Who has right of way?

DylanII

Hi,

Who has right of way in the situation shown bellow. Im turning left and the bus is going straight. In my head a bus always has right of way. So imagine its a taxi man.

Alanstrainor

Absolutely no way should you cross that lane to make a left turn when your way was not clear. Only turn when your way is clear. Bus/Taxi/Cyclist/Motorist, makes no difference.

DylanII

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Absolutely no way should you cross that lane to make a left turn when your way was not clear. Only turn when your way is clear. Bus/Taxi/Cyclist/Motorist, makes no difference.

Does the person in the lane that is ending not have to yield right of way to those in the lane that is continuing? I thought that I wouldn't be crossing any lane just continuing in my own.

I want to point out though that I wouldn't actually do that that, I know that people dont do what they should. Im just curious as to who has right of way.

doolox

...I always find that bus lanes end too abruptly before junctions when one is intending to turn left. I always get into the last 20 meters of a bus lane before it turns into a left turn lane so as to be able to make the left turn safely. Otherwise I always find that some other user will zip up the last few meters of bus lane and hit me if I try to go abruptly from the car lane across the bus lane and into the side road as dictated by strict interpretation of the rules.

Most left only lanes are ridiculously short for their intended purpose and you risk being hit from behind if you attempt to turn abruptly left from the centre (car only) lane into a minor road if you have to give way suddenly to busses, taxis etc in the bus lane. Much better to be already in the leftmost lane a reasonable distance from your turn (20-30 meters or so) way more than the road markers and engineers allow.

The left turn onto Jervis street from the Quays is a case in point as is the exit from the N4/M4 eastbound onto the Lucan village/Doddsboro road. These dedicated left only/buslane hybrid lanes are WAY too short for their intended purpose.

In a similar vein if I am merging from a side road onto a main road with an upcoming bus lane I will pull out only when it is safe to do so, some people pull out abruptly into fast traffic in fear of entering the bus lane or stop at the start of the bus lane to get a gap in the traffic to get into the legal lane....... both very risky movements in heavy traffic.....much better to merge smoothly
and ignore bus lane markings for short distances in my opinion. I don't know but I'd imagine no reasonable cop would pull you over for such movements but might think twice about abrupt and dangerous lane hopping to avoid entering buss lanes briefly.

cruizer101

Why is the top right of the black in your picture cut off, does the raod you are talking about curl around to the left?

As said above, don't turn, just wait until it's clear before you turn.

But, if you were going straight, and the bus lane was coming to end and the lanes were merging, you would generally have right of way. Look out for the Yield signs on the bus lanes. Although, buses/taxis can be real pri*ks in this situation...

DylanII

cruizer101 wrote: »

Why is the top right of the black in your picture cut off, does the raod you are talking about curl around to the left?

Just after where the bus lane ends there is a traffic island narrowing the road for a lane on the opposite died of the road.

DylanII

DylanII wrote: »

Just after where the bus lane ends there is a traffic island narrowing the road for a lane on the opposite died of the road.

Would it be possible for ye to get a google street view/map of the junction?

cormac_byrne

If the bus lane is ending, then the bus would have to give right of way when merging back into regular traffic.

There will be triangle painted on the end of the bus lane (in lieu of an actual yield sign, which would confuse ordinary motorists)

However even if there is a yield triangle there, never assume that the bus will yield.
(and if it's a taxi it certainly won't yield

If the bus lane is out of hours then all bets are off as to the validity of the yield sign. Also the lane is now the default lane, and you should be in it.

arleitiss

to be honest I see this as:
You must yield to bus, as you are turning off main road therefore you must give priority to others. I think bus lane doesn't necessarily mean that's where bus can drive only, it's just the lane which is RESERVED for buses so that others don't drive on it, after it ends all it happens is just other traffic can drive in front of bus if it's not bus lane. So defo would give way to bus.

mitosis

Usually a bus lane is terminated with a yield sign or symbol. This would give you right of way. But I have yet to see a bus or taxi actually yield.