In New Zealand, many of our roads are standard two lane highways and we have no national network of multi lane motorways.

You may, however, come across motorways in some of the larger cities. MTA has put together some tips on how to drive and act on these potentially daunting roads.

Joining a motorway

Entering a motorway can be tricky when there is a heavy flow of traffic. Try and enter the motorway at the same speed as the other vehicles. Use the entire length of the on-ramp to adjust your speed to that of the motorway traffic. This also allows your wheels to point straight ahead and it gives you more time to fit into the flow of traffic and the other cars to take notice of you.

Indicate right to let other drivers know that you want to enter the motorway.

The cars already on the motorway get priority of the lane they are travelling in, so do not force your way into the stream of traffic but merge with them when there is a suitable gap.

Check your mirrors and your blind spots over your shoulder before you pull out into the motorway. There are give way lines at the end of the on ramp, so if you cannot pull out you need to give way to the cars already driving on the motorway, but try and avoid stopping at the end of the on-ramp.

If you are driving on the motorway and you can see an on ramp approaching, be prepared to adjust your speed for vehicles entering the motorway. If it is safe to do so, you could move to the middle or right hand lane to give them more room to enter.

When you want to leave the motorway, try to drive as close to motorway speed as possible, until you are in the off-ramp. This way you won’t slow down traffic on the motorway.

Keep left

A very important thing to remember is to keep in the left lane. If you do not need to pass someone and are travelling at a comfortable speed, stick to this lane. No one likes to be stuck behind slow moving vehicles driving below the speed limit – give other vehicles the chance to pass you if they want to.

This also encourages correct overtaking rather than someone undertaking a slow vehicle travelling in the right hand lane.

Changing lanes

Before you change lanes, check your mirrors and your blind spots then indicate in the direction you are moving, and smoothly change into the other lane. Make sure you are far enough in front of a vehicle so that you are not going to cut them off and cause them to brake.

If you are travelling on a three lane motorway and are in the left hand lane but need to move to the middle lane, check that any vehicles travelling in the right hand lane are alongside you, as to eliminate the possibility of them also wanting to move into the middle lane and causing a collision.

Merge like a zip

There are many instances on New Zealand roads where two lanes merge into one. Make sure you check your blind spots before attempting to merge, and move alongside the other vehicles. Be considerate and let one car from the other lane go in front of you before you move into the single lane. If everyone tries to be in front of the car next to them, the flow is disrupted and this leads to congested traffic.

Road rage

Do not get involved! See more about what to do in difficult situationshere.

Two-second rule

Always use the two-second rule in good conditions, and extend this to four-seconds in bad weather or uneasy conditions. This gives you a good following distance from the vehicle in front of you and gives you time to react to anything unexpected.

Look and plan ahead

From time to time, make sure you look far ahead of where you are driving. This will give you more time to react for things like congested traffic, accidents or a slow vehicle.

Other things to look for are signs that indicate which lane you need to be travelling in. Often, the information you need to get into the correct lane will be signalled clearly, well ahead of the turn-off.