Why are vehicles squeezing past me as I wait to turn right?

Why are vehicles squeezing past me as I wait to turn right?

Author
Discussion

hidetheelephants

24,357 posts

193 months

Thursday 9th November 2023
quotequote all
Ed.Neumann said:
Just sit in the middle a few metres back.
Then you can swing as much as you want when it is clear.


You don't need to be sat waiting inline with the lane.
That does seem like the least worst answer, stopping a car's length or so back from the turn and right up against the centre line.

595Heaven

2,416 posts

78 months

Thursday 9th November 2023
quotequote all
Vasco said:
Get a shorter car......

biglaugh
Judging by this post, his car ain’t long…

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

captain.scarlet

1,824 posts

34 months

Thursday 9th November 2023
quotequote all
595Heaven said:
Vasco said:
Get a shorter car......

biglaugh
Judging by this post, his car ain’t long…

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Or he has a thing for JDM cars and has cars of polar opposite sizes!

In which case: kudos.

There's talk above about indicating left and then indicating right. I would agree that it may give the impression you're pulling over and then wanting to pull out, by which time the rules of priority will have changed.

OP mentions a longer vehicle so the need for extra clearance.

I was going to suggest indicating right and then gradually bearing left enough for the extra clearance but not enough that a chancer may swueeze past, whilst all the while slowing down just before the lane. That may be controversial for Highway Code purists given when filtering you're supposed to be as close to the centre as possible.

Surely there's something that would exonerate extra clearance. Larger vehicles, buses etc do it and swing to one side where the turn is going to be too tight.

Any competent driver behind you should be alert to lanes and driveways and people turning into and out of them.

If nobody is behind you then it should be achievable without an issue.

If on the approach someone is likely going to be right up behind then it helps as a warning to indicate well in advance of the turn-off
and the swing manoeuvre. Again any competent driver would take heed of that.

If someone is right up behind you and you do the same then it's their fault for any perceived 'inconvenience' when they realise the car in front was filtering. In which case, no sleep should be lost over that.

21st Century Man

Original Poster:

40,910 posts

248 months

Thursday 9th November 2023
quotequote all
hidetheelephants said:
Ed.Neumann said:
Just sit in the middle a few metres back.
Then you can swing as much as you want when it is clear.


You don't need to be sat waiting inline with the lane.
That does seem like the least worst answer, stopping a car's length or so back from the turn and right up against the centre line.
That would be fine when there is no oncoming traffic, but when that's the case the whole manoeuvre is done in one go without stopping and so nobody passes as I'm simply someone turning right immediately ahead of them.

If I position right with oncoming traffic then I need to hold back far enough to be able to move forward to the left before making the right turn, that takes more manoeuvreing time and so only the longest (or no) gaps in the oncoming traffic can be exploited, I wouldn't be able to turn through the gaps that I'm currently able to. But at least I wouldn't be passed whilst waiting.

Thing is though, look at the pic in my OP and the width of my lane with the car pictured positioned pretty much dead centre in my lane, although I'm closer to the gutter than the car in the pic, it's not by much and I am signalling right of course.

21st Century Man

Original Poster:

40,910 posts

248 months

Thursday 9th November 2023
quotequote all
captain.scarlet said:
Surely there's something that would exonerate extra clearance. Larger vehicles, buses etc do it and swing to one side where the turn is going to be too tight.

Any competent driver behind you should be alert to lanes and driveways and people turning into and out of them.

If nobody is behind you then it should be achievable without an issue.

If on the approach someone is likely going to be right up behind then it helps as a warning to indicate well in advance of the turn-off
and the swing manoeuvre. Again any competent driver would take heed of that.

If someone is right up behind you and you do the same then it's their fault for any perceived 'inconvenience' when they realise the car in front was filtering. In which case, no sleep should be lost over that.
yes

All of the above.

Deranged Rover

3,397 posts

74 months

Thursday 9th November 2023
quotequote all
21st Century Man said:
when I'm in my van both mirrors drag along the walls either side, and that's with them folded in.
To clarify, do you own both properties on each side of the lane?

If so, then that's fine; if not, then you're knowingly damaging someone else's property every time you drive your van up and down it? If i was the owner, I'd be having a polite word with you.

21st Century Man

Original Poster:

40,910 posts

248 months

Thursday 9th November 2023
quotequote all
It's rough block stone hundreds of years old, it's unmarked, the only damage is the scraping on the black plastic casing of my mirrors. The mirrors are unpainted so there's not even a bit of paint scuff on the stone, which is well worn, scuffed, gouged and weathered anyway.

Edited by 21st Century Man on Thursday 9th November 15:13

BOR

4,702 posts

255 months

Friday 10th November 2023
quotequote all
An alternative to consider, would be to indicate RIGHT, and pullover onto the other side of the road, just past your junction.

You can then reverse back into your lane.

The advantages are that you are then travelling in the same direction as the other traffic, you have better visibility of cars approaching, you won't have anyone crossing your path, and obviously, in reverse, you can swing the nose of your stretch limo out more easily.

21st Century Man

Original Poster:

40,910 posts

248 months

Friday 10th November 2023
quotequote all
Thanks BOR, but there's little chance of successfully reversing into and up that lane, though that won't be apparent from the street view pic I posted. The road is usually busy so it would be pretty awkward to get the correct/precise entry angle in, and the lane is really narrow and quite long too. It's seldom been done without a scraped panel or painting yourself into a corner. Although a mate did it once in a 911, he said never again! It's very much forwards in forwards out.

Visitors in cars and tradespeople in vans hate coming up the lane, damage is a regular occurrence. And that's forwards let alone backwards. I've damaged the Century twice so far in four years and I consider that good going really, the neighbours cars are all scuffed to hell, though my wife's Panda has escaped, but then it's a small car.



Edited by 21st Century Man on Friday 10th November 12:41

captain.scarlet

1,824 posts

34 months

Friday 10th November 2023
quotequote all
Just wondering, apologies if it has already been mentioned, but is it a 20 Zone?

If so then you'd think the traffic would be a lot steadier and drivers prepared for a degree of 'give and take'

21st Century Man

Original Poster:

40,910 posts

248 months

Friday 10th November 2023
quotequote all
It's a 30 and a major A road through the town, usually busy, very busy at peak times naturally. Just as busy Sat/Sun too as at weekends it's a primary leisure route. Evenings and early Sunday morning are about the only quiet times, when I can turn in at leisure and even from the opposite direction too, which requires the whole road.

StressedDave

839 posts

262 months

Saturday 11th November 2023
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My view is two options occur:

1. As others have said, position the car a few metres back from the turning point and positioning such that they can't squeeze through. Possible but potentially a bit awkward as you'll be out of position to make the turn
2. Position as normal, but then complete as much of the swing into the road as you can make without any part of your car poking over the centre line.

Both block the road; one guarantees to block the road and elicit sympathy from oncoming motorists who think it's probably better to let you keep the swing going rather than scraping the side of their car as they pass through.

Smint

1,713 posts

35 months

Saturday 11th November 2023
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If people with normal (as against the bloated new normal) cars can get past whilst you are waiting to turn right i don't see the problem.

If the rear overhang of your car is so large that it causes truck like rear swing, then like the competent truck driver you should time your turn so it doesn't cause an issue, in cases like this its only a few that can get past anyway, for most people their car is too wide to get through and/or they can't judge the space and timing needed.

If everyone waited whilst someone turned right the roads would grind to a halt more rapidly than they already are.

21st Century Man

Original Poster:

40,910 posts

248 months

Saturday 11th November 2023
quotequote all
They're passing me on my right, using the gap in the oncoming traffic that I'm just about to use to turn right, or simply squeezing through between me and the oncoming traffic (and boy, that is a squeeze, the oncoming traffic is forced into the gutter). As per the lady in the MINI that nearly T-boned me as I turned in. Hence my asking about my positioning, am I too far to the left?

21st Century Man

Original Poster:

40,910 posts

248 months

Saturday 11th November 2023
quotequote all
StressedDave said:
My view is two options occur:

1. As others have said, position the car a few metres back from the turning point and positioning such that they can't squeeze through. Possible but potentially a bit awkward as you'll be out of position to make the turn
2. Position as normal, but then complete as much of the swing into the road as you can make without any part of your car poking over the centre line.

Both block the road; one guarantees to block the road and elicit sympathy from oncoming motorists who think it's probably better to let you keep the swing going rather than scraping the side of their car as they pass through.
yes

Best answer (and understanding, with regard to the latter part of 1.)

Thanks.

Edited by 21st Century Man on Saturday 11th November 10:57

Smint

1,713 posts

35 months

Saturday 11th November 2023
quotequote all
21st Century Man said:
They're passing me on my right, using the gap in the oncoming traffic that I'm just about to use to turn right, or simply squeezing through between me and the oncoming traffic (and boy, that is a squeeze, the oncoming traffic is forced into the gutter). As per the lady in the MINI that nearly T-boned me as I turned in. Hence my asking about my positioning, am I too far to the left?
Ah, i misunderstood sorry, so actually overtaking you on your right whilst you wait to turn.

There's no accounting for fools who do this, i have to turn a very sharp right with an artic tanker onto a weighbridge every now and again, its brightly painted and well lit yet i've had fools overtake as i've started to make the albeit obviously slow turn into the premises.

One left field suggestion for you, replace your indicator bulbs with bright LEDs, you can find them with the equivalent of 40w standard bulb brightness and the flash is instant where a normal bulb isn't, might wake the buggers up a bit.

21st Century Man

Original Poster:

40,910 posts

248 months

Saturday 11th November 2023
quotequote all
Thanks for the LED suggestion, all the lights across the back are LED, but not the indicators for some reason.

M4cruiser

3,643 posts

150 months

Saturday 11th November 2023
quotequote all
hidetheelephants said:
Ed.Neumann said:
Just sit in the middle a few metres back.
Then you can swing as much as you want when it is clear.


You don't need to be sat waiting inline with the lane.
That does seem like the least worst answer, stopping a car's length or so back from the turn and right up against the centre line.
If you do that, then you can guarantee some oncoming "helpful" driver will stop, blocking your entrance and "flash" you across, despite you having nowhere to go.


Max5476

985 posts

114 months

Saturday 11th November 2023
quotequote all
I appreciate this may be entirely impossible based on physical Junction size / car size, but is it possible to complete the maneuver by keeping to the right of your lane, so you are clearly turning right. To avoid swinging to the left, turn into the junction later.


21st Century Man

Original Poster:

40,910 posts

248 months

Saturday 11th November 2023
quotequote all
Thanks, but the right turn entrance is just too narrow. I have to go in straight, 90 degrees to the main road.