Most congestion and accidents on the motorway could easily be prevented by the following good driving practices. Remember, congestion creates danger, it is every driver's duty to do their bit to prevent it.
On entering a motorway use the slip road to match your speed to vehicles already on the motorway. If vehicles in lane one are travelling at 70mph then that is the speed you should be doing in the slip road to merge in without causing disruption to safe traffic flow.
Always use the leftmost lane unless you are in the process of overtaking. If the lane to the left of you is unoccupied, then that is where you should be. Never stay out longer than necessary. To do so causes great disruption to traffic flow as all traffic has to filter around you. This is probably the greatest cause of congestion, one middle or outer lane hog can cause miles of disruption. They are often completely oblivious to the chaos they are causing behind them.
Keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front, a good guideline is to count two seconds from when the vehicle you are following passes a point to when you pass it. Double this if the surface is wet.
Try to maintain a consistent speed (obviously where conditions allow). Frequent variations in speed are disconcerting to other drivers. In particular try to avoid unnecessary braking. Your brake lights can set up a chain reaction which often leads to congestion and may cause an accident. Try not to automatically brake if the driver in front touches their brakes unnecessarily. Keeping a safe distance will make it much easier to assess whether braking is needed.
When changing lanes check your mirrors and glance over your shoulder to check your blind spot. Indicate your intentions well in advance.
Try not to drive alongside other vehicles for longer than necessary, particularly large trucks. You will be in their blind spot and they may change lanes without seeing you. You are also not giving yourself an escape route for emergencies.
Many left-hand drive HGVs have a blind spot on their right between what the driver can see in his mirrors and what he can see out of the front window. This blind-spot is roughly alongside the cab of the HGV. Before passing an HGV check to see if it has a foreign registration, and if so do not dawdle in his blind spot.
If you come to the back of a stationary or slow moving queue, use your hazard flashers to warn following traffic until you are sure they have seen you are slowing (familiarise yourself with the location of the switch as you may need it quickly). Keep a good distance from the back of the queue and keep an eye on your mirrors for fast approaching traffic. This will give you more chance of avoiding or at least minimising a rear end impact.
When leaving the motorway try to keep to the same speed until you are well within the exit slip road. Slowing down and even worse, braking whilst still on the main carriageway is a major cause of congestion around junctions and again can be dangerous. Slip roads are generally designed to allow time to slow down, but always assess the slip-road as you approch the junction as some have tight bends.
Other drivers intentions can often be predicted. Vehicles drifting away from the centre of the lane may be about to change lane. Vehicles gaining on the vehicle in front, are likely to want to overtake — give them room if it is safe to do so. Drivers looking in their mirrors, the positions of their hands on the steering wheel, will tell you that a driver may be likely to change lane.
Look out for inattentive drivers whose actions may be unpredictable, those on mobile phones or turning to chat to passengers, those wandering in lanes or blindly following too close to the car in front may be drowsy and about to fall asleep.
When stuck in slow or stationary traffic, watch out for motorcycles which may be making their way between the lanes of traffic.
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