings during the manouevre.
You need to include the M3/A34 split, a flippin' nightmare. 😐
It's obviously NOT a Northern thing because here in the North there are no 3 lane roads.
Motorways are dual carriageways...
A controversial point milud...
A38(M) may be the only non central reservationed motorway in the UK? However I'm not sure if they ever run it without the central lane clear which might still make it a dual carriageway.
I'll shut up.
A38(M)
Correct. Motorway but single carriageway.
But only a couple of miles, and never run without a lane gap as a “central reservation”
M8..... 😮
A1 Alfreton junction.............. 👿 😥
The specialism in the south is simply barreling down the sliproad, no indicator, not looking and somehow expecting a gap to emerge immediately alongside in 3 lanes of slow-moving traffic without any adjustment in speed and immediately traverse across to the outside lane in one manoeuvre.
Whenever I think about whether it's worth passing more slow moving traffic prior to making a slip road, I always remind myself of the consequences.
And as I'm not that bothered about someone I'm never going to meet thinking I'm a bell end (for not actually causing a crash), the consequences are low.
I need to get a life where saving seconds is absolutely vital. Most of my driving is done either going to work (where a few minutes late won't make a difference) or going home again (which again a few minutes late won't hurt). Other people must be going somewhere so much more important than me to drive like absolute knobs.
We live in an age of self-important twunts, they're everywhere.
I blame social media/online forums.
Whatever you do, don't drive in Belgium. We got sliproad/ 2nd lane single sweep'd last month by a guy doing about 60kmh less than I was doing. fortunately I had my Michelin CrossClimate+ tyres on so the cold and wet conditions were handled with no drama - except for my co-driver waking up very suddenly as I had to brake hard enough for the hazards to start flashing and then swerve into the 3rd lane. About 20 minutes later when he finally inched past me he then pulled violently in front (close, real close) then brake checked me. Which was nice.
I believe that what mcmoonter describes is compulsory for at least 18% of all users of the M27 and M3. Of those at least half must cross the hatchings during the manouevre.
The m27 split from the m3 is sure to show you the worst in driving.
I seem to be seeing loads more of it right now.
In fact I am seeing more stupid and impatient driving full stop. Like this morning, driving through Leeds on a one-way system. I was in the right hand lane, guy in the left hand lane realised he needed to turn into an industrial estate on the right so needed to go across my lane. He stopped and indicated, I stopped and waited for him to move. Next thing, some clown in a pimped up all matt black VW Polo came racing up behind him, sounding his horn and waving madly and trying to swerve past us both. I mean, this all happened in the space of about 5 seconds – couldn't the guy just chill for a second and wait for the guy that had made a simple mistake to move out of his way?
Try driving in South Wales, no one has ever been told how to use their indicators (or brains it would seem). They all speed in a 30 and do 50 on the motorway.
Bunch of retards.
They don't seem to do the cutting into the slip road thing, but they do do the slowing down to allow someone to merge which makes me wish i had machineguns fitted into my headlights.
simply barreling down the sliproad, no indicator
Although I do indicate, as much out of habit as anything, I do wonder why, since if you're barreling (driving at, or accelerating to, motorway speed, to put it less emotively) down a sliproad that joins a motorway, there isn't really much scope for confusing other motorists as to what your next manoeuvre's going to be, is there?
If you see someone doing this, and not indicating, has anyone ever thought "oh, they must not be intending to join the carriageway?"
Well except on the M25 since all 3 or 4 or 5 lanes are usually full in the rush hours - hard to move across one lane!
I was going to say I barely see it these days. This is probably why.
jam bo - Member
Doesn’t happen in Cornwall. We don’t have roads with three lanes down ere.
Sometimes it feels like we barely have roads once you get past Truro
Every time I get up into the Northern English conurbation I am shocked by how shite the driving is including many things like the OP describes. Definitely not that bad south of the M56.
Every time I get up into the Northern English conurbation I am shocked by how shite the driving is including many things like the OP describes. Definitely not that bad south of the M56.
And every time I am anywhere near a big city I am shocked by the driving standards.
When I visit head office in Winchester, I am shocked by how MUCH traffic there is. 😯
Well the number and proximity of cities in that Northern belt is likely the issue.
When the M1 was being widened and it was a 50 I was cruising along the inside lane (cruise control at 51) at Donington when a bellend comes screaming up the inside on the on slip and forces his way in between me and the bollards making me have to brake. This obviously got my ire as it meant I had to re-engage cruise, to which said bellend got the international coffebeans shake. I made sure he was looking when I did it, so he decided to completely anchor up from about 60, waving and shaking fists and looking over his shoulder. I repeated the gesture but by then he had floored it and was away. I really hope the cameras got him.
Twunt!
Had a good one Tueday, a reverse 4-lane slip road dash. Knackered old pug screams out of a slip road jct 18 M5 S, hasn't noticed the customary stationary traffic in lane 1 for jct 19 because he is so intent on finding gaps for his 4-lane death gamble. Damn near rear ends me and properly puts the willies up the heavy traffic in lanes 2, 3 and 4.
Luckily I'm a driving god that watches his mirrors like a hawk, so I made use of the hard shoulder pronto. Missed the car in front of me by mere inches.
I do wonder why, since if you're barreling (driving at, or accelerating to, motorway speed, to put it less emotively) down a sliproad that joins a motorway, there isn't really much scope for confusing other motorists as to what your next manoeuvre's going to be, is there?
If you see someone doing this, and not indicating, has anyone ever thought "oh, they must not be intending to join the carriageway?"
My assumption when I see this is that they're going to be a tool about joining the motorway. There's a high correlation between those kind of behaviours and confirmation of toolness.
Definitely happens in the South as well. My working assumption is quite a few of the traffic jams without any good reason is caused by numpties doing this whilst braking. Since they keep appearing coming up to a junction and vanishing right after.
The variant i really like is one I have seen a couple of times on the A1 to M25 turn off. It can get rather busy and seen a couple of times people getting right up to the junction and then just stopping in the inside lane hoping a space will appear before someone hits them from behind.
What tends to happen is the 2 slow lanes tend to be very congested, so you spend ages making progress in the fast lane. 1 mile goes very quickly so in order to make the junction in time you have to cut across the 2 lanes to get in. Its the bad driving of the people in the 2 slow lanes that cause this.
I always live in hope that I'll encounter that sort of idiocy and then catch up with them later to find them embedded in the back of a large truck.
Why its so hard to pace your entry speed with a gap I'll never know.
simply barreling down the sliproad, no indicator
No point. It only tells other drivers that the indicator is working.

