Motorway question

K

Kage

I have an honest question.

I'm a rather new driver, and only recently got took on motorways with someone I know who said he would teach me the basics to get more confident on them, and I believe he did. I was on the motorways for around an hour in total. We just kept going around and exiting at different exits etc.

Now, one question, I've been questioned about this, and I'm not sure if I did the right or wrong thing, even though the person I was with concluded it was the right thing.

I had switched to the middle lane to allow cars coming up the entry to get onto the motorway. I speeded up as I was in the middle lane which is the over taking lane.

I now wanted to switch lanes again, because my exit was 2 ahead, and a BMW was in the left lane (the no undertaking lane) directly beside me.

Now, I thought it'd be right, and so did my instructor, that I should speed up and attempt to overtake the BMW, get some space, and then switch back to the left.

However, as I was speeding up to get to speed to over take, the BMW started to rival my speed, and as I increased speed, so did he. He was adamant not to let me pass. The guy I was with said that he was looking at me all the time, as if it was some kind of game.

This started to worry me, as I knew if I slowed down, I'd be endangering people behind me in the fast lane, and so my only choice was to speed up even more.

I still wasn't doing 70mph. We seemed to have approached a bit of a hill, but I slowly but surely managed it, and finally, the BMW slowed down and let me over take, which I believed to be right.

After I had gotten plenty of space in between us, I signaled, and switched back to the left lane and then exited minutes later.

Was I in the right to over take him, even though he was really not wanting to let me and it took a lot of this "game" of his to do so?

Surely if I did actually slow down without hitting the break, and let him pass to then go into his lane, he would actually be undertaking me which would be against the law anyway?

Who was in the right?

Reason I'm asking is, I posted this on another forum about motorway confidence, and was basically told that I shouldn't of acted in this way, and I was causing a danger to the BMW driver? Surely he was causing more danger to me? fwn
 
Sounds like he was being a cock, bloody arrogant Beemer drivers :)p jokes Daniel)

I get this quite alot, I just slow down and let them undertake, maybe occasionally flick them the v's
 
yes your right mate hes just a d******d he probably was doing it on purpose i would of stuck my finger up at him but i dont advise this to you lol. if the police seen this he would of been in a lot of trouble :k12cop:
 
Mind you, you should off probably stated to indicate before manoeuvring,
Remember, mirror, signal, manoeuvre
 
Thanks for the fast confirmations :)

Well pork, I just wanted to get past him so then I could use my mirror to make sure he wasn't speeding up again, then signal and manoeuvre.
I made sure there was plenty of space between us before switching lanes.

It just really angered me that he probably saw I was in a little car, and really didn't want to see me over take him. He must have known what I was trying to do.

Maybe I should have just stopped accelerating though and just let him pass, your right.
 
haha i think its funny when i blow the train horn at them as well never fails to amuse me by the look on their faces when i do that :laugh:
 
Kage said:
Who was in the right?

Reason I'm asking is, I posted this on another forum about motorway confidence, and was basically told that I shouldn't of acted in this way, and I was causing a danger to the BMW driver? Surely he was causing more danger to me? fwn
Click to expand...

yes mate, but the game gets better with experiance
over take on the right when you can safely , the guy on yer left sees you indicating to change lanes in will either speed up or slow down . it is in both drivers interest to not occupy the same space at the same time. he could of kept you from entering the exit lane all the way if he wanted too knowing you cant drive into him/her (your mistake your insurance deficit:grinning:)
their is many good maneuvering that can be done on the rd safely, that makes the"game" worth playjng
 
I hate these "games" haha

I'm thinking of taking the pass plus course to be honest. I'm certainly feeling more confident on the road though
 
I had someone (try to) do this to me the other day, a BMW 5-series. Lucky for me I'd left the Micra at home, and was in the Brabus. That was satisfying indeed.
 
What is it about BMW drivers? Seriously?

I know not all are like that, but there must be something about BMW's that attract that kind of person.

I've found people in Audi's the same. I can only imagine someone in a super car to be even worse.

Though I've of course had a few nice people driving these cars. Like one that thanked me in an Audi for letting them into the lane late.
 
As far as I can tell its simply because they have cars capable of being driven well, so they assume they can drive them well.

The only thing worse to me than these BMW or Audi drivers are kids in corsas who think their 1.2 twinports can do the same.
 
What I would have personally done in this situation (and have done before) is either like you said, slow down to let them undertake, just gets the nutjob in his german cock extension out of the way, or, if there's traffic ahead, simply speed up to overtake the next car. He'll either have to slow down to pull out behind you, or just slow down as there's traffic infront.

Mind you I'm a fairly new driver too (passed in february) and was never properly taught how to use a motorway, but so far this method hasn't gotten me pulled over or killed so I think it's working well.
 
Tchaaa said:
What I would have personally done in this situation (and have done before) is either like you said, slow down to let them undertake, just gets the nutjob in his german cock extension out of the way, or, if there's traffic ahead, simply speed up to overtake the next car. He'll either have to slow down to pull out behind you, or just slow down as there's traffic infront.

Mind you I'm a fairly new driver too (passed in february) and was never properly taught how to use a motorway, but so far this method hasn't gotten me pulled over or killed so I think it's working well.
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hahahaha:laugh::laugh::laugh: that had me in tears for about 5 minutes lol well said(Y)
 
Haha, yeah I passed in June and only got everything sorted about 4 weeks back so haven't been driving all that long at all. I'm just building up confidence at the moment, but I know if I had a crash, that confidence would just fly out the window.
 
Kage said:
Haha, yeah I passed in June and only got everything sorted about 4 weeks back so haven't been driving all that long at all. I'm just building up confidence at the moment, but I know if I had a crash, that confidence would just fly out the window.
Click to expand...

best way is to just relax a bit mate. if you really want to boost your confidence try a few track days out racing amongst other people on a track will really boost your confidence on a motorway cause you wont be racing on a motorway so it will feel quite normal. thats just my philosophy i think it should be part of the driving test really.
 
Kage said:
Haha, yeah I passed in June and only got everything sorted about 4 weeks back so haven't been driving all that long at all. I'm just building up confidence at the moment, but I know if I had a crash, that confidence would just fly out the window.
Click to expand...

i would advice any new driver to take the plunge and go drive in london central in rush hour:grinning:
good practice and a realization that micras are a cut above the rest
 
funkydoodycool said:
You'd really find out just how sweet the handling is in central London!
Click to expand...

yes i want you all to feel my experience ,new driver waiting at a busy marble arch round about sweat pouring down ya and hesitating to find a gap in the traffic, oh and friends laughing/shouting at ya with regular fore head spams and intervening neck back liks. all random of course :grinning:
and try the one where your doing 70 on motoway and freinds in back decide to start a ruckas,,,, the whole car feels like wants to flip over :grinning::grinning:
"im a leave you right were you stand",,,"with the ambulance pass your timberlands straight to your man"
 
Kage said:
Haha, yeah I passed in June and only got everything sorted about 4 weeks back so haven't been driving all that long at all. I'm just building up confidence at the moment, but I know if I had a crash, that confidence would just fly out the window.
Click to expand...

I had a bit of a crash with a tree back in July and it rattled me up for a while but you just have to put it behind you and keep on going.

R-REG-SR said:
yes i want you all to feel my experience ,new driver waiting at a busy marble arch round about sweat pouring down ya and hesitating to find a gap in the traffic, oh and friends laughing/shouting at ya with regular fore head spams and intervening neck back liks. all random of course :grinning:
and try the one where your doing 70 on motoway and freinds in back decide to start a ruckas,,,, the whole car feels like wants to flip over :grinning::grinning:
"im a leave you right were you stand",,,"with the ambulance pass your timberlands straight to your man"
Click to expand...

My friends did something very similar back in my old K11 when the rear suspension was broken, where going around a roundabout (which I had to creep round with just me in the car to avoid rolling, let alone with 4 others in it) and they all decided to jump to one side. How on earth we didn't end up upside down in the nearest hedge is beyond me!
 
Well all drivers can be 'dicks' behind a steering wheel, people just don't think. The more you drive on motorways the more relaxed you will become. You'll get the hang of it, might take a while.

My last car was an Audi & we are generally know for our tail gating skills! he he :)
 
Haha, thanks guys

Yeah well, actually, I have crashed once, but it was last year whilst I was still driving with my provisional license. I got rid of the provisional insurance though as it was pretty expensive, and decided to wait until I passed which was an entire year later! (Passed 10th time...)

Basically, I was coming out of the drive and with not much experience happened to crash it into our drive wall somehow. 10 minutes prior to that, I had booked it in for a service believe it or not, which I had to cancel.
I must have only been going 3 or so mph when I hit it, but the entire bumper came off, and shattered in a few places.
Fixing it cost me around £200 as I had to have the new part resprayed to match.

My Micra, poor soul, wasn't moved for just under 12 months after that :( I took the hand break off and put it in first which I thought would save it slightly, but I forgot to start it up now and again, and I had to replace the battery come driving it for its MOT as it wouldn't accept charge.
Luckily it passed with flying colours besides needing new oil, water, cleaning fluid, etc, and tightening of the timing belt, etc (driving it to the MOT test centre, it was revving when stopped with no pedal help). It also got new spark plugs also.

So yeah, I guess that would count as my first and hopefully only ever crash in it.

I am learning to love it though, and its only done as of now 10,700 or so miles, and its a 2002 52 model. I bought it off this old lady who only really used it to drive to the shops and back.
You can really get a lot of power out of it when you want it, i.e at starts. It gets to 30 pretty much in a couple seconds when I really give it a good go with no cars in front of me.
 
When I'm on the motorway I cruise in the middle lane at around 80 and only go in the "slow" lane about 2 miles from my junction, unless I can't be arsed then I'll sit behind a lorry doing 56 :laugh:(I've done that for approx 50miles before)

Just to mirror everyone else you were in the right, if he wanted to go faster he should of got into the right lane rather than playing a dangerous game with you... What would he of done if there was a lorry, caravan or any other limited vehicle in front? Especially as he was watching what you were doing rather than what he was
 
I've got used to these highway games, it's your typical big bully vs small kid scenario, if you ignore them and play it cool nothing much happens, although it doesn't feel like it to someone with less experience.

It's tailgating that seriously winds me up, doesn't matter if you're in the middle of a line of cars doing 60 in a 60 on single lane half the time there's someone just a car length behind. I don't get why people do it, if they get within a car length behind I'll signal and move over for them to overtake, or slow down too, but half of them don't bother and just stayed glued to your tail. Tailgating at night flips me out though, their lights light up the interior like it's day and the reflection in the mirrors is blinding, especially if you've got glasses the glare is too much too see where your going, not much you can do though.

What I've learn't while driving is that there's the official highway code and an unwritten highway code, some drive by one, some the other, and a few live by neither. Audi and Bmw drivers live in their own little world don't they, but sod 'em, if you get in their way that's their own fault.

Ten times to pass your test is a lot though, what happened?
 
No need to be Stereotypical here...
i have seen bad drivers in nearly every car out there... including Mazeratis to Micras.

Its the people that are bad drivers not the cars...
 
karlj, exactly :(

I have no idea Matt to be honest. I was getting awful bad luck on the tests, and was incredibly nervous with the examiner in the car. Heart was going by the clappers, and was making many small mistakes which cost me a lot which I wouldn't otherwise make.
Thing is, as soon as I started driving by myself, I was a lot less scared. It was the fact someone was examining my every move that did it.

A few things, attempting to enter a one way system (stupid, and something I wouldn't have done if on my own), not staying right enough on a round about, as a truck was going into my lane. The examiner had to pull the wheel to the right, almost hitting the round about itself, which failed me.
One I got failed for 1 minute after leaving the test centre. It was busy, and I didn't see the bike lane. I stopped on it. Automatic fail.
Did that though on the test again before the one I passed by mistake, and he overlooked it yet failed on something else which I can't remember!

I can't honestly remember every single one to be honest :(

Thing that got to me haha; I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I was failing with 1 major and only like 1 or 2 minors on every test.

Pass on that day, and I have 10 minors...

Every test, I was getting more and more nervous, so I'm glad he passed me. I'm just glad I didn't give up, but it took me more than a year to pass.

Shaun, I do agree, but it tends to be the bigger cars you notice making more mistakes, and you see a lot of BMW drivers around here that do think they are a lot better than everyone else.

I'd never buy a BMW because of my experiences of myself and my dad driving. It's probably not every driver, but:

You do tend to notice the bad things more than the good things, and recall them a lot easier. They stick in the mind.

I feel like I may be coming across a bit boy racery in mine however as I'm getting to grips with it and enjoying it.

I'm accelerating the engine quite hard when starting off from lights etc if I've got space, getting it to speed quicker. You can certainly hear the engine with the windows closed roaring away.
Is it actually damaging to the engine to be going high on revs in first and second? Or is it just a faster way to reach the speed limits?
I mean, I don't have a rev counter so I have no idea how high up it is going to the limiter, but surely if you can unlimit it to reach over 7000RPM, then if I've by mistake hit the 6000 (or something) RPM barrier, I can't be doing any damage?

The only reason I've started doing this, is I've noticed that after you hit 3rd gear, the acceleration is pretty slow. In second, you can really feel the acceleration and at the moment I think I'm getting to grips with the engine, and I tend to switch to third, when I reach 20-25mph then 4th after I'm comfortably at 30mph.

It's very nippy, which I like to be honest now. When I first started driving it, I never expected it to perform like it does when I want a boost in speed from a stop.
 
never mind that, you know this one pumpum slamed his breaks on in the fast lane,,,,basicaly wanted me to fix him up neatly like :laugh:
 
Haha that isn't bad at all!! Well mine won't be reaching 7800rpm with the limiter, but I know you have that removed.
Simple as blocking up the hole? Not sure if I want to be doing that to mine though. At least, not without changing the cams if I ever decide to do that.

I'm pretty happy at the moment with the speed of the car. It's only on motorways where I feel its not getting to speed as fast as I'd like. It doesn't like hills does it? I get a max MPH of 50mph when going up a hill on a motorway when I was testing it.
 
Kage said:
I get a max MPH of 50mph when going up a hill on a motorway when I was testing it.
Click to expand...

There's a stretch of the A41 out of Watford towards Hemel and Aylesbury that is a gentle, but long slope. Every car I ever had (except the couple with turbos) struggled to get about 50-60MPH on that hill. Mostly because you hit it straight off from traffic lights, which I don't think I've EVER seen as green when I arrive.
 
Being a Micra driver from 17 years old, I love annoying these "BMW drivers" you speak of no matter the car they are in. When I got my Audi S3, running 300bhp, I did this to a few of them for all the pain I was caused in their poor driving skills. If however i was in the middle lane trying to take my junction off the motorway I'd have no problem dropping a gear or 2 and melting it... Which I miss so much driving a micra again :(

But you were right in your driving ability to try pass and move in safely but as you will learn that wont be last of the BMW driver incidents. Remember though any driver will do what they can to stop their car being in an accident so if you need to... just move over slowly and he will back off however expect your lip reading skills to be called in to play lol

Pepper
 
K11SS said:
Being a Micra driver from 17 years old, I love annoying these "BMW drivers" you speak of no matter the car they are in. When I got my Audi S3, running 300bhp, I did this to a few of them for all the pain I was caused in their poor driving skills. If however i was in the middle lane trying to take my junction off the motorway I'd have no problem dropping a gear or 2 and melting it... Which I miss so much driving a micra again :(
Pepper
Click to expand...

I know what you mean, just sold my S3 :( it was only a stage 1 remap so maybe 250bhp! But i could achieve a similar pleasure by leaving them surprised :)
 
Kage said:
Haha, I'm probably going to take my car on a nice long drive at some point soon. Spend a couple of hours on the road.
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yeh ok, and never mind trying to lip read or look at the other driver ,it wont help. get on the rd practice and learn the moves needed to survive
 
karlj said:
When I'm on the motorway I cruise in the middle lane at around 80 and only go in the "slow" lane about 2 miles from my junction, unless I can't be arsed then I'll sit behind a lorry doing 56 :laugh:(I've done that for approx 50miles before)
Click to expand...

Despite doing above the speed limit (which isn't my issue here) this is just stupid. People who just stay in the middle generally have no idea of what's going on around them, plus cause frustration when two cars, lets say doing 85 and 90 are approaching behind you. The 'slow' lane is potentially free and you're then causing one car to slow down in order to pass you. Just stick to the left unless you're over taking.

Kage, as already said, some drivers just like to do stuff like this. If there's a big enough gap behind you and it's safe to do so, then slow down and pull in behind the muppet driver. Also it is good to pull into the middle lane when going past a junction but only if A) there's a car coming onto the motorway and B), it's safe to pull into the middle lane.

Another thing I would say is be observant. You should never be in a position where you're driving along then you have to slow down in order to move into a different lane. You should always be aware of everything going on around you. Always check your blind spots when switching lanes, always indicate, and always assume someone is going faster than you. Never lane hog!

I'd highly recommend pass plus for some additional motorway experience
 
Yeah, I may very well do Pass Plus.

I read a review of the Nissan Micra tonight, and apparently it's not even a car really meant for the motorway because of its apparently poor handling? As its only meant as a town car.

Check:

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/cars/nissan-micra-1-0i-16v-s-3dr/308371/

What would you think about what was said?

I did notice whilst on the motorway, it was shaking an awful lot, and took a lot of wheel adjustments to keep it going straight at times doing the faster speeds. (I'm sure nothing is physically wrong with my car)
 
Kage said:
I read a review of the Nissan Micra tonight, and apparently it's not even a car really meant for the motorway because of its apparently poor handling? As its only meant as a town car.

What would you think about what was said?
(I'm sure nothing is physically wrong with my car)
Click to expand...

i think your right , that is the reason for modding em better/stiffer , if your tyres are to thin the wind would blow you about the m-way :grinning:


Product Type: Nissan card
Newest Review: ... But that's what you get with a 1.0 litre engine, so I shouldn't really complain! Sadly Nissan Micra's have a bit of a bad reputation, ... more
Ads by Google-----------bad ass reputation:grinning:
 
They're not 'ideal' motorway cars probably because at 70, they will rev quite high, but still that's not a reason to not use the motorway. They're light and blow around in the wind so just slow down a bit :)
 
Arnold said:
They're not 'ideal' motorway cars probably because at 70, they will rev quite high, but still that's not a reason to not use the motorway. They're light and blow around in the wind so just slow down a bit :)
Click to expand...

haha say that again lol its a right mission trying to keep the k10 in a straight line through the cross winds :grinning:
 
the highway code states that you can over take on both sides of a car on the motorway providing it is safe to do so, the caviat to that is that you must not be doing more than 70mph to do so, or that the other driver must be doing less than 70mph.

undertaking no longer exists unless it is erratic, or dangerous (ie high speeds etc)

also, when driving on a motorway the speed limit may be 70mph but this is also the 2correct safe speed" to be doing. as any slower than this can be seen as driving without due care and attention and even causing an obstruction to other road users.

if you are driving onto a motorway from a slip road...... do NOT slow down to fit into the flow of traffic. the highway code is quite clear on this. you should speed up to match the flow of the traffic as "fast as possible" (a direct quote from the highway code) obviously you shouldn't be racing, but you also shouldnt slow down to a stop...... a slip road is not a give way.... its a merger. the emphasis is on the flowing traffic to make room for the merging vehicle.
if the flowing traffic is not moving at the set speed (or acceptable speed for motorway driving) then the vehicle entering the flow from the slip road can "under-take" the other vehicle.

if you find yourself in a "battle" to ever take someone who wont let you in........ ignore them.

as long as you are doing 70mph~ there is no need to immediately pull to the inside lane if there is someone there.

if they refuse allow you to pass, that is simply because they are also doing 70mph~........ thats just physics. but if they are doing it deliberately, lift off the throttle................. dont brake as the sight of your brake lights to traffic behind can cause a chain reaction and cause tail backs, traffic jams and chaos..... but lifting off will give you enough room to slot in behind the other vehicle if you wish to do so....

motorway driving is all about being aware of other vehicles whilst at the same time, ignoring them completely... its an art.(Y):p
 
Antony, ah okay, thanks.
I've had it once when I mistakenly went on the Motorway where this driver wasn't letting me in on the slip road but I was freaked at the time. I got in the wrong lane on the way to work, and it was my first time on the motorway :(

It's very weird on the motorway though. The fact it isn't good to break means that if you need to slow down faster than you can just letting go of the accelerator, things could get a bit dangerous. I guess the idea then would be to switch lanes.

Thanks all, cleared up my questions :)
 
yeah dont get me wrong, you sometimes need to brake. but not tapping them all the time when at 70mph in a micra, wind resistance can slow you down rather fast on its own.... it gets annoying for other road users to see flashing brake lights all the time on the m.way. we expect that theres an accident ahead or something...

switching lanes is the best bet, if there is someone going slow, check your mirrors, and over your shoulder, indicate, drop it down to third (under 75mph obviously) boot it and pull out.... job done...
 
Third under 75mph, really? I find if going into too low a gear suddenly, the car jolts and rapidly slows down. It's happened to me a few times now, and I'm like "whoops, should have gone into 4th"
 

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