Parked car & right of way question
Discussion
I thought I knew the answer to this but can't put my finger on the Highway code rule so now starting to doubt myself.
In a village near me there is a section of road where the residents park on one side of the road effectively making it a single lane road. Looking on google maps it's actually half a mile. You get the odd gap in the cars but most of the time it's cars for the full section.
You have to go steady to start the overtake as the parking starts just after a slight left hander so it's hard to see. Anyway once committed you can see the full length.
It was always my understanding that if the obstruction is on your side of the road you had to give way to oncoming vehicles - fair enough. However I always thought that if it was clear and once you had committed to the move the right of way passed to you. Is this correct and is there a highway code section stating this?
The issue you get in this village is you can be 8/10ths of the way through and without failure someone coming the other way will start driving through blocking the road. They know there's no where either of you can go without them mounting the curb to pass or if they're in a smallish car you can squeeze right in and they can manoeuvre around you - it'd take less time if they just gave way.
To put this into perspective you are passing about 50 parked cars with 10 left to get past. It's perfectly straight so they can see you are there. At commuter time without fail there will be two drivers having a faceoff at this section or someone driving a van / 4x4 towards everyone half on the path at an OTT speed to 'prove a point'.
In a village near me there is a section of road where the residents park on one side of the road effectively making it a single lane road. Looking on google maps it's actually half a mile. You get the odd gap in the cars but most of the time it's cars for the full section.
You have to go steady to start the overtake as the parking starts just after a slight left hander so it's hard to see. Anyway once committed you can see the full length.
It was always my understanding that if the obstruction is on your side of the road you had to give way to oncoming vehicles - fair enough. However I always thought that if it was clear and once you had committed to the move the right of way passed to you. Is this correct and is there a highway code section stating this?
The issue you get in this village is you can be 8/10ths of the way through and without failure someone coming the other way will start driving through blocking the road. They know there's no where either of you can go without them mounting the curb to pass or if they're in a smallish car you can squeeze right in and they can manoeuvre around you - it'd take less time if they just gave way.
To put this into perspective you are passing about 50 parked cars with 10 left to get past. It's perfectly straight so they can see you are there. At commuter time without fail there will be two drivers having a faceoff at this section or someone driving a van / 4x4 towards everyone half on the path at an OTT speed to 'prove a point'.
TooMany2cvs said:
"Right of way" is a serious red herring. Nobody EVER has "RIGHT of way". They may have PRIORITY...
If you need to pull onto the opposite side of the road to pass a stationary obstruction, traffic coming has priority. You wait for a gap.
If you're part way along, and oncoming traffic appears, then they still have priority - but if there's nowhere for you to go to, it's not only basic common sense that says they cannot assert that priority, and they're going to have to wait a moment or three, but it's backed up by...
HC144
You MUST NOT ... drive without reasonable consideration for other road users
HC146
Adapt your driving to the appropriate type and condition of road you are on. In particular ... take the road and traffic conditions into account. Be prepared for unexpected or difficult situations, for example, the road being blocked beyond a blind bend. Be prepared to adjust your speed as a precaution
haha good point 'Priority'. So I was wrong then, I could have sworn there was a HC section giving the priority to the overtaking vehicle. If you need to pull onto the opposite side of the road to pass a stationary obstruction, traffic coming has priority. You wait for a gap.
If you're part way along, and oncoming traffic appears, then they still have priority - but if there's nowhere for you to go to, it's not only basic common sense that says they cannot assert that priority, and they're going to have to wait a moment or three, but it's backed up by...
HC144
You MUST NOT ... drive without reasonable consideration for other road users
HC146
Adapt your driving to the appropriate type and condition of road you are on. In particular ... take the road and traffic conditions into account. Be prepared for unexpected or difficult situations, for example, the road being blocked beyond a blind bend. Be prepared to adjust your speed as a precaution
It really is stupid though the way they behave. 'It's my right of way, I'm coming through!'
InitialDave said:
Can the person coming the other way see all the way down before they enter the parked cars area? So as long as you were past the corner mentioned, they could (assuming they actually looked) see you were coming before entering the restriction themselves?
Yes once you are passing the cars it is dead straight. I went that way last night after posting this and it's probably 1/4 mile not 1/2 mile. you can make eye contact with the on-coming cars at the point they seem to decided it's their right.Gassing Station | Advanced Driving | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff