Getting annoyed and irate on the road doesn't help anyone.
A relaxed attitude helps you think more clearly and react accordingly and won't eventually give you a heart-attack.
The problem in the real world is there are a range of people with differing abilities, including those who clearly should not be driving.
If you are intolerant to anything except driving excellence, you are going to spend your life exchanging details with 3rd parties and causing problems for everyone else on the road.
For me to pull out to lane 2 when it is clear there is enough space and I can see lane 3 has nothing in it wishing to head back to lane 2, this is easier than having to brake in lane 1 causing issues for those behind.
I'm forever thinking way ahead on who is doing what and what I believe others will do because that is part and parcel of sharing the road with everyone else.
However, if I cannot get into lane 2 safely, then slowing down 5mph gradually is not going to cause a problem and will ease the flow.
I'd love an idealistic attitude to the road but it doesn't work like that, like most things in life.
Whether I like it or not is irrelevant - it's the way it is.
I've never had accidents/incidents on the motorway and normal observation would make you aware of any devastation in your wake - to which I've seen none.
There is also an overwhelming sense of "make people learn". Unfortunately some don't and they will remain on the roads whether you like it or not.
I've learnt to live with it and adapt my driving accordingly as I cannot change it.
Don't sweat the small sh*t!
We’re mostly on the same wavelength here. Observation, planning, tolerance and consideration are all important to both of us, and many others here I’m sure. I’ve been driving on motorways since the early 60s and I too have never experienced a driving incident whilst doing so that has resulted in a crash. (I did once have the wipers fail in a sudden thunderstorm whilst doing over 100mph in my Mk VII Jag on the M4 when I was 18 - but still managed to avoid hitting anything!)
Getting annoyed and irate on the road has been something that’s passed me by for over 50 years, at the most I’ll shake my head or raise my eyebrows at some of the antics I see. As you say, it’s not worth it.
I have been on the receiving end though. On two particular occasions I’ve been on the inside lane at the NSL when approaching a slip road on a dual carriageway and with vehicles in the lane next to me, thus unable to safely change lanes without inconveniencing other drivers. The drivers on the slip roads have clearly been going slower than me and both times there was a decent gap behind me. It would have been easy for them to merge in behind me, but they both chose to maintain their speed or even attempt to accelerate out in front of me. I stayed in lane (not having any other option) and kept my cruise control on, but was prepared to brake if necessary to avoid a collision. At the last moment both drivers suddenly realised that there was going to be nowhere for them to go so they braked and merged in behind me. Both drivers (remember these were separate occasions) then sped up to beyond the NSL so they could pull alongside me and have a rant, presumably in the belief that I was wrong to not adjust my driving to let them out as they pleased. I just shrugged my shoulders and let them speed off.
My point about not going out of my way to let people ignore the advice on how to correctly enter from a slip road is that the more people make allowances for them the more normalised their unsafe actions become. That’s when problems occur. It has nothing to do with “making people learn”, it’s more to do with not wanting people to turn bad habits into standard practice by encouraging them to do so.
As for your preferred option of slowing if you’re unable to move out a lane, I repeat that this causes issues (albeit relatively minor) for the very many of us who are using slip roads correctly and planning to merge in behind you. On occasion it can be more than a minor inconvenience when the vehicle(s) in lane 1 following the slowing driver don’t slow as much themselves and close the gap that we were going to merge into. I’m not overthinking this, I’m stating practical potential issues when trying to be helpful. Sometimes that help isn’t wanted. Sometimes that help turns out to be a hindrance. I still give a wave of thanks to the driver who slows to let me out, but at the same time wish that they hadn’t.
These sorts of little issues mostly go unnoticed by the driver who has caused them because other drivers have adapted to the situation and avoided any incident. I’ve no doubt there have been times when something I’ve done in all innocence has resulted in a ripple effect going back several vehicles. But because there hasn’t been any “devastation” behind as you put it, I don’t know about it. I try my best now to avoid those unknown reactions to my driving choices, but not at the expense of known reactions!
