Turning right

Chicke

I'm turning right at a junction.I centre myself in the middle of the junction waiting for a gap in oncoming traffic.then the light goes orange.traffic is still coming through the junction and I can't go until the light goes red.does this mean that the oncoming traffic is going through an orange light?and a stupid question, I had to even though the light was red otherwise I would have been caught in the junction
Thanks

marley123

If you would be obstructing traffic by not turning you must proceed provided it is saft to do so - someone correct me if I am wrong but you can only drive into the middle of the junction preparing to turn right if there is a box to drive into with the right arrow symbol

mlumley

No. My thoughts are you drive forward to the centre of the junction. Once you have gone past the stop line, you are to turn right when safe to do so. Box junctions are do not enter unless your exit is clear unless turning right, where you can enter the box and waite for a gap in the oncomming trafic, then turn right. If the signal changes, procide.

Sure someone is going to say I'm wron g. Will look it up online.

Chicke

My driving instructor said you have to into the centre of the junction on a green light in order to turn right.however,it was not a comfortable situation when you couldn't turn on an orange light as there was still oncoming traffic and having to wait until the red.
If it was orange for me ,surely it was orange for the oncoming traffic?
When the light turned red and Ihad to go,is there much of a time lag before traffic from the other junctions could proceed?
All seems a bit dangerous to me to be honest. My accompanying driver at the time (my dad) told me i should have waited behind the white line and I would have been safe then if it turned red. Then again,no offense to him but this contradicts my instructor

ADIDriving

If you get a solid green light and you are confident that there will be space for you on the new road, move forward into the junction. This is not changed by any road markings. You are allowed to clear the junction even if the light has gone red. Don't take too long. And yes,you probably were delayed by the oncoming traffic breaking the lights.

Chicke

Thanks a mill

Wishbone Ash

Also remember that, even though the other traffic gets a green while you are turning, they may only proceed if the junction is clear and it is safe to do so (something that many drivers seem to be unaware of).

alexlyons

a mate of mine failed with a grade 3 for being in the middle of a junction waiting to turn right and the lights went red and he turned. there was nothing else he could do, short of getting flattened by the vehicles coming the other want. just gives you an idea of what the testers think. having said that if you sat waiting behind the line and the lights go red and you haven't moved, you could get done for no progress

thesimpsons

Chicke wrote: »

My driving instructor said you have to into the centre of the junction on a green light in order to turn right.however,it was not a comfortable situation when you couldn't turn on an orange light as there was still oncoming traffic and having to wait until the red.
If it was orange for me ,surely it was orange for the oncoming traffic?When the light turned red and Ihad to go,is there much of a time lag before traffic from the other junctions could proceed?
All seems a bit dangerous to me to be honest. My accompanying driver at the time (my dad) told me i should have waited behind the white line and I would have been safe then if it turned red. Then again,no offense to him but this contradicts my instructor

your dad would be wrong in this case cos you could be done for a failure to progress if you don't enter the box area and wait behind the white line.

also, don't assume the on-coming cars will also be getting a red light. Often at a junction the lights might be staggered a bit and while you get a red light they might stay green for a few minutes more. before you complete the right hand turn make sure the oncoming cars are stopping.

Chicke

Thanks.in order for me to feel comfortable with this can I ask?
Assuming that the oncoming cars are on a green and i'm on a red waiting for clearance from them,there is no way in a staggered light junction that cars from other side of junction wd be green as well?
Otherwise,not pleasant.....

MascotDec85

alexlyons wrote: »

a mate of mine failed with a grade 3 for being in the middle of a junction waiting to turn right and the lights went red and he turned. there was nothing else he could do, short of getting flattened by the vehicles coming the other want. just gives you an idea of what the testers think. having said that if you sat waiting behind the line and the lights go red and you haven't moved, you could get done for no progress

I can confidently predict that wasn't the cause of the Grade 3. He must have done something else wrong

MascotDec85

Chicke wrote: »

Thanks.in order for me to feel comfortable with this can I ask?
Assuming that the oncoming cars are on a green and i'm on a red waiting for clearance from them,there is no way in a staggered light junction that cars from other side of junction wd be green as well?
Otherwise,not pleasant.....

No, none.

You may have traffic ahead of you to your left on a left hand filter turning to the direction you are facing though

alexlyons

MascotDec85 wrote: »

I can confidently predict that wasn't the cause of the Grade 3. He must have done something else wrong

I can guarantee that is the exact reason the examiner gave him for the only grade 3 he got. 2 grade 2's and 3 grade 1's were the only other marks

ADIDriving

There would have to be more to it then what you have written. Mascot is confident of the answer because they know the rule and the marking. There would be a variety of other factors that could get the grade three mark. Your friend may have taken too long to turn, impeeded another vehicle, not looked at the road they were turning on to, etc. The examiners are told that they can give up to a minute of an explantion as to why the person failed. Your friend may not have grasped the exact reason for their mark in these few seconds. Therefor they may have told you some mistaken information.

alexlyons wrote: »

I can guarantee that is the exact reason the examiner gave him for the only grade 3 he got. 2 grade 2's and 3 grade 1's were the only other marks

Peanut6

I just got a grade 3 on my test today for pretty much that same situation. At a crossroads waiting to turn right. One car in front of me turns right so I inch forward. Have just passed my traffic lights and they turn red so I stopped. Apparently I should have kept going but I didn't realise and figured that I wasn't allowed break a red. I wasn't blocking any of the other traffic but he said if a bus had come along then I would have been blocking it. Just think he could have dropped it to a grade 2 considering my total grade 2's were only four!

**Timbuk2**

Peanut6 wrote: »

I just got a grade 3 on my test today for pretty much that same situation. At a crossroads waiting to turn right. One car in front of me turns right so I inch forward. Have just passed my traffic lights and they turn red so I stopped. Apparently I should have kept going but I didn't realise and figured that I wasn't allowed break a red. I wasn't blocking any of the other traffic but he said if a bus had come along then I would have been blocking it. Just think he could have dropped it to a grade 2 considering my total grade 2's were only four!

A lot of people get confused by this! Once you cross the line into the middle of the junction, you have already gone through the lights, so once you have gone through while they are green, you are not breaking any lights, even if they turn red while you are in the middle of the junction. You can (and should) still complete the turn when the lights turn red, as you have 'taken hold of the junction' as they sa! Usually when the lights go red, traffic flow will stop from the opposite direction and you'll have a few seconds to complete your turn before the road you are turning into gets the green light (you'd be blocking them if you didn't turn straight away).

And another often forgotten point: only one car 'on' the junction at a time. If there is a car ahead of you waiting to turn right in the middle of the junction, you should wait behind the line until he has started to turn, then you can move up into his previous position (the point of turn, sometimes marked by a right-turn box).

Best of luck with the next test!

BMRising

If there is other traffic coming in the opposite direction waiting to turn right as well, is it correct to turn in front of the first car or to go past it and turn behind it?

I find this so hard to judge, and obviously if there's more than one car waiting to turn right (usually illegally as they're all past the line) obviously you can't go behind them, so you have to turn in front, but which is correct? I've been beckoned on by the first car to go behind them at times and I find the whole thing very daunting...any tips welcome!

MascotDec85

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

And another often forgotten point: only one car 'on' the junction at a time.

That can depend entirely on the width of the junction

BMRising wrote: »

If there is other traffic coming in the opposite direction waiting to turn right as well, is it correct to turn in front of the first car or to go past it and turn behind it?

It depends again on the size of the junction and the location of the turning boxes where applicable. If you look at the Rules of The Road book you'll see both methods are acceptable it just depends on the junction size/layout.