The Student Room Group

Changing Lanes

Hey, this may seem like a stupid question but here goes anyway...
I passed my driving test a week ago today. YAY! and I'm very pleased and enjoying driving about. There's one thing I REALLY can't stand though, which is changing lanes, something I have to do on my journey home from college, which can't be avoided.
It scares the **** out of me, and I'm quite bad at judging other vehicles' speeds, I just can't grasp how you can see if it's safe to change lanes or not...plus if I spend too long looking in the mirrors and over my shoulder, my steering goes all wonky. When I think I've got a good gap and start changing lane, it always seems to be wrong- my dad was in the car the other day and said 'that was badly timed, the car behind had to slow down because of you'.

Anyone have any advice? It seems like such a simple thing, but I find it so hard. Probably bad judgment is my problem. I don't want to annoy other road users or worse, cause an accident! Any help would be much appreciated :confused: thanks
Reply 1
mooncheese89
Hey, this may seem like a stupid question but here goes anyway...
I passed my driving test a week ago today. YAY! and I'm very pleased and enjoying driving about. There's one thing I REALLY can't stand though, which is changing lanes, something I have to do on my journey home from college, which can't be avoided.
It scares the **** out of me, and I'm quite bad at judging other vehicles' speeds, I just can't grasp how you can see if it's safe to change lanes or not...plus if I spend too long looking in the mirrors and over my shoulder, my steering goes all wonky. When I think I've got a good gap and start changing lane, it always seems to be wrong- my dad was in the car the other day and said 'that was badly timed, the car behind had to slow down because of you'.

Anyone have any advice? It seems like such a simple thing, but I find it so hard. Probably bad judgment is my problem. I don't want to annoy other road users or worse, cause an accident! Any help would be much appreciated :confused: thanks

when you change lanes just check your middle mirror, then the wing mirror, i dont check over my sholder, i've never been told too but yeh keep looking in the mirror you know to change because if the car flashes you, then theyre probably telling you to go, if the car is slowing down, they appear to be furthering away from you in your mirror so you can change, and if the car in the lane is speending up, they get closer to you in your mirror. that sounds so basic, but works for me. To stop your steering going wonky just grip the wheel more. Dont worry my steering goes wonky when im changing gear while going round a bend! You just need practice your distance judgeing, but it will come in time, especially if your using the same route to and from college everyday. Hope tht helps! :smile:
Reply 2
Thanks for the advice, that is helpful! :smile: Hopefully it will come easier after a while!
Try and get into the other lane as soon as possible. There's a road at home which comes from a motorway junction and leads to a roundabout, about 1/4 mile away, I get into the right hand lane almost straight after coming off the motorway in order to turn right at the roundabout. Also anticipate when you want to change lanes - dont suddenly think 'I need to change lanes'. This will give you much more chance to change. This way (space permitting) it's ok to let a few people pass and still give you plenty of time.

With this in mind, you can check the mirror every few seconds to judge if the car is going faster than you or not. Dont forget to accelearate into the new lane if the traffic is moving faster - dont just drift into it slowing people down.

Failing all that, just put your indicator on - you will find most cars will either match your speed behind you or flash you to let you in, this technique is very important on motorways. I often see people breaking in the left lane behind a lorry or other car when I am passing them in the middle lane. When people indicate to move out, I will check the right-hand lane and will make every effort to move over, providing someone's not trying to pass me as well.

Hope that helps a bit...

Also, do check your blidspot quickly before pulling out.
Definitely check your blindspot before pulling out. Not for long enough for your steering to go wonky, but long enough to check there isnt a motorbike there.

G
Reply 5
Thanks for the advice :smile:
Reply 6
I know its easier to say, but it will come with time. Judging speed is one of those things that does come with experience, you just need to be aware of the fact that you may not be great judging it at the moment so be careful and don't cut things too fine.

Try and get into lanes in plenty of time, esp if you drive the route pretty often you should now where you are going. If you know that you are turning right at an island (and need to be in the right hand lane) get in it in plenty of time. You just need to keep checking your mirrors to watch the traffic and try and see how fast its going. You don't need to look in it so long that your steering goes wonky, just keep flicking your eyes from the mirror to the road, so you don't move your eyes off the road for too long. You do really need to check your blind spot before moving out. It would be really easy to miss a motorbike coming down the middle of the road, or to have missed a car which has just entered your blind spot and end up pulling straight into it. But, again it should just be a quick look rather than a long look.

Just keep at it, it will improve! :smile:
Reply 7
As other people have said, judge what you're going to do by what the car visible in your mirror does. He'll be able to see you indicate, so if you see him pulling up closer to you, either slow down a bit so he'll pass you more quickly, or just wait for him to overtake.
If the car in the mirror is staying pretty much the same distance, and he's a decent amount back, I usually accelerate into the other lane, so that I maintain a large gap between me and him and he wont need to slow down.

And yes, DEFINATELY check over your shoulder. The last thing you ever want to hear is a *bump bump AAAARGH* as you move over.
Congrats on passing your test! Don't worry, things do become easier with practice!
As the others said, the blind spot check is a must, but it is just a flick into the area you can't see to check for people sat there (in cars) or things like R1 or other bikes slamming up your offside (there's a reason bikers call these over-the-shoulder glances "life-savers").
As for changing lanes to the right, if it helps, the way I do it is to see if the lane is clear, if not I start to slow and, unless I'm going significantly faster, I'll let the other vehicles pass then slot into a space, briskly picking my speed up to match. If the gaps are big enough, both in my lane and in the target lane I'll match speeds with the flow and slide out. For moving to the left it's a similar thing but the difficulty, especially at first will be judging the speed.
I think the best thing would be practice, even if it means judging speeds and gaps when you don't plan on moving out.
Or go on further training such as the pass plus/get a drive with an advanced driver.
HtH, MtMtMn
Reply 9
When changing lanes I realised that instead of mirrors, signalling, checking then moving, I have gotten into the very very very very bad habit of doing all three at once. So I move out whilst checking which is not good as I found out when there was a car in my blind spot :O

So give yourself enough space from the car in front and check mirrors first, including blind spot, signal and check around before you move out.

People get more confident as they drive with more experience so get out there on familiar roads and learn to judge distancesa lot better.

Maybe.

Katy :smile:
Thanks for the advice :biggrin:

I will definitely be taking Pass Plus, which will hopefully help with it, and other things as well.
I found out that some councils help with costs of pass plus: http://www.passplus.org.uk/sponsors.asp

And they can pay £75 towards the lessons which is half! :eek: so if anyone happens to be reading, and planning to do pass plus, you should definitely check it out, I've just applied. :smile:

thanks again for the help
Reply 11
If you were to drive an MGB for a week you would do it automatically.
All my mirrors are next to useless.
The rear view gives me a lovely view of the roof or the rear bench seat.
The drivers side mirror allows me to see anything about 25 feet directly behind the car
and the passenger side mirror never existed - it was an extra cost option from new!

I am forced to look over my shoulder or through a window constantly. As a result, of all those I went to 6th form with I am the only one never to have crashed. By the time i had left school i knew people on their 3rd and 4th banger.
Reply 12
AJ
i dont check over my sholder, i've never been told too

I don't believe no one#s ever told you to do that, my instructor hammered it into me until I was looking over my shoulder in my sleep. It really is a must, you won't believe how easy it is to miss a car in the blind spot until one day you nearly go into someone. Please start checking it!
Reply 13
Montrose
I don't believe no one#s ever told you to do that, my instructor hammered it into me until I was looking over my shoulder in my sleep. It really is a must, you won't believe how easy it is to miss a car in the blind spot until one day you nearly go into someone. Please start checking it!

k i will start from now. thanks