Right Turn at a Signalised Crossroads with a Yellow Box
You are southbound on a two-lane urban road posted at 50 km/h, in the right-hand lane and indicating right at a signalised crossroads. The main light for your direction is green, but the right-turn filter arrow beside it is unlit. Oncoming traffic is queued nose-to-tail, so you cannot complete the turn straight away. The junction is covered by a yellow box marked with diagonal lines. The road you want has room for your car just beyond the junction, but it is blocked again about 30 metres further on. A garda steps into the middle of the junction and raises one arm straight up with the palm towards you, while the lights stay green. Fifteen metres past the junction there is a pedestrian crossing, and the green man is showing. Your view of the left-hand footway is partly blocked by a stopped bus.
1. Where should you position the car while you wait to turn, and what should you do with the wheels? Explain the reasoning.
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Move forward past the stop line into the junction and wait just beyond the centre point, with the wheels kept straight. The reasoning matters more than the position:
- Waiting inside the junction clears the approach for traffic behind and keeps the crossing and stop line free.
- Straight wheels mean that if you are shunted from behind, the car is pushed forward rather than into the oncoming lane.
- Because you are already established in the junction before the light changes, you may complete the turn when it is safe if the lights go amber - the amber rule is aimed at vehicles that can still stop comfortably.
- Do not angle across the oncoming lane before the gap exists, and do not cut the corner.
The far side of the junction has room for your car, so you will not be left blocking cross traffic while you wait. That is the condition that makes waiting inside the junction acceptable.
2. You move into the yellow box. Is that permitted, and would your answer change if the road you were turning into was already full?
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It is permitted here, but only because of a specific exemption. The general yellow box rule is that you must not enter unless you can clear it without stopping. The exception is a vehicle turning right that is prevented from completing the turn only by oncoming traffic - that vehicle may enter and wait in the box. That is exactly your situation: queued oncoming traffic is the only obstacle.
If the road you were turning into were already full, the exemption would not cover you. Your car would sit in the box after the turn, blocking cross traffic that has a green light, and you would have to wait behind the stop line until the exit cleared. The box is not a queuing area and not a refuge.
Because your exit is blocked again 30 metres on, keep checking that the gap you have chosen really lets you clear the junction before you commit to it.
3. The garda raises a hand and the pedestrian green man is showing. What do you do, and what do you check before moving off?
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Stop and stay stopped. A garda directing traffic takes precedence over traffic lights, signs and markings, so a green light does not authorise you to move while the hand is raised.
The green man means pedestrians on the crossing have right of way. Even after the garda releases you, you must yield to anyone already on the crossing - and the stopped bus hides part of the footway, so someone may step out from in front of it.
Before moving off, re-check in this order:
- The right-turn filter arrow, in case it has lit while you were waiting.
- Oncoming traffic - a driver may still be finishing a turn on amber.
- Your right mirror and blind spot for a cyclist who has filtered up on your left.
- The crossing itself, and the gap you intend to turn into.
Move only when the garda's signal releases you, your path is clear and you can complete the turn without stopping in the junction.