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Can you please tell me, when driving straight at an intersection that starts out as 2 straight ahead lanes and then there is only room for 1 lane at the other side, who gives way to whom allowing the 1 vehicle to go ahead? The vehicle closest to the footpath or the centre line?
With merging lanes, there is usually a sign prior to the merge taking place, that indicates which lane is going to merge with which lane.
If you are in the lane that is proceeding straight ahead, then there is no need to indicate.
If however, the car in the merging lanes is clearly or even partially ahead of your car, courtesy prevails and you need to give way.
Thanks, to be a little clearer. The intersection I leave has in the left lane an arrow that is both straight ahead and turning left. The right lane (closest to the road centre) is a straight ahead lane. The problem is that when both cars want to go straight ahead the road on the other side is only about 1.5 lanes because of parked cars on meters, effectively converting the road to 1 lane.
Many drivers on the footpath side try to race through and you end up stuck having to stop in the middle of the intersection to let them claim right of way or get moved into the centre line.
I just wonder who has the right of way legally as I thought that the footpath lane should always give way to a lane that might get forced into oncoming traffic?
Thanks in advance. I couldn't find anything on the merging issue in the road code.
Hi There,
So in this case the rh lane of the two is effectively the straight ahead lane, and the lh lane traffic are crossing into the rh lane of the two? Generally the rh lane would have the right of way, and because the lane is blocked at certain times, I would think that it would become a merge like a zip scenario. Let the car who is infront the most in, that is the only rule that I can see for all lanes where merging is required.
Ok thank you. And yes, you are correct in that the rh lane is the straight ahead lane etc. It's a shame that some drivers see it as a challenge to push their way ahead of the merging process.