Turning right at a crossroad

**Timbuk2**

99% of the time when I'm turning right at a crossroad, usually in conditions where the light goes green but I have to move to the point of turn and wait for a gap in traffic before turning, this is what occurs (image courtesy of rotr.ie)


But according to the ROTR, the above should only be used when this isn't possible


I'm possibly doing something seriously wrong but I very rarely, if ever, see the latter method actually used. Most crossroads at traffic lights are divided in lanes and often your right turn lane is DIRECTLY opposite the opposite side's right turn lane, meaning that you can't go side by side. It seems to be the safer method as you have a better view though.

Do some crossroads just naturally have a method that works best, or if it is safe to do, is the onus on the right turners to 'hook' beside each other?

Here's an example. Is this an example of somewhere a side-by-side turning method should be used? It looks like it, but everytime I drive there the driver on the other side is trying to turn their car to the right in front of me to see better, meaning that if I drive to the left of them (their right) it'll look like I'm trying to not turn right at all!

ADIDriving

Basicly, you are correct. It annoys me that the second method is still the RSA preferred method. The major problem with it is (as you said) nobody does it. Therefor it is generally unworkable. That said, there are times when the other driver positions themselves in a way which lends itself to 'option 2'. Then you have to be sure the the other driver and the one behind them knows what you are doing.

spurious

I much prefer the second one. It seems much MUCH more safe to me. I hate the first one as I can't see what's coming until the other car moves.

Seems madness to me that any official body involved in road safety condones the first one, worse still that they often expect you to do it in a test situation.

**Timbuk2**

Thanks ADIDriving and spurious!

Spurious, I definitely agree that the second seems much more safe but I was a bit worried that I very rarely see it in practice, making me wonder if I'm doing something wrong (or not doing something at all). I probably should move forward into a position that makes this possible, but any time I've tried the other car doesn't seem to be doing the same (possibly not understanding what I'm trying to do) which would put me in a dangerous position - never mind if the car behind me follows me up, potentially blocking that car.

And there are some junctions (which I see commonly) where right turn lanes are directly opposite, like here,which allow only for the first method.

And just to verify. I got those pictures from the rules of the road book, which recommends that Option 1 (the face to face option) should only be used when Option 2 (the side by side option) is not possible.

seamus

The recommended method is rarely seen in practice because it works best at tight junctions with a small amount of traffic.

Within towns and cities (especially Dublin), the vast majority of junctions are quite wide and have a lot of traffic, which makes the recommended procedure more difficult.

For instance, where there is a filter lane for right-turning traffic on both sides of the junction, these filter lanes often face eachother almost directly, so turning behind eachother is not possible/practical.

The other problem is that even where it may be possible to turn behind eachother, queuing traffic rarely follows the correct rule of waiting behind the white line and instead queues directly behind the leader of the queue, so it would not be possible to turn behind him. Plus you'd get some odd looks from people who don't know what you're doing.

I find that the "turn behind" scenario tends to present itself as the obvious solution where it's possible to do it. Within the cities it's usually not possible to do it because the junctions are so wide, but in smaller towns with less traffic you will find yourself naturally doing it.