Dead traffic lights at a priority junction
You are riding in town on a wide arterial road, approaching a four-way junction. The traffic lights are completely dark because of a power failure. About 100 m before the junction you passed a yellow diamond priority-road sign; the road joining from the right ends in a worn shark's-teeth yield line. A car on that road is waiting at the line, its driver looking left. In the oncoming lane a car is waiting to turn left across your path, indicator flashing. On your right a cycle path runs parallel to your road, and a woman on an electric cargo bike is coming up on your rear right, clearly travelling faster than you. You intend to turn right into the side road, where a pedestrian with a phone is stepping off the kerb towards the crossing. It is dry and daylight, and you are doing 40 km/h.
1. Which rules now govern this junction, and who has priority over whom?
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Dark lights are not a green light. When signals are out of service, they no longer direct traffic; the signs and general rules take over. Because your road carries a priority-road sign (yellow diamond), the default give-way-to-the-right rule does not decide this junction - the sign does.
Order of priority.
- The car at the shark's teeth must yield to you; those markings are a give-way line, not a stop line.
- The oncoming car turning left crosses your path and must yield to traffic going straight on, i.e. to you.
- You must yield to anyone you cross - the cyclist on the cycle path when you turn right, and the pedestrian at the crossing.
The judgement part. Having priority is not the same as being given it. That waiting driver may have arrived before the power failed, may be reading the dark lights, and a shark's-teeth line is easy to miss. Approach at a speed that lets you stop, make eye contact, cover the brakes, and be ready to give the priority away.
2. What must you do about the electric cargo bike before and during your right turn, and how does its speed change your observation routine?
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You cross her path. Turning right takes you across the parallel cycle path, and a cyclist going straight on has right of way. Your indicator is a request, not a right.
The speed problem. An e-cargo bike at around 25 km/h covers roughly 7 m per second. A mirror glance two seconds old is therefore worthless - she can be 14 m further on than you thought, and a cargo bike is wide, so there is no squeezing past. Lorries and vans turning right across cycle paths are the classic conflict; a motorcycle has exactly the same blind spot geometry if you only use the mirrors.
Routine. Signal early, position correctly, mirror, then an actual shoulder check - turn your head far enough to see the cycle path behind your right shoulder. If she is close, slow and let her clear the junction before you turn, or turn behind her. Do not accelerate to 'beat' her into the side road: an e-bike is quicker off the line than you expect and she has priority.
3. The pedestrian with the phone is stepping off the kerb into the side road you are turning into. What is your obligation and what stopping distance are you working with at 40 km/h?
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Obligation. A pedestrian already on, or clearly stepping onto, the crossing has precedence; you must stop and give way. The phone matters because it means she has almost certainly not seen or heard you - treat her as unpredictable and stop for her rather than assuming she will pause.
The numbers. At 40 km/h you cover 11 m per second. A realistic reaction of one second is 11 m, plus dry braking at about 7 m/s² giving roughly 9 m: around 20 m in total. If you first see her as you begin the turn, at 40 km/h, you are using nearly all of that 20 m just to wash off speed, with the bike already leaned and the front brake partly committed. That is the argument for being near 20 km/h at the turn, not 40.
Practical action. Brake in a straight line before turning, not mid-lean; make eye contact if possible; if she keeps moving, stop and wait - a few seconds costs nothing and a pedestrian struck at 40 km/h is a serious injury.