Give Way

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, March 25th, 2012 - 18 comments
Categories: transport - Tags:

As we all should know by now, the road rules for giving way have changed. It’s possible that most problems will occur not in the first few days, while everyone is reminded of the change, but in some weeks when people start to slip back in to old habits. Be careful out there.

18 comments on “Give Way ”

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  1. just saying 1
    25 March 2012 at 10:08 am

    So now we must give way to our left except on roundabouts. I’m sure there is a political lesson in that for everyone. But will the Labour parliamentarians continue to flout it?

    • Steve 1.1
      25 March 2012 at 8:15 pm

      Hand in your drivers license and get a bus.
      Give way to your left? Look at the pictures

  2. tc 2
    25 March 2012 at 10:41 am

    Clearly layed out easy to understand diagrams…..so many articles have overcooked it unecessarily.

    We now align with the rest of the left hand side of the road driving world…..long overdue.

    • Lanthanide 2.1
      25 March 2012 at 5:50 pm

      None of them cover the case where the cars are turning into a road with two lanes, in which case they can both go at once and no one has to give way.

      At least with the new rule, when I am turning left I know that I can just go, and don’t have to worry about the plonker turning right going into my lane and then accusing me of getting the law wrong. On the flip-side if I’m the one turning right, then I need to watch out for left-turners going into my lane, although those people will now be less hesitant as to whether they should go or not, so it should still be smoother.

      • jaymam 2.1.1
        25 March 2012 at 8:18 pm

        There really should be more publicity about turning into a road with two lanes, where you should STAY in your own damn lane or indicate when changing lanes when there’s nobody in your new lane.
        There is nothing worse than somebody who thinks they know the new law when they actually don’t.

  3. deemac 3
    25 March 2012 at 12:04 pm

    or as one smart kid said, buy a green car – it gets to go first!

  4. Policy Parrot 4
    25 March 2012 at 5:12 pm

    Couple of things.

    Rule #2 was frequently not followed, so its change does support what generally happens out there, and it does make some sense, considering that if the car turning into the base of the T (Scen2), was not actually turning, but going straight (Scen2a), the car going out of the base would have to give way. Now in both (former and latter) situations, that is the case.

    Rule #1. Note to left turners: Just because you don’t now have to watch for right turners, this does not mean you effectively have a “free turn”. You still are required to give way to any pedestrians or (cyclists) that may be crossing straight through on your left. Please remember this.

  5. QoT 5
    25 March 2012 at 6:18 pm

    … Okay, I’m pretty sure I’ve been following the “new” rule in the second example for years. Good thing I don’t drive that often!

    • Tc 5.1
      25 March 2012 at 8:40 pm

      With you on that one, I always thought turning off a straight through road with the car on the right at a give way, meant they gave way……to let them out just seemed wrong.

      But hey like talking on phones yet another law that’s not really enforced.

      • Lanthanide 5.1.1
        26 March 2012 at 9:10 am

        Yes, if that car had a give way sign, then they had to give way. It is the case where they were no signs – a completely uncontrolled intersection, where they got to go.

        So really this makes it even simpler: they always give way, regardless of whether they have a sign or not.

        One less thing to think about.

  6. Anne 6
    25 March 2012 at 7:57 pm

    Could someone explain to me what top of the T is supposed to mean.

    • Carol 6.1
      25 March 2012 at 8:32 pm

      In the diagram above on the right, the green car is at the top of the T junction and has the right of way under the new law.

  7. Anne 7
    25 March 2012 at 8:50 pm

    Thanks Carol. Still think it’s a silly expression and open to misinterpretation. Also the graphs are helpful, but it’s quite different being out on the roads doing it. I’ve already nearly been collected twice. One idiot – coming from the opposite direction – turned right into a side road directly in front of me and I was going straight ahead.

    • RedLogix 7.1
      25 March 2012 at 8:57 pm

      A simple ‘rule of thumb’ that I picked up somewhere else is:

      “If you are turning and you will hit the driver’s door of the other car…give way”.

      Does that work?

      • Anne 7.1.1
        25 March 2012 at 9:00 pm

        Dunno. 😀

      • Lanthanide 7.1.2
        26 March 2012 at 9:12 am

        The other rule I used to use for uncontrolled intersections was to imagine they were roundabouts. So in the T-intersection case, if you were the red car in the diagram you would be giving way to the green car if it was a roundabout.

    • Bill 7.2
      25 March 2012 at 9:41 pm

      How about if you are on the ‘main’ road (ie, you could have continued to drive straight on if you weren’t turning off) you get to manouvere first.

      And if two vehicles are looking to turn onto a road, then the vehicle that has to travel the least distance (ie the one turning left) gets to go first.

      So in short, main roads get to clear themselves and left turns go before right turns.

      Seems easy and basically intuitive.

      (disclaimer: I don’t drive)

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