Road markings?

smithblack

Hi, can anyone help me I'm confused. I am doing my driving test in Tallaght soon. There is a crossroads when you drive past Lidl on your left & then come to a junction. On arrival to the junction there is a lane for going straight ahead & a lane for turning right. However the lane for turning right is a lane with white hatched markings which makes it alot shorter than the straight ahead lane. Today there was alot of traffic both going straight & turning right. There was no room in the turning right lane so i waited in the straight lane without entering the hatched markings until space became available. However the green light came on & traffic became to move only there was no move in the traffic turning right until the filter light came on. I was to put it mildly beeped to high heaven because traffic behind be could not go straight. Was I very wrong in what I did, please help, i'm very confused.

Alanstrainor

Moved from motors

MascotDec85

You can only enter the hatched area if the outer lines are dashed.

If the hatched area has a solid line you cannot enter it until the road markings open the lane up properly. The way to remember this is if there's a solid white line dividing 2 way traffic you can't overtake as you cannot cross the line. Similar applies here.

You were absolutely correct to sit until there was space to enter the filter lane

daveharnett

Letter of the law is that you shouldn't enter a hatched area (or cross the solid line that's around it).

That being said, common sense comes first. If there happened to be a police car behind you, you would have gotten a bollocking for obstructing traffic.

Not sure what the smartest course would be in a test situation though! Depends on the attitude of the tester I suppose.

smithblack

Thanks guys, I'm relieved to know I was right in waiting. Yeah I would definitley move over in an emergency. Thanks so much, I have been stresing all day since, now i can relax

daveharnett

smithblack wrote: »

Thanks guys, I'm relieved to know I was right in waiting. Yeah I would definitley move over in an emergency. Thanks so much, I have been stresing all day since, now i can relax

I think my original post wasn't clear. In the situation you described, provided it was safe to do so, I would move right into the hatched area emergency or no.

It's against the letter of the law, but consideration for other road users is law too.

corktina

MascotDec85 wrote: »

You can only enter the hatched area if the outer lines are dashed.

If the hatched area has a solid line you cannot enter it until the road markings open the lane up properly. The way to remember this is if there's a solid white line dividing 2 way traffic you can't overtake as you cannot cross the line. Similar applies here.

You were absolutely correct to sit until there was space to enter the filter lane

Yes, its a safety zone to protect persons waiting to turn right from being punted up the back. You are quite correct not to enter it...however I probably would have done so in the circumstances you describe. DO NOT do it on your test though.

brian076

MascotDec85 wrote: »

You can only enter the hatched area if the outer lines are dashed.

If the hatched area has a solid line you cannot enter it until the road markings open the lane up properly. The way to remember this is if there's a solid white line dividing 2 way traffic you can't overtake as you cannot cross the line. Similar applies here.

You were absolutely correct to sit until there was space to enter the filter lane

I'd disagree with your opinion on this as I think you're applying the strict letter of the law, whereas driving, even during your test requires a bit of common sense. I actually know this junction well and even though it's generally busy, there's usually enough room in the right turning lane. If not however, it's perfectly acceptable to move into the hatch markings if the only alternative means your blocking traffic going straight ahead.
You can't really say that just because there's a solid line you can't enter, what would happen if the left lane was blocked?

daveharnett wrote: »

I think my original post wasn't clear. In the situation you described, provided it was safe to do so, I would move right into the hatched area emergency or no.

It's against the letter of the law, but consideration for other road users is law too.

Fully agree.

Alanstrainor

I have to say, i wasn't certain about this one, which is why i decided to see what other peoples opinions were. But i have to agree with daveharnett and Brian, i wouldn't consider moving into the hatched markings to be a serious breach of the rules of the road, if not doing so means you impede other drivers then i would most definitely move into the hatch markings.
In fact, i had a similar situation happen during my driving test, and the examiner actually just told me to move into the hatch markings as i had hesitated slightly.

MascotDec85

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I have to say, i wasn't certain about this one, which is why i decided to see what other peoples opinions were. But i have to agree with daveharnett and Brian, i wouldn't consider moving into the hatched markings to be a serious breach of the rules of the road, if not doing so means you impede other drivers then i would most definitely move into the hatch markings.
In fact, i had a similar situation happen during my driving test, and the examiner actually just told me to move into the hatch markings as i had hesitated slightly.

I went with the letter of the law and strictly speaking the OP was correct. I'd not like to advise someone to do it as it can easily depend on the tester's view. I agree that we shouldn't be impeding other road users just the same.