Following a breakdown on the hard shoulder, how should you rejoin the motorway?

Why that is the answer

Before rejoining the carriageway from the hard shoulder, you should gain speed on the hard shoulder itself. This allows you to match the speed of the traffic in the left-hand lane and merge smoothly when there is a safe gap. Moving out immediately at a low speed is extremely dangerous to oncoming vehicles. You must assess the traffic and judge the gap yourself, rather than waiting for another driver to signal you out.

How this comes up in the real test

Questions from motorway rules appear throughout the 50-question multiple-choice section, and the wording changes between versions. Learn the rule rather than the sentence: the DVSA can ask the same point from the opposite direction, and a memorised answer falls over the moment the phrasing moves.

The pass mark is 43 out of 50, so seven wrong answers is your entire margin. If a whole category is shaky, run the topic practice below until you are getting every question right for the right reason, then go back to full mocks under the clock.

More motorway rules questions

• Before making a journey on the motorway it is important to check your vehicle fully. Why is this?
• How do smart motorways avoid traffic clustering?
• How should you deal with traffic already on the motorway when joining from a slip road?
• In England and Wales, traffic officers work on motorways as well as some secondary routes. What powers do they have?
• On a motorway, how are the lanes to be used?
• On a three lane motorway, there are red reflective studs on your left and white ones on your right. Which lane are you in?