Right of way or not?

littlebrooklyn

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I'm curious about those road markings where 2 lanes are merging into one and you have the white curvy arrow in one lane indicating you to merge with the other lane. Does it mean the cars in the left lane have the right of way or not :coffee:
Screenshot 2019-09-11 08.26.54.png
 

d215yq

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All other things being equal, left lane has priority, and therefore the onus is on the cars in the right lane to use it in a way they can merge without causing bother to those in the left lane (i.e. making those in the left lane change their course/speed significantly).

That said the highway code states that in traffic, both lanes are to be used and traffic should merge in turn (having a big queue in the left lane and an empty right lane makes the queue go back further and so may block a roundabout/other junction). In this case I'd always use the right lane and merge in turn at last minute, even though many ignorant people will get annoyed thinking you are skipping the queue and the extra lane has been created for fun and not to be used.

There's also the common sense/hazard perception/avoiding unesecary trouble/traffic flow angle so, for example, if a car is very slightly ahead of you/completely beside you but going slightly faster in lane 2 as the lanes merge it would be better driving to slow down and merge behind than enforce the supposed "priority" and cause them to be stopped in lane 2 (not safe) or have a scrape. Often in these merge situations junctions once you've chosen your position it's good to make that obvious to others - for example if I'm letting a car go ahead I'll hit the brakes very short and sharpish to get the nose to go down and car to slow to indicate they can go, similarly if I'm going first i'll accelerate a bit to get further ahead. This often avoids confusion and thus avoids both cars having to slow/stop not knowing who is doing what.

Similarly if I have a right to merge in turn (sometimes even under a big sign saying so) and people want to block I won't just force my way in to prove a point, though when I drive my battered W124 in the UK, it's rather tempting to see who would win a game of chicken...
 

sl500amgsport

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My reaction is yes as with any lane swap you need to change lanes carefully making sure the path is clear and safe. However in this case it looks like the council have a convenient F1 style run off in the form of the bus stop to prevent accidents!

The worst problem with these scenarios is when a motorcycle is overtaking slower traffic at the same time down the middle..

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mancman

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I would say common curtesy to allow drivers to move over into the left lane, unless of course the driver in the right lane decides to carve people up and force their way over then road rage kicks in. Are you up a ladder taking that picture.
 

sl500amgsport

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All other things being equal, left lane has priority, and therefore the onus is on the cars in the right lane to use it in a way they can merge without causing bother to those in the left lane (i.e. making those in the left lane change their course/speed significantly).

That said the highway code states that in traffic, both lanes are to be used and traffic should merge in turn (having a big queue in the left lane and an empty right lane makes the queue go back further and so may block a roundabout/other junction). In this case I'd always use the right lane and merge in turn at last minute, even though many ignorant people will get annoyed thinking you are skipping the queue and the extra lane has been created for fun and not to be used.

There's also the common sense/hazard perception/avoiding unesecary trouble/traffic flow angle so, for example, if a car is very slightly ahead of you/completely beside you but going slightly faster in lane 2 as the lanes merge it would be better driving to slow down and merge behind than enforce the supposed "priority" and cause them to be stopped in lane 2 (not safe) or have a scrape. Often in these merge situations junctions once you've chosen your position it's good to make that obvious to others - for example if I'm letting a car go ahead I'll hit the brakes very short and sharpish to get the nose to go down and car to slow to indicate they can go, similarly if I'm going first i'll accelerate a bit to get further ahead. This often avoids confusion and thus avoids both cars having to slow/stop not knowing who is doing what.

Similarly if I have a right to merge in turn (sometimes even under a big sign saying so) and people want to block I won't just force my way in to prove a point, though when I drive my battered W124 in the UK, it's rather tempting to see who would win a game of chicken...
Rule 134 of the Highway code is quite clear on the matter, if you lose the game of chicken your insurance premium will rise, suggest it is safer to join the queue ;-)

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d215yq

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Rule 134 of the Highway code is quite clear on the matter, if you lose the game of chicken your insurance premium will rise, suggest it is safer to join the queue ;-)

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Yes, I would never force it for that reason, it's just too much bother, but often smashed up old car plus spanish plates is enough to get given a gap at last minute if it looks like you will. Of course strangely there are never these sorts of problems over here in Spain where people will just drive in a way that makes traffic flow smoother even when someone doesn't have priority, and certainly wouldn't get worked up about someone merging in turn under a merge in turn sign...

That said here we even slow down for lorries/cars on motorways when they indicate to move into the lane to overtake something slower so they can keep up their speed and not get caught up, somethign that doesn't seem to happen in the UK now.
 

Rory

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Behaviour at these merges really annoys me - there's a couple that we have to use where traffic naturally joins in the right lane and then has to merge. Nothing the merging drivers can do about it but still cars try and block them and HGVs pull across. I wish the police would stand there and prosecute drivers who don't allow merge-in-turn.
 
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littlebrooklyn

littlebrooklyn

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  • Thread Starter
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I would say common curtesy to allow drivers to move over into the left lane, unless of course the driver in the right lane decides to carve people up and force their way over then road rage kicks in. Are you up a ladder taking that picture.

Yes I have a very high ladder just for things like this :p

This morning I did get into a bit of road rage with 2 white vans, got carved up by both of them and it did annoy me as I did think I probably had right of way, but can't really argue with them and I guess they know it!
 

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I've found Defenders with winch bumpers and tree sliders almost always have right of way.
I agree, I get loads of space around me. :D

Going back to Lynn, left lane has eight of way and right lane should merge in turn assuming left lane let’s them.
 

Tony Dyson

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If you have respect for others you will automatically do whatever helps them.
After all, what helps them also helps you in the end.
And brightens your day!
^+1
There is no implied "Right of way" usual traffic regulations apply, let them cut you up or let them in, anything else will end in conflict, the merge signs are not only for traffic in the outside lane.
 

John Laidlaw

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From what I've seen, Beemer drivers think they have right of way!
Well, in a 3 lane motorway there is an inside, middle and BMW lane, you do know that?
The other day I was cruising along as usual coming onto my local motorway, which was very busy with inferior cars. First off, I couldn’t believe that the volume of traffic DIDN’T slow down for me AT ALL as I came off the slip road!
I had to squeeze into a barely big enough gap between 2 cars in order to get onto MY motorway!
The driver of the car behind me did realise his mistake though and honked an apology to me with a very long blast of his horn. Unbelievably , I had to do the same again twice before I could get to the BMW lane!
Anyway, once I was in the BMW lane and posing along at 130 mph enjoying the adulation that the inferior car drivers were giving me, I noticed another inferior car ahead of me which was not only in the BMW lane of my motorway, but was driving at a quite ridiculous 70mph!
Naturally, I got to within a foot of his bumper and flashed my headlights to remind him he shouldn’t be in the BMW lane of my motorway and to get out of my way.
Of course once he realised it was a BMW behind him, he did just that, but I could hardly believe it when he pulled straight back out behind me!!
He also then tried to keep up with me and when he realised he couldn’t and I would out run him, he put on some blue lights in his front grille and urged me to get onto the hard shoulder so he could congratulate me for having such an excellent car.
Needless to say I was eager to oblige and when we had stopped, the man gave me a piece of paper confirming what I already knew- that my car is very fast!
Apparently he wants everyone to know what a superior car I have , so I had to take my drivers licence to a police station to be sent away to have some points put on! (They’re not free points either- they’re £40 each and apparently I can only apply for 12 normally over a year but they waived this on this occasion and I can have them all at one time and it will take a year or so for them to get done, they’re THAT special).
But the man at the police station said that because I drive a BMW I should get used to this special treatment , and I wouldn’t EVEN NEED a driving licence , so they’re going to keep it!
See now THAT’S the sort of respect you get when you drive a BMW superior car....
 
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