Joining lane to Bus lane transition.

doolox

Is it good practice for a driver to drive onto an acceleration lane on a multi lane carriageway and then stop at the end of the lane when it becomes a bus lane?

Surely the people on the next lane over should leave enough space between them to let the merger into the traffic lanes smoothly and in good time or else the driver attempting to enter the driving lane should be allowed to use the bus lane for a few moments in order to build up speed and get a suitable gap in which to enter the driving lane?

I have often seen cars entering too slowly onto the multi-lane carriageway and coming to a dead stop at the start of the bus lane. People would rather risk being hit from behind and possible injury rather than briefly break a rule in order to speed up and get into the correct lane.....eventually.

Two types of drivers are at fault here: the timorous entrant afraid to get up to the existing carriageway speed needed to safely enter the driving lanes of the carriageway, even if this means exceeding the speed limit by a marginal amount which it often does on this stretch of road. The second type of driver at fault is the line of cars going over the speed limit all bunched together so it is difficult or impossible for an entrant to get onto the carriageway.

The councils very badly need to lengthen the approach lanes and allow for slow accelerators and timorous drivers to safely enter the multi lane carriageway without feeling the need to stop at the commencement of a bus lane.

I see they did this on the M50 junct 7 and 9 and it works a lot better than it used to. The council need to knock back against the pro bus lobby and lengthen those acceleration lanes before someone gets a bad back injury.
Not everyone is a fast driver and shy drivers need to be accommodated as well.

Alanstrainor

Can you give us a link to a section of road on google maps? I'm not so sure I understand your question.

doolox

Near liffey valley SC.

Isambard

the idea is you match your speed to that of the traffic to your right and you select a suitable gap, indicate and move into it. It is highly undesirable to drive too slowly or to stop.

Alanstrainor

doolox wrote: »

Near liffey valley SC.

Did you not say that this is a fixed section of road?

Stopping at the end of an on-ramp is absolutely a no no, bus lane or not.

The onus is on those slow/nervous drivers to merge, it is not the responsibility of those already on the carriageway to accommodate them. The current driving test does not cover merging in the standard test, which I imagine causes a lot of the problems people have. Being able to accelerate when needs be is important.

I think the question is; if he/she can't merge by the time the lane turns into a bus lane, does he/she continue to drive in the bus lane and continue to attempt to merge at speed, or should they stop when the bus lane begins, and try to merge from stopped (as you're not allowed to drive in a bus lane).

doolox

Would a guard pull you for continuing your attempt to enter the correct driving lane by using a bus lane as a continuation of the acceleration lane or are you expected to stop dead, or pull out suddenly in front of bunched up traffic???

I know some people are not good at putting the boot down when needed due to lack of confidence, experience or training.

Isambard

it shouldn't arise, you have to do it right. It isn't difficult.

Isambard

Isambard wrote: »

it shouldn't arise, you have to do it right. It isn't difficult.

I would imagine in busy Dublin traffic, it arises regularly enough?

K.Flyer

There are a few black spots in Dublin where this situation regularly arises. One I am familiar with would be where the traffic from Chapelizod and Ballyfermot try to merge with traffic on Palmerstown side of the Chapelizod by-pass during peak time traffic.
It has been so bad they have had to reconfigure the junction to give the traffic a chance to get out.
So to answer the o.p.'s question, sometimes you have no choice but to stop and wait until there is a gap in the traffic or someone lets you out, because driving in the Bus Lane is illegal (during notified times) and you could get a ticket for it.

Old Junction.
https://goo.gl/maps/rY26eub21RP2

New Junction.
https://goo.gl/maps/rrEEGZX1XY12

alias no.9

K.Flyer wrote: »

There are a few black spots in Dublin where this situation regularly arises. One I am familiar with would be where the traffic from Chapelizod and Ballyfermot try to merge with traffic on Palmerstown side of the Chapelizod by-pass during peak time traffic.
It has been so bad they have had to reconfigure the junction to give the traffic a chance to get out.
So to answer the o.p.'s question, sometimes you have no choice but to stop and wait until there is a gap in the traffic or someone lets you out, because driving in the Bus Lane is illegal (during notified times) and you could get a ticket for it.

Old Junction.
https://goo.gl/maps/rY26eub21RP2

New Junction.
https://goo.gl/maps/rrEEGZX1XY12

Was that junction redesign not driven by the addition of cycle lanes and the removal of the break in the bus lane? I don't think it had anything to do with facilitating regular traffic getting out.

OP the best practice for merging is to do it in zipper formation, when the car in front of you is lining up to merge, set yourself up to merge after the next car. Drivers in the main flow of traffic will for the most part let you in. They won't open a gap as an invitation but most people will let one car merge once you've lined it up and are indicating.

K.Flyer

alias no.9 wrote: »

Was that junction redesign not driven by the addition of cycle lanes and the removal of the break in the bus lane? I don't think it had anything to do with facilitating regular traffic getting out.

OP the best practice for merging is to do it in zipper formation, when the car in front of you is lining up to merge, set yourself up to merge after the next car. Drivers in the main flow of traffic will for the most part let you in. They won't open a gap as an invitation but most people will let one car merge once you've lined it up and are indicating.

I never looked into it. I don't see a dedicated cycle lane there, but the reconfiguring for the bus lanes.
The new layout appears to make it easier for merging traffic.

doolox

The zipper fashion is fine when traffic is not snarled up as it often is on that road and when people on the main road tailgate leaving little or no gaps for people to enter the traffic lane.

I would have thought that stopping would be the most dangerous thing to do.