More on the story here
Plane brave: Trainee pilot emergency lands aircraft in rush hour traffic | Mail Online
He is a qualified private pilot, currently training for his commercial ticket. Of course, it sounds more frightening, and therefore newsworthy if they call him a trainee.
As for heading off to the right, it looks from the video like he lands centrally, and then only when the barriers have gone, heads over to the right so he is not blocking the road.
Raw video: Emergency landing on highway : Featured Videos : Canoe TV
Well done to him!