Who has right of way when doing a U turn?

[Bobbynonuts]

Hi,

A couple of days ago I was travelling northbound on the A32 just north of Fareham and needed to perform a U turn to head back south. There is a dedicated right hand lane for the U turn. Opposite the right hand lanes stopping point is a side road joining the southbound carriageway. Both my lane and the side road have the give way road markings. However just after I had pulled out on to southbound carriage way a car decided to pull out of the side road and proceeded to cut me up.

He then slammed on his brakes blocking my path and as a result my car was straddled across lanes 2 and 3. Luckily my speed was still low enough to enable me to execute a low speed stop with plenty of room left before any possible contact. He did this and proceeded to give me rude gesticulations. I didn't react as I was more concerned about being stopped in the middle of two lanes on a road with a speed limit of 50 mph.

But it's got me thinking who had right of way in this situation. Is it the car doing the U turn on the grounds that they are on the main road or the car pulling out of the side road?

I would love to hear you thoughts on this.

[Bobbynonuts]

The images above show the area in question. There is no sign prohibiting a U-Turn.

Edited by Bobbynonuts on Saturday 22 September 13:54

Edited by Bobbynonuts on Saturday 22 September 13:55

[Bobbynonuts]

jamei303 said:

The give way markings for the U-turner mean they have to give way to vehicles on the side of the carriageway they are entering. The give way markings on the side road mean anyone emerging has to give way to vehicles on the main road. Therefore the U-turner has priority over anyone emerging from the side road, because the U-turner is already on the main road.

That's how I would see it. The give line on the U-turn is saying 'Give way to southbound traffic'. But as this U-turn lane is part of the main road does it have priority over a side road. (Rule 172). The side road also has a give way sign.