Something that we often find at our traffic lights are vehicles tailgating the vehicle in front and forcing there way through and intersection even though the light has already turned red for them! We would like to illustrate this by way of sharing 2 photos from the dashboard camera captured yesterday in Sandton.
What is the correct way to drive at the intersection? We would like to quote from Right of Way at Intersections/ K53 Blog
Here are some additional notes which include input from the Southern African Institute of Driving Instructors (SAIDI).
- When the traffic light turns green, and the intersection is clear of cross-traffic and pedestrians from the previous signal cycle, vehicles continuing straight ahead may move off first.
- Next, vehicles turning left can move off.
- Lastly, vehicles turning right can move off after all of the above conditions have been met.
- If there is oncoming traffic from straight ahead, the first driver waiting to turn right can move forward about one third into the intersection and wait there, without turning the steering wheel to the right. If the oncoming vehicle indicates to turn left, this position would leave enough space for both drivers to make the turn simultaneously into a two-lane road. (If it is a single-lane road into which they’re turning, the oncoming vehicle has the right of way to turn first.)
- If there is a lot of oncoming traffic, the second vehicle waiting to turn right should wait behind the Stop line to avoid being caught turning when the traffic light turns red.
- Vehicles waiting to turn right at an intersection should keep their front wheels straight so that if they get bumped from behind, they won’t be pushed into the face of traffic approaching from straight ahead.
In the photo below we can see that the vehicle to the left was not in the intersection when the light turned red and the driver still pushed across to try and tailgate the other vehicles through the intersection!
Also view”
