UK Motorways, Two Lane Slip Road Joins

I couldn't find a better word to explain than dual join but in the UK some slip roads to motorways have two lanes where the right lane immediately joins the motorway as usual whereas the left lane carries on separetly and joins later. One example is M4 eastbound to M25 northbound connection on this link.

Is there anything special, any restrictions, etc. with the left lane in this kind of slip roads or can anyone drive through them normally?

uk driving england

Best Answer

There's no restrictions, unless, as user16259 says, signs say otherwise.

However, note that there's usually a spot where the line between the two lanes goes solid - after that you're not allowed to switch between them. The yellow car in your Google link is breaking that rule!

You'll also find that in some places the left lane doesn't merge at all, but becomes an extra lane on the motorway (as with the junction in your link), and in others, where there is another junction soon after, that lane then splits off to become the off-slip for the next junction (e.g M3 J7&8)

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How do you join a motorway on a slip road?

Slip roads allow you to join a motorway or dual carriageway.

Use the slip road to accelerate until your speed matches that of the traffic on the motorway.

Check there's a suitable gap in the left-hand lane.

Use the Mirrors \u2013 Signal \u2013 Manoeuvre/Position \u2013 Speed \u2013 Look (MSM/PSL) routine before you merge onto the motorway.

When you join a motorway on a slip lane?

Ultimately, it is up to the vehicle joining the motorway to give way, if necessary, and filter on without causing any trouble. The Highway Code says that traffic joining the motorway should 'give priority to traffic already on the motorway' and 'adjust speed to fit safely into the traffic flow in the left-hand lane'.

Who has right of way when joining from a slip road?

Dual carriageway signs From the 2 lanes joining the carriageway, the right lane must give-way to traffic already on the carriageway and the left lane has a dedicated lane.

Joining Dual Carriageways From A Slip Road | Learn to drive: Intermediate Skills

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Markus Spiske, Meruyert Gonullu, Meruyert Gonullu, Piotr Arnoldes