UK Motorway Rules: What You Need to Know for the Theory Test
Joining, lane discipline, smart motorways, hard shoulders, and the specific mistakes DVSA questions target.
Motorway questions appear in almost every theory test. Learners often score badly here because they've never actually driven on a motorway yet — the rules feel abstract.
Joining a motorway
Match your speed to the traffic already on the motorway before you merge. The slip road is for building up speed; give way to traffic on the motorway and merge into a suitable gap. Never stop on the slip road unless traffic on the motorway is stationary.
Lane discipline
- Left lane is the normal driving lane, whatever your speed.
- Middle and right lanes are for overtaking. Return to the left when the overtake is complete.
- Never overtake on the left ('undertaking'), except in congested traffic where lanes are moving at their own steady speed.
- The right-hand lane of a three-lane motorway is off-limits to certain vehicles: HGVs over 7.5 tonnes, vehicles towing trailers, coaches over 12 metres.
Speed limits
70 mph for cars, motorcycles, car-derived vans and dual-purpose vehicles. 60 mph if you're towing a trailer or caravan, or driving a bus/coach, or a goods vehicle over 7.5 tonnes.
Smart motorways
Smart motorways use overhead gantries to set variable speed limits and sometimes open the hard shoulder as a running lane. A red X on a gantry means the lane is closed — do NOT drive in it, even if it looks empty. It usually means there's a broken-down vehicle ahead.
Breakdowns
- If possible, leave at the next exit or reach the next service area.
- If not, pull onto the hard shoulder (or into an emergency refuge area on smart motorways) as far left as possible.
- Turn on hazard warning lights.
- Everyone out via the left-hand doors. Stand well back from the road, behind the barrier if there is one.
- Call for help using an emergency phone if you can — it tells the operator your exact location.
Who cannot use motorways
- Pedestrians and animals
- Cyclists and moped riders (under 50cc)
- Learner car drivers (unless with an approved instructor in a dual-controlled car)
- Agricultural vehicles
- Slow-moving vehicles carrying oversized loads (without permission)