Box Junctions

You’re feeling boxed in? I’m also feeling boxed in right now. I wouldn’t mind escaping all those angry drivers who are blasting their horns at us, too bad we are trapped and going nowhere fast.

(One minute previously)

I estimate we are about fifteen cars away from those red lights, question is will we all get through the lights next time they turn to green. Oops, check out your passenger (nearside) wing mirror, there’s one of those cyclists coming up on the inside. There he goes, all the way to the front of the queue and into the reserve cycle space. At the front of some junctions you will find a pair of advance white lines with a bicycle painted in-between them. This space is specifically reserved for bikes to give them space to move into once they have jumped the queue, but really, wouldn’t you prefer to have them where you can see them rather than they are sitting in your blind spot? Cars may not cross the first advance line when the lights are red (remember this).

Ok, the lights have changing, Red... Red/Amber... Green, and off we go. As we get closer to the lights I will tell you the purpose of the box junction we are about to encounter. It is always defined by yellow criss-cross lines marked on the road and enclosed by a yellow border, you must not enter this marked area unless you can see enough road space on the opposite side to get clear (you wouldn’t believe what happens in ‘The Demon Road: A Theory Test Novel’ when ‘Amber’, one of the characters, gets stuck in the box, you have to buy it at www.facebook.com/TheoryTestNovel and read it to believe it). The only exception to the box junction rule is when you intend turning right. We are not turning right but if we were then we could enter the box junction (even if the right hand turning was not clear) and wait while the traffic flowed on either side of us. Incidentally, waiting in the road to turn right is one of those three permitted times when other road users may pass you on the left, remember we already discussed one of them in the ‘One-way Road’ post? But anyway, I digress.

Ok, we have reached the junction now, the lights have been green for a while so let’s assume they are nearly ready to change. The traffic on the other side of the junction is stopping but the car driver in front has seen enough space on the other side of the box and is crossing, it might be worth our while waiting until he has crossed to see if there will be enough space for us to clear the box too. Ah, ok, you’ve decided to take a gamble, oh dear, the lights are beginning to change, Green... Amber... we will be ok if we can exit this box but it looks like bad news, the car in front has cleared the yellow border and stopped behind the car in front of him which leaves us stranded in the box. We are blocking the way for the cross wise traffic flow now and they are about to get very frustrated with us but fortunately for me I can bail out until the next post. There is nothing you can do now but wait for the cars in front to start moving again and accept the annoyance of your fellow road users with as much grace as you can. Don’t feel too bad, it’s a rookie mistake, we were all learners once, see ya soon...
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Traffic Lights, Junction

A quick post about traffic lights is in order as we leave the country behind for a while and re-enter the urban sprawl. Further ahead you will notice a main junction with traffic lights, they are currently on green. This particular set of lights will be a treasure trove of theory test information for us. First thing worth remembering is that it is a potential hazard, not only that but it attracts hazards. Anything can happen here and you must be very vigilant. Hazards can come in the form of cars jumping red lights from the intersecting road, hazards can also be cyclists passing down the inside of waiting traffic at red lights and motorcyclists weaving in-between lanes on your other side which makes it doubly important to be aware of the blind spot in your wing mirrors and look over your shoulder before performing a manoeuvre. These latter two road users are particularly vulnerable at junctions (remember this, it will be in the test) Hazards can also come from pedestrians looking for an opportunity to cross the road wherever traffic lights dwell.

Are those lights still at green? I would suggest that as they have been on green for a while they are probably due to change at any moment so be prepared to slow and stop. There, see? No sooner said than they change to amber and now red (that’s a colour you are going to see a lot during the course of your driving life). It’s also going to be the source of many temptations toward speeding up when you should be slowing (you’ll see!) at which point you are going to become somebody else’s hazard, let's hope they are also being vigilent.

I was once listening to a radio show running a quiz, one of their questions was ‘what colour traffic light comes next in the sequence following Red?’ Many listeners phoned in to answer the question, most gave the correct reply but the DJ insisted they were all wrong. Their answer was Amber follows Red in the sequence which is the correct response. So why then did the DJ insist they were all wrong? Answer, in the traffic light sequence Green will become Amber, Amber will become Red then (after a lot of waiting) Red will become a combination of Red/Amber and finally Red/Amber will become Green, thus completing one cycle or sequence. What the DJ should have asked was ‘what colour combination’ follows Red in the sequence (although this would, of course, have given the game away) but then this was local radio. Wow, that wasn't the most thrilling anecdote! no wonder I don't get invited to dinner parties, but the important point to remember is the light sequence. I see there is a box junction at this junction so we will cover what you need to know about that next time...  www.facebook.com/TheoryTestNovel    
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