Right turn into a narrow street with a cyclist alongside
You are first in the right-turn lane at a signal-controlled crossroads in Debrecen, driving a 4.6 m car towing a 3.4 m box trailer on a 1.2 m drawbar. You are turning right into a narrow one-way street about 5.5 m wide between two buildings; a delivery van is parked 8 m into that street on the left. The light for your direction is green. A cyclist in the marked cycle lane on your right has been rolling forward alongside you and clearly intends to continue straight across the junction. A woman with a pushchair is waiting on the corner pavement. Your right-hand mirror shows the trailer's front corner, and the trailer's wheels are about 1 m inside the lane you are leaving. The lane to your left is occupied by a bus that has just stopped.
1. Who has priority as you make the turn, and how does the length of the combination change the timing?
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The cyclist goes first, then any pedestrian who steps onto the crossing, and only then you. The cyclist is travelling straight ahead in a marked cycle lane and you are cutting across that path to turn right: you are the one changing direction, so you must give way and let them clear the junction. Signal early, check the right-hand mirror and the blind spot over your right shoulder, and wait. The woman on the corner has priority the moment she steps onto the marked crossing on the arm you are turning into - a pushchair means she needs more time, not less. A green light gives you permission to move; it does not give you priority over either of them.
Why the trailer matters. With an 11 m combination, the cyclist's journey past you takes far longer than it would past a solo car. Once your car has begun to turn, your trailer is still lying across the cycle lane and the crossing. If you start the turn while the cyclist is still coming, they will meet the trailer, not the car - and the trailer's wheels will be tracking inside the car's path, exactly where the cyclist is riding. Do not begin until the cyclist has visibly passed or stopped.
2. The light is green but you can see the parked van may force you to stop inside the junction. What do you do, and what does the law require about entering a junction you cannot clear?
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Stay behind the stop line. You must not enter a junction unless you can clear it. With an 11 m combination and a van parked 8 m into a 5.5 m street, there is a real chance the car gets past the van while the trailer is still standing across the cycle lane and the pedestrian crossing - blocking both, and trapping you on the crossing when the lights change and pedestrians get a green.
A green light is a permission, not an obligation. Waiting one light cycle costs 60 seconds; stopping across a crossing can cost a pedestrian an injury and you a fine. So wait, watch the traffic in the one-way street ahead, and move only when you can see enough clear space beyond the van for the car and the trailer plus a margin.
When you do go, take the turn slowly and late. A trailer cuts the corner: you must steer further out into the junction (only if that space is free - the bus on your left rules it out here, so keep the turn tight and slow instead) so the trailer's wheels track inside the kerb rather than over it. Walking pace, both mirrors, and be ready to stop within the distance you can see.
3. Describe the path the trailer will follow through the turn and the specific danger to the woman on the corner, and say how you manage it.
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The trailer tracks inside the car. The car's rear axle swings the trailer's nose wide, and the trailer's wheels cut a tighter arc than the car's front wheels. In a right turn this means the trailer's right-hand wheel moves closer to the right-hand kerb - and to anyone standing on it - than the car ever does. The 1.2 m drawbar lengthens the gap between car and trailer, so the trailer's nose also swings out to the left across the junction before it follows you round.
The danger to the woman. She is standing at the corner where the trailer's swept path ends. She cannot see the trailer's near-side wheel from where she is, and you cannot see her from the driver's seat once the car has turned - she will be in the trailer's blind area, outside the mirror's view.
Management. Before turning: mirror, mirror, shoulder check, and if there is any doubt, a second look. Turn at walking pace so you can stop instantly. Keep the trailer's right wheel visible in the mirror for as long as possible. If she steps towards the crossing, stop and let her go - a trailer cannot stop as quickly as a car, and an overrun brake adds a fraction of a second before it bites.