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Motorway safety
Many drivers think that motorways are more dangerous than other roads.
This is not the case. Mile for mile, there are fewer accidents on motorways than on other roads. After all, many of the hazards found on ordinary roads do not exist on motorways.
Generally there are no traffic lights, crossroads, T-junctions, parked cars, roundabouts, oncoming traffic, sharp bends, steep hills, pedestrians, cyclists, very slow-moving vehicles, or learner drivers!
Setting out
Before setting out on a motorway journey make sure that both you and your vehicle are well prepared. You must be alert and fit; if you feel tired, open the windows for some fresh air. If this doesn’t help, leave the motorway at the next exit and take a short walk.
Your vehicle must also be in good condition. Check your oil, water and tyre pressures, and make sure that all your windows and mirrors are clean. And of course – make sure that you have enough fuel!
Joining the motorway
You will usually join and leave motorways by acceleration and deceleration lanes - you learned about these in the section about dual-carriageways.
The acceleration lane allows you to match your speed to other traffic on the motorway before joining the flow. Deceleration lanes allow you to slow down without holding up other traffic.
Always check your speedometer when leaving a motorway; 50 mph can feel like 30 mph after a long drive.
Driving along
Keep to the left-hand lane unless you are overtaking.
If there is a queue of slow-moving traffic in the left-hand lane you can drive in the centre lane; this would be safer than darting in and out of small gaps, but you must return to the left lane as soon as the road is clear.
When driving on three-lane motorways the outer lane is for overtaking only. Don’t stay in this lane just because you are driving fast; you might tempt other drivers to overtake dangerously on the left-hand side.
Things happen fast on motorways – stay alert to stay alive.
For detailed information about motorway driving visit the motorway section of the Smartdriving web site.
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