DRIVING GUIDE - IN ASSOCIATION WITH ROBOSOUL APPS

SLIP ROAD OFF

Just as slip roads provide room to accelerate before joining the dual carriageway, they also provide space to decelerate after leaving. Use the slip road for this purpose; if possible, avoid slowing down before entering the slip road. Keeping your speed up will enable other road users behind you on the dual carriageway to maintain their speed while you prepare to exit.

When planning to exit, make sure you are in the left lane nice and early, preferably at least half a mile before the slip road begins. Look out for the signs which count down the distance to the slip road. Each diagonal line on the countdown signs represents one hundred yards, so the first sign indicates a distance of three hundred yards to the exit.

Check your mirrors and signal left as the countdown begins. Remember to maintain your speed while still on the dual carriageway.

EXITING

Cross the broken white line to move onto the slip road.

Once your vehicle has entered the slip road, cancel your signal and begin to slow down if it is safe to do so.

As always, use your mirrors to make sure you know what is going on behind you before slowing down.

ON THE SLIP ROAD

Bring your speed down steadily, looking ahead to see how much space you have available.

Look either side of the slip road for signs. You may see signs warning you of a junction or other hazard ahead. You should see signs indicating a change of speed limit. Use this information to plan ahead, making sure you achieve an appropriate speed for whatever you are going to deal with next.

Remember, you are likely to be cutting your speed dramatically in this situation. This rapid change in speed can be deceiving, so make sure you look at your speedometer to check that you are slowing down sufficiently for the situation. Forty miles per hour can feel very slow indeed when you have just left a dual carriageway, but if you are approaching a junction then you almost certainly have a good deal more braking still to do.

As you decelerate, use the MSPSL routine to safely select the correct signal, position and speed for whatever is coming next. As usual, aim to take position on the left unless you have a sensible reason for doing otherwise.