I do sometimes (read often) wonder what it is exactly that you see? My particular beef this time is motorway on-ramps. For the thick, that is a slip road where (usually from a roundabout) you are travelling to join a motorway or dual carriageway.
Image via Wikipedia
One thing that seems to surprise many is that it is not a seamless event, and it requires some sort of positive action on their part for them to complete the manoeuvre safely and successfully.
From my perspective, from behind the wheel of an LGV, very often, ‘joiners’ expect the traffic already on the carriageway to take some sort of action to accommodate their manoeuvre. Mostly, if I can, I will move to the centre or outside lane to facilitate their smooth progress, but very often this is not possible. I am not about to slow down to accommodate them, and I’m already flat-out speed wise. I also weigh anything up to 20 times the weight of a car.
This lack of perceived courtesy on my part does appear to catch the faster, more nimble car driver out for some reason. The car driver can either brake or accelerate to find their place, but many chose not to. These folk are subsequently forced onto the hard shoulder after the on ramp runs out to join the carriageway behind me after they suddenly realise that a queue of traffic is not going to move over every time.
So far, in my driving career I have not had a collision as such, but I have been side-swiped 3 times by joiners. That is where they have expected me to move to accommodate them, I have been unable to, and they have collided with the barriers that hang beneath the body of the lorry. Personally, I think that they were lucky. Had those bars not been there, they would have gone straight under the ‘box’, and the rear wheels would have driven over them!
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