Question:
I have a road rule question:
Corner of York street an Brighton streets Kraaifontein, Cape Town, has reference.
The intersection is controlled by a robot, with Brighton having four lanes, two in each direction. York street has only two lanes, one in each direction.
- Vehicle A is in York street turning right into the Brighton intersection.
- Vehicle B is also in York street facing vehicle A, turning left into Brighton.
- Brighton has two lanes in each direction.
- I have been driving for 35 years, and to my knowledge, vehicle B may only turn into the left lane of the intended road, while vehicle A may only turn directly into the right hand lane of the intended road.
- Only then, once in Brighton roads respective two lanes… may the vehicles change lanes, if safe to do so.
Problem:
- Vehicles B turning left into Brighton, drives directly into the right hand lane inside the intersection, giving no chance to vehicles that wants to turn right.
- They also tailgate each other as to leave no gap for anyone to turn right even if the left hand lane in Brighton is open.
I know that if Brighton was a one lane road in both directions, that the vehicle turning right, has to give way to vehicle turning left, as vehicle turning left has the right of way.
I could find no rule of the road currently in any material that confirms my understanding, as it has been since I started driving 35 years ago.
The only rule I could find is that, “a vehicle turning left into the right hand lane of the intended road, may only do so within the intersection.” And this is exactly now what is causing the problem. This action is to my knowledge only so… if the lanes are clearly painted/marked, to do so, and if the road you are travelling from has multiple lanes.
It does not say so in the study material for would be drivers though.
Answer:
I believe Chris’ interpretation of the procedure that should be followed is correct in terms of the intentions of the applicable rule of the road (Regulation 302).
The problem is that the official rules of the road do not spell out the exact procedure when turning into a road with more that one lane on each side of the dividing line. (Most manuals tend to give the rules of the road as they are, without giving further interpretation that might end up being less that 100% correct in terms of the legislation.)
The procedure for turning into a multi-lane road seems to be implied in the rules rather than being made absolutely clear.
Below is the exact wording of Reg. 302, with my comments inserted in red text.
I hope this information helps to get some clarity in the matter.
If there are currently no guide lines painted at the actual intersection referred to in Chris’ e-mail, then perhaps that would be a good step for the municipality to take in order to make it clearer for drivers to know what the correct procedure is.
This information is also available at: http://k53.gavinhoole.ws/turning-into-a-two-lane-road-k53-blog/
Regards,
Gavin Hoole
Learner’s Licence & K53
Driving Licence Test Info
K53.GavinHoole.ws