h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There's a woman I see regularly on the trams in Manchester surfing Facebook on her phone while her child is running up and down the tram. I just know one day someone's going to take that child off at a stop, and when the mother notices she'll probably blame the tram company.

Noticing that motorists (in the UK) indicating right when joining a motorway from a slip road when technically, they are turning left.

I think it's because technically it's a lane change. The left turn is usually done at the roundabout or other junction to get to the slip road, and from there it's then a lane change.

I think.

I'm with Pastey on that one. The technical term for a slip road is an acceleration or deceleration lane (depending on whether you're joining or leaving the motorway). So joining the motorway is definitely a lane change. If you indicated left when joining the motorway you'd confuse the other drivers - the only thing indicating left could mean is that you're heading for the hard shoulder.

It's a good question?

Plainly merging into a motorway from a slip road should be a right indicator. Angle between roads close to 0 degrees

Also turning left a Tee Junction is plainly a left indicator.
Angle between roads close to 90 degrees


Now if the side road coming in is at an angle... of say 45 degrees which indicator applies?

Who you are indicating FOR is an issue.

On a slip road, everybody is travelling in the same direction (or at least you damn well HOPE they are). Clearly you are indicating to warn drivers 'behind' that you are pulling into the lane in front of them.

At a T junction you would (probably) be joining a road with two way traffic and have a CHOICE which direction you are going to go (and perhaps subsequently a choice of lane too).

In both cases, it is a pretty good idea to let people know what you have in mind. Even if there is no choice of direction to make.

PP.

What's a "slip road?" Is it what Americans call a "roundabout?"

I could be mistaken, but I thought a slip road referred to all interchanges and not just the roundabout ones. I wonder if it also includes on / off ramps?

PH for today (it's been a while): taking on new responsibilities at work with the stipulation that I offload some of the old ones, given that the existing workload was already unmanageable, only to find that the transfer of responsibility has all been one-way so far. In other words, not *new* ongoing projects, just *additional* ones.

Slip-road= entry/exit ramp. A roundabout is a roundabout

Ah, I see.

*Reads the thread again.*

......

No, I still don't get it.

I can't picture it either, Mr X. But other than roundabouts connecting major interstates, most slip roads around me only have the one lane so you'd use the left or right indicator depending on which side of the interstate the slip road enters / exits on. In the city proper, there are mostly just access ramps or the occasional frontage road, with ramps on the right side of the road, so we'd use the left indicator on the ramp. So I'd assume in the UK it was reversed... so no, I can't see it either. I guess I need to go look for some aerial photos of UK highways.

I've found this, Mr X, but it doesn't mention indicating. Perhaps you're not supposed to indicate at all?

https://www.gov.uk/motorways-253-to-273/joining-the-motorway-259

So, today's PH is not being able to visualize something, and then obsessing about a trivial thing and having to spend time "researching" it.

If that was for me, PC, I didn't mind really. I learned to drive in the UK 40 years ago and have only recently started driving there again on and off. Things have changed a lot since I left and the highway code is quite easy to navigate and find out things in.

My PH today is washing instructions. Whilst sorting washing this morning I noticed that items with "do not tumble dry" on them, can turn out fine after a dozen goes in the dryer. Other items (usually undergarments) have a "tumble dry on high" sign (a circle in a square with 2 dots) are pretty useless after the first go in the dryer. It's the elastic that is affected by the heat - and who wants knickers with loose elastic?

I know what you mean, TC. I no longer tumble-dry socks, 'cos they shrink! Even cotton undies that are supposed to be tumble-able get hung up to dry. Since hubby stopped wearing shirts every day, our tumble-dryer hardly gets used. I tumble bed linen and towels, and that's about it.

Oh, and use of indicators is covered in section 103 (General rules for all drivers and riders). Amongst other things it says you must 'use them to advise other road users before changing course or direction, stopping or moving off'. As a joining or leaving a motorway is 'changing course' they obviously don't feel the need to re-state this rule.

Indicating to enter or exit the motorway seems to make sense to me - if only to warn the BMW (or, these days, it's more likely to be an Audi) coming up too fast in the inside lane that they should speed up...

As far as I'm aware in most countries (certainly, I think, all the ones I've driven in) normal rules of driving are that you should indicate a lane change (either side) and a change of direction. Which as far as I remember in Germany also means if you're on a priority road which bends sharply to the left (or right) but it continues in a straight line as a minor road (so that you have to stop if you're coming in the other direction to join it) that you also indicate left (or right) even though you are not leaving the road you're on. (which also means that if you're going straight ahead but leaving the priority road you don't have to indicate which seems to confuse a lot of drivers)

For myself I don't but I can think of one or two............

Thinks better of finishing the sentence. In fact I've embarrassed myself and am not going to post this.

PP.

Ooops.



PP.

In the UK, my indicator annoyance is when buses indicate right, which in bus-world just means they are moving off from the busstop, not necessarily pulling out into the lane to their right So you gingerly pass the bus not really knowing if it plans to invade your lane or just speed up in the same lane on it's in. Unless you know the bus number and route, you'll just have to guess.

No other vehicle indicates when it moves off from stationary going straight forward so I'm unsure why buses do it, causing uncertaintly in other drivers.