a few questions

Fuinseog

I have started to drive around Dublin, which is more difficult than other cities the way it has bus lanes everywhere. I would be grateful for opinions on the following.

if turning left when is it acceptable to change into the bus lane? a few hundred metres before the turn or whenever is handy?


turning left at a junction with traffic lights that also has a n arrow, do you go on the green light or wait for the green arrow? I waited for the green arrow, but the cars behind started honking. the junction in question is at campions pub turning left onto the Malahide road going towards town.


going around a roundabout I went into the outer lane because I mistakenly believed that I needed to take the second exit ( signposts in this country seem to be for people who already know where they are going), when I realised my mistake I tried to carry on to the next exit but cars were going to cross in front of me. i carried on down the sliproad leading to the motorway, stopped and put on the hazards.
going onto the motorway is something I have never done before and did not want to get done for driving on it with L plates.

I reversed with caution and waited until the coast was clear to take another exit. but what was the safest option to continue onto the motorway to reverse. a hairy situation for a learner driver. nobody honked. maybe because of the hazards.

**Timbuk2**

Fuinseog wrote: »

if turning left when is it acceptable to change into the bus lane? a few hundred metres before the turn or whenever is handy?

Generally changing lanes into the bus lanes is what you do, but you do it at a certain point. Usually there's arrows on the road indicating that left turning traffic should move lanes (it might be like a 3 way arrow that points straight ahead for straight on, points to the right lane for turning right, and points into the bus lane for turning left). Note that bus lanes are marked with a solid white line, but at the point where left turning traffic can enter them, they will have a thick dashed line. You must still yield to traffic already in this lane (and be aware that just because you are turning left, there may be buses/taxis/cyclists going straight on in the same lane).

Fuinseog wrote: »

turning left at a junction with traffic lights that also has a n arrow, do you go on the green light or wait for the green arrow? I waited for the green arrow, but the cars behind started honking. the junction in question is at campions pub turning left onto the Malahide road going towards town.

I'm not familiar with the actual junction, but if there is a green light, go if it's safe to do so. You do not need to wait for an arrow.

Your query is a common question, but usually in relation to right turns. Often at junctions, traffic will get a green light (just a circle) but not a right turn arrow, which means right turning traffic can move into the junction (in preparation to turn) and can turn as soon as a gap in oncoming traffic appears. If a green arrow subsequently comes on, that means that oncoming traffic should have a red light and there shouldn't be any oncoming traffic to 'yield' to. Some junctions are set up so that the green arrow comes on first, then just a normal green light, and others just have an arrow for turning right, some just have a green light!
Generally while turning left, you don't need to yield to oncoming traffic at traffic lights, so there's no requirement to wait for an arrow.

Be aware you can only go if it's a full green light (a circle). If there's only a straight on arrow illuminated, but the left turn arrow is red, you cannot turn left.

Fuinseog wrote: »

going around a roundabout I went into the outer lane because I mistakenly believed that I needed to take the second exit ( signposts in this country seem to be for people who already know where they are going), when I realised my mistake I tried to carry on to the next exit but cars were going to cross in front of me. i carried on down the sliproad leading to the motorway, stopped and put on the hazards.
going onto the motorway is something I have never done before and did not want to get done for driving on it with L plates.

I reversed with caution and waited until the coast was clear to take another exit. but what was the safest option to continue onto the motorway to reverse. a hairy situation for a learner driver. nobody honked. maybe because of the hazards.

That's a tough situation, driving on the motorway was definitely not the safest option, as it's illegal for a learner to drive on one, but you should avoid reversing on slip roads!

Ideally you wouldn't have gotten into the position in the first place. If you ever find yourself on a roundabout in the wrong lane, you can change lane while on the roundabout, but remember to yield to traffic in the lane that you are changing to, and signal! If you ever find yourself in the inner (rightmost) lane when you mean to be in another lane, just simply go around again, it is a roundabout after all!

Remember, for roundabouts with 2 lanes, in the absence of contradictory signage or lane markings, exits between 7 and 1 o clock are in the left lane, and exits after 1 o clock to 6 o clock (back the way you came) are in the right lane. This is a more general rule, and it works better than the counting the exits method (e.g. 2nd exit therefore left lane, the 2nd exit may be in actual fact a right turn!). But remember, sometimes there are road markings telling you which lane to be in, often in a non-standard method (e.g. left lane is for left turning only, lots of examples of these in Mayo!) and they override the standard rules!

Fuinseog

thanks for the advice.

Chris_Heilong

I always check google maps before taking a journey accross Dublin, I make note of the Roundabout exits before leaving, I thought on a roundabout you only take the outside lane when going straight trough otherwise yuo move to the inside lane and indicate off it when your reach your exit.