A former insurance claim handler has shared his top tips for drivers to avoid getting stuck in traffic jams - and it’ll change the way you drive forever. Shaun Jobber gives his followers quick videos which he captured on his dashcam to help them quickly get from A to B.
The former insurance claim handler has racked up more than 100,000 followers and thousands more likes for his Jobbertok videos. The clips are designed to help drivers understand little-known rules of the road.
In one video, Shaun films a line of queuing cars as they approach a roundabout while leaving a merger lane completely empty. He says: “I wonder if the drivers who fill the left hand lane at a merging lane realise that if they were driving properly those who take advantage of their stupidity wouldn’t be able to pass any cars because both lanes would have an equal amount of traffic.
“This is about keeping junctions and roundabouts behind unblocked.”
The clip shows Shaun driving past dozens of cars which are queuing on the left hand side despite a merger being clear of traffic. Shaun tells his followers: “This very extra lane was added purely to keep a major junction behind unblocked and it works.
“And no you silly dingbats, you don’t have to stop to let cars in because it’s very easy to thread your throttle to allow a gap to appear in front of your car at the merge point just like happened here, lovely jubbly, sound as a pound.”
In another video, Shaun explains why drivers often get confused and move over into a single lane too soon. He says: “As people with common sense would be able to tell you, if you use all the available road space all the way up until the closure and then merge in turn the queue would be a lot shorter so you’re not at risk of blocking a roundabout.
“The signs say lane closure in so many yards, not lane closure in so many yards and move over now. You’re not supposed to move over until the lane closure.”
Shaun, 32, captured the videos of drivers "acting like sheep" while travelling around Newcastle and Hexham. He decided to use his experience as a motor insurance claim handler to inform drivers in a bid to prevent unnecessary traffic jams.
He said: "I went viral on TikTok from uploading dashcam footage which I narrated with my experience as a former claim handler for a leading UK insurer. This quickly became my niche and grew a following primarily from my videos relating to driving and assessing others' videos from a liability standpoint.
"I noticed that one of the most divisive subjects is the use of merging lanes, lots of drivers think that it’s better to move over as soon as they know a lane is closing which is correct in flowing traffic however in congestion all available road space should be used to contain traffic in a smaller area so as to not cause further problems behind.
"I’d heard that Hexham was having this problem most mornings so I thought I’d see for myself what was happening. I do think there could be better signage as you approach, such as ‘use both lanes on slip road to turn left’.
"Clearly it was designed this way to benefit everyone, but so few use it as designed that adds to the congestion problem."
