Being overtaken whilst joining a motorway

bobbarley · Monday at 11:18 PM

Had something happen today that made me realise, I'm not 100% sure on the law for it, and wondered if anyone might know.

I was near Manchester leaving the M60 to join the M62 westbound toward the M6. Two lane slip road leading to a dual lane stretch of the M62. I indicated right and joined the motorway, then left the indicator on to immediately move across the right hand lane to pass slower traffic. Unknown to me a BMW M5 joined the motorway behind me at the same time, and decided to also move to the right hand lane and try to overtake me as I was moving across. He almost smashed into the back of my car. He then swung over to the left, undertook everyone and re-joined the right hand lane in front of me and slammed on. Then he decided to stay in front of me doing about 60mph, blocking me in whichever lane I changed to. Eventually he moved along side and started swerving into the side of my car to try to get me to swerve off the road. Before finally just boxing me in against a van. Went on for about 6 miles until I was able to turn off for the M6.

It got me thinking though, if two cars join a motorway, both move over to the right lane, and the car behind tries to overtake the car is front as you're both moving over, who's actually at fault?

Archev · Tuesday at 12:59 AM

bobbarley said:
Had something happen today that made me realise, I'm not 100% sure on the law for it, and wondered if anyone might know.

I was near Manchester leaving the M60 to join the M62 westbound toward the M6. Two lane slip road leading to a dual lane stretch of the M62. I indicated right and joined the motorway, then left the indicator on to immediately move across the right hand lane to pass slower traffic. Unknown to me a BMW M5 joined the motorway behind me at the same time, and decided to also move to the right hand lane and try to overtake me as I was moving across. He almost smashed into the back of my car. He then swung over to the left, undertook everyone and re-joined the right hand lane in front of me and slammed on. Then he decided to stay in front of me doing about 60mph, blocking me in whichever lane I changed to. Eventually he moved along side and started swerving into the side of my car to try to get me to swerve off the road. Before finally just boxing me in against a van. Went on for about 6 miles until I was able to turn off for the M6.

It got me thinking though, if two cars join a motorway, both move over to the right lane, and the car behind tries to overtake the car is front as you're both moving over, who's actually at fault?

I’d say both. Those are public roads.

T1 Terry · Tuesday at 2:25 AM

Your fault, clearly in the eyes of a BMW driver, you were attempting to use the BMW in a non BMW form of transportation ....... surely the rules of the road are the same over there as over here ..... there is the lower class inferior vehicle lane and the BMW lane .... You can't expect a BMW to remain in the inferior vehicle lane do you? That would be even worse than allowing an inferior vehicle to use the BMW lane .......

T1 Terry

decrep · Tuesday at 6:17 AM

I think if a cop had been in a helicopter overhead, he may have had a quiet word to you, but he'd book the BMW driver.

JohnV6 · Tuesday at 7:14 AM

Any dashcsm footage for the plod?

bobbarley · Tuesday at 9:31 AM

Sadly not. I’ve not fitted my dash cam since getting the MG because I’ve been too lazy to figure out which fuse to run it off

Gadget Geek · Tuesday at 11:09 AM

This is what the Highway Code says:

259. Joining the motorway. When you join the motorway you will
normally approach it from a road on the left (a slip road) or from
an adjoining motorway. You should
● give priority to traffic already on the motorway
● check the traffic on the motorway and match your speed to
fit safely into the traffic flow in the left-hand lane
● not cross solid white lines that separate lanes or use the
hard shoulder
● stay on the slip road if it continues as an extra lane on the
motorway
● remain in the left-hand lane long enough to adjust to the speed of traffic before considering overtaking.

Edit: This presumes that other road users remember the Highway Code from when they passed their test (if they have taken a test that is).

SimonomiS · Tuesday at 11:17 AM

Gadget Geek said:
This is what the Highway Code says:

259. Joining the motorway. When you join the motorway you will
normally approach it from a road on the left (a slip road) or from
an adjoining motorway. You should
● give priority to traffic already on the motorway
● check the traffic on the motorway and match your speed to
fit safely into the traffic flow in the left-hand lane
● not cross solid white lines that separate lanes or use the
hard shoulder
● stay on the slip road if it continues as an extra lane on the
motorway
● remain in the left-hand lane long enough to adjust to the speed of traffic before considering overtaking.

I remember being taught all the above but the current behaviour for most motorists joining from a slip road seems to be to go at whatever speed you fancy, use your right indicator (optional) and to simply expect anyone in the inside lane to move to the middle lane so as to facilitate the manoeuvre. If you happen to be boxed in and unable to safely move across then be prepared to receive some kind of gesture... The use of the RH wing mirror when joining the carriageway is also apparently optional. Most people already in, say, the inside lane seem to give way to those joining when it should be the other way round!

siteguru · Tuesday at 11:19 AM

That final bullet point is the key one ... and you both did it wrong. Each lane change should be considered as separate tasks - not just slide across multiple lanes (whether indicating or not).

I know - let those without sin cast the first stone. We've all done it ... we've all been wrong.

tsedge · Thursday at 6:26 AM

bobbarley said:
It got me thinking though, if two cars join a motorway, both move over to the right lane, and the car behind tries to overtake the car is front as you're both moving over, who's actually at fault?

It is the responsibility of anyone joining a motorway to merge safety into the left hand lane and then make sure they have adjusted to motorway speeds and have a full awareness of traffic around them before initiating any other manoeuvre. That's what I was always taught.

Sweeping across the road as you join it is highly dangerous as it relies on you having a perfect picture of where everyone is on a fast-flowing road that you have only just joined. It should not be attempted.

Not saying I never did it in my youth, but I never would now. Older and wiser.

In your scenario, I would say the blame is equal: neither should attempt such a dangerous manoeuvre. Your observations were insufficient to do it safely and the car behind should allow space and room for you as a car joining ahead, as a matter of course and because your manoeuvres when joining may be unpredictable.

It isn't a video game.

Anon70 · Thursday at 11:55 AM

Just as an alternative solution, get an XPower and you will reduce the chances of you being slower than most other cars on the road when accelerating

MG Clive · Thursday at 11:58 AM

Anon70 said:
Just as an alternative solution, get an XPower and you will reduce the chances of you being slower than most other cars on the road when accelerating

Brings this post to mind.

Post in thread 'Anatomy of a near miss.'

Jan 23, 2025

How about this for a "Slice of Fried Gold?"

Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre???

Bonus points awarded for knowing who uses the quote up above.

Being overtaken whilst joining a motorway

bobbarley

Established Member

Archev

Distinguished Member

T1 Terry

Established Member

decrep

Prominent Member

JohnV6

Established Member

bobbarley

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Gadget Geek

Distinguished Member

SimonomiS

Established Member

siteguru

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tsedge

Anon70

Prominent Member

MG Clive

Moderator

Post in thread 'Anatomy of a near miss.'

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