View Single Post
  #1   Report Post  
Old July 22nd 07, 08:19 AM posted to uk.transport,uk.transport.london
John Rowland John Rowland is offline
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,577
Default traffic lights in Wandsworth - what's legal?


At the junction of Swandon Way and the east end of Smugglers Way, I believe
the traffic engineers have screwed up the signs which you see when
approaching from the east. The left hand lane has its own slip road for
turning left (which isn't relevant). The right hand lane has its own traffic
light with red, amber and green right arrow, and a blue forced right turn
sign beneath. Next to this is a light for the centre two lanes, which has a
normal red-amber-green with a banned *left* turn sign beneath - I believe
this is supposed to be a red-amber-green forward arrow with blue
forward-only arrow beneath. There is no physical barrier between the
right-hand lane and the other lanes, although the right hand lane tarmac
bears a right-turn arrow and the central lane has a forward arrow.

Aerial phot here
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=...2009&encType=1

In the longest traffic light phase, you have a red light over the
force-right turn sign, and a green light above the banned left turn sign.
This means that if you want to turn right, you can either obey the red light
over the forced right turn blue arrow, in which case you wait - or you can
obey the green light over the banned-left-turn sign, which means driving
down the middle lane, undertaking the queue of cars waiting to turn right,
cutting across several metres in front of them, and waiting for a gap in the
oncoming traffic and then turning right. It has just occurred to me that
this might cause you to come into conflict with a possible green man phase
for pedestrians crossing Smugglers Way... or might not, but there are few
pedestrians here.

So, is it legal for someone turning right to obey the green light over the
banned left turn sign and ignore the red light over the forced right turn
sign? The fact that you are turning right from a lane with a forward arrow
on the tarmac cannot in itself be illegal, because junctions with
*part-time* right turn bans usually have a forward arrow painted on the
rightmost lane, and you ignore this road marking whenever you legally turn
right. Or could the police nab you for dangerous driving anyway?