3 Tips for Motorway Driving

Many drivers have probably never received any formal training in motorway driving. Despite this, and although incidents can be more severe, statistically they are the safest part of the road network.

Technology is helping behind the scenes to make these roads more efficient and safer still, but this probably needs unpacking to help you get the most from them.

Managed Motorways

When entering the variable speed limit sections, blue motorway signs warn and inform the presence of variable speed limits and speed limit enforcement activities.

It is important to concentrate and look well ahead and keep monitoring your mirrors for the actions and movement of those following, maybe too fast and too close behind.

If the speed limit signs – usually placed on gantries above you - are not illuminated, then the normal motorway limit of 70mph applies.

Be aware that HADECS3 (Highways Agency Digital Enforcement Camera System v3) cameras will be used to enforce the motorway speed limit. You can see them usually painted yellow and mounted on the left of the gantries.

Speed differential is the killer on motorways. It’s the key to your own and other motorway users’ safety. Above 40mph, half of a vehicles' speed is lost in the last third of braking, so small increases in speed can make a disproportionate difference in stopping distances, and more importantly your impact speed.

Observation

As with all driving, the further you can look ahead, the more information you can process. Look far down the road, scanning for any information that the speed limit may be about to change. Clues might be traffic bunching, travelling too fast and too close together, or information signs displayed, which can warn of "Queue After Next Junction", "Congestion" etc.

It's all too easy to read and ignore these signs and wait to see it first hand, but help yourself and plan to slow earlier. You’ll help inject space – potentially reducing queuing – and certainly reduce the likelihood of having to brake harshly.

Consider your mindset too – that stranded vehicle is not just a vehicle, but most likely a frightened family that need your help to keep them safe.

An illuminated sign with a red circle is a mandatory, legal speed limit. The highest this will be is 60mph. Reading the signs out loud can help your brain to acknowledge speed limit changes, and in turn aid your compliance.

If travelling with others give permission to your passengers to help you with this – kids will love it and it helps engage them in the complexities of driving. Ditch your ego, all of us have missed a sign at some point in our driving career.

Anticipation

Rarely as a driver will you be surrounded by as many other motorists as you are on a motorway. Look at other drivers, check out their ‘body language’ and watch out for the driver who is blindly hurtling at the challenges ahead.

Enhance your own safety by choosing and maintaining good lane discipline. Generally, the further to the left you are, the safer you will be. Be aware of travelling in someone else's blind spot and be wary of allowing them to travel in yours.

Slow slightly to allow an overtaking vehicle to move ahead, or accelerating slightly to get ahead, but certainly avoid sitting next to or in the close proximity of any vehicle - particularly trucks - as you may be invisible to its driver and have no escape route.

Space

That brings us to space. It’s the most important commodity you can attain. Looking ahead, a minimum separation distance of two seconds is ideal but consider more if you are driving after a long day or in the wet, double this distance again.

This is not the space you need to stop, but could be a realistic reaction time when travelling at higher speeds.

When speeds drop on a motorway, it is extremely common for traffic to bunch up because other drivers haven’t left enough space and have to react more severely. This results not only in much closer following distances, but also for vehicles to end up travelling in your blind spots.

In a speed restricted zone, I will avoid travelling in the outer lanes to prevent succumbing to the general pressures of other motorists.

Make it easier for you to drive to the conditions without the added stress of less safety aware drivers trying to pressure you.

Watch out for the frustrated driver trying to get ahead in the queue and make allowances for them.Fighting them for space only adds to your stress levels. There are no winners in those skirmishes.Pray for them instead!You’ll both get to your destination calmer and more importantly, unscathed.

Time

Give yourself as much time as possible to respond and react to the changing motorway rhythm.

After driving at high speeds on a motorway it is easy to believe you are travelling slower than you are and very easy to compromise your safety by allowing your vehicle to follow others too closely.

If the speed limit changes immediately before you reach the gantry, don't panic. Remember to look further ahead as the speed limit will almost certainly be enforced ahead of you, and the gantries ahead of you may indeed be displaying a speed limit lower than the one you are dealing with now.

There is a time delay on camera equipment enforcing the changed speed limit, but don't become complacent. A speeding fine or driver improvement course may be the least of your worries if you were to rear end a stranded vehicle or even a queue of traffic in front or a roadworker who may be dealing with an incident on the motorway.

All Lane Running

The controversial ‘Smart Motorways’ are where the hard shoulder is either removed altogether or the existing hard shoulder is used as a live lane at peak times.

These are accompanied by refuge areas roughly 1.5km apart. These are in many ways similar to driving on restricted access dual carriageways which often have no hard shoulder, but with the benefit of monitoring equipment to spot problems, and signage to help communicate these to you.

Don't Panic

Be aware of overhead signs alerting you to emergency situations, temporary lane closures, stranded vehicles, crashes or workforce in the road.

If there is an incident in your lane an arrow will be displayed on the gantry above you, bordered by vertically flashing amber lights. Move to another lane in the direction shown at the earliest safe opportunity. If a red cross is displayed above your lane with horizontally flashing red lights you must not proceed any further in that lane. Effectively a red traffic light for your lane, and enforcement will be taking place if you ignore the signs. After all, ignoring these signs will put lives at risk, none more so than your own. If red crosses are displayed above every lane, then you must not go any further on the motorway.

Breakdowns

Although much rarer than ever before in automotive history, a breakdown can be potentially disastrous, so it is important to know what to do.

If you can safely return to lane one you would be well advised to do so. If you can, leave the motorway as it will be much safer and easier to sort problems away from the high-speed road network. Hazard warning lights should be switched on as early as possible.

Identify a safe area to stop, if possible, well away from exits and entry slip roads, better still in an emergency refuge area. If you can, turn your wheels away from the traffic (if you get hit it will help stop your car careering back onto the carriageway), and get out of your vehicle via the nearside if possible and keep everyone with you. If you are travelling with animals, these should be kept inside the vehicle.

National Highways will be monitoring the cameras that line the motorway and will dispatch a National Highways Traffic Officer to assist you.

The majority of fatal collisions on motorways tend to involve vehicles that are stationary, so if possible to get out of the vehicle and away from the vehicle, preferably over the barrier/crash protection. Avoid doing this if your motorway section is elevated!

If you can't realistically reach the refuge area and have stopped with a stranded vehicle in a live lane use your common sense and look for the place of greatest safety without crossing live lanes. Never turn your back on the traffic.

Summary

As with all driving, the challenge and reward of motorway driving is from reading the clues well ahead. Driving is a game of chess and motorway driving often has more pieces in play at once.