Right-Turn Lane Temptation at a Queued Intersection
At 07:45 on a weekday you ride a 150 cc motorcycle eastbound on an urban arterial with four motor lanes in each direction. The posted limit is 60 km/h and the through lanes are queued for 200 m at walking pace. The signal shows a red circle with a green straight-ahead arrow; lane 4, the rightmost motor lane, has its own right-turn arrow that is currently red. A 12 m concrete mixer truck sits in lane 4 with its right indicator on. From 40 m before the stop line a solid white line separates lane 4 from the non-motorised lane, which is packed with e-bikes and cyclists. Sixty metres beyond the intersection, roadworks close lane 1, so all through traffic must merge right after crossing. Your handlebar phone mount shows an incoming call from your manager. You want to go straight, and lane 3 is blocked 30 m before the stop line by a stalled car with its bonnet up.
1. You are tempted to slip into lane 4 and then into the e-bike lane to get around the queue. Give your decision and the reasoning, referring to the signals, the markings and the truck.
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Decision: stay out of both.
- Lane 4 is a right-turn lane, and its arrow is red. Entering it to go straight means you will either cross the path of a turning vehicle or make an illegal straight movement from a turn lane. When the right arrow goes green the mixer will begin its turn, and a 12 m truck needs a wide sweep: its rear wheels track well inside the front, and the driver's right-side blind spot is large. A motorcycle sitting in that space is invisible.
- The solid white line is there precisely to stop vehicles weaving into the non-motorised lane. Crossing it is a marking violation, and the e-bike lane holds a dense, slow, unpredictable stream of riders. You would be entering at a speed differential that gives them no time to react and you no escape route.
- The gain is trivial. In a 200 m queue you might save 30–60 seconds - and then hit the lane-1 closure 60 m after the intersection, where everyone must merge right anyway.
Take a legal through lane, accept the queue, and use the time to watch the mirror and plan the post-intersection merge.
2. Lane 3 is blocked just before the stop line and lane 1 closes after the intersection. Describe the sequence you would actually ride, including where you stop relative to the mixer.
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Approach (200 m out): choose lane 2, not 3 - lane 3's blockage is only 30 m before the stop line, so committing to it forces a late lane change near the line. Move into lane 2 early and legally, with mirrors and a signal, while the lane line is still broken.
At the stop line: stop behind the line in lane 2, offset to the left of the lane centre so you are visible in the mirrors of the vehicle ahead and not hidden behind its rear pillar. Do not creep forward beside the mixer into the area between its cab and the e-bike lane.
Crossing: apply the green straight arrow only, at a speed that lets you see the far side of the junction. Drive with a plan for the merge: lane 1 closes 60 m past the crossing, where vehicles from lanes 1 and 2 will converge. Hold lane 2 and let the lane-1 traffic merge into you rather than fighting for position; keep a 2 s gap and check the mirror before every lateral move.
The call: ignore it. A ringing phone is a distraction and answering it while riding is both illegal and incompatible with a 200 m queue of unpredictable traffic. Stop legally later if it matters.
3. If a traffic police officer waves you through the red right-turn arrow to clear the queue, what do you do, and why does the officer's signal outrank the light?
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You obey the officer. Under the Road Traffic Safety Law the signal given by traffic police on duty prevails over signal lights, signs and markings; the light is a machine's default instruction, the officer's gesture is a human judgement about the actual conditions, in this case a stalled car and a queue that could block the junction.
That said, obeying is not the same as switching off your own judgement. Move deliberately, at low speed, in the direction the officer indicates, and check the crossing traffic yourself - the officer's authority does not make a conflicting vehicle disappear. If the gesture is ambiguous, slow, point in the direction you intend to go, and make eye contact before committing.
Once through, do not use the officer's wave as a licence to keep the advantage: return to normal lane discipline immediately, including the merge at the lane-1 closure, and do not overtake the queue from the e-bike lane on the strength of it.