We see green lanes all over our roads now. We get fines for using them too long, or hope those discourteous drivers taking shortcuts on them will get pinged.
Yes, we’re talking about bus and transit lanes. Add merging and flush medians to the picture, and you have a sure recipe for road rage among impatient drivers.
Designed to alleviate traffic congestion, and encourage us to use public transport, buses and transit lanes can test one’s patience. The main job is to separate buses and vehicles carrying more than one occupant from the rest of the traffic during peak times.
Monitored by enforcement officers or cameras, these lanes are legally accessible by motorists looking to make a left turn, but only when they are within 50 metres of the intersection. Drivers who don’t follow the rules can expect to receive a ticket.
Transit lanes are the same. T2 and T3, referring to the number of occupants that must be in the vehicle for them to be an option, are usually reserved for passenger service vehicles, cycles, motorcycles and mopeds.
Why have I seen EVs using these lanes?
In Auckland, a 12-month trial is under way that allows electric vehicles to use 11 special vehicle lanes, including one bus lane.
This was introduced in September last year and is designed to be a test case as a proposed future incentive.
Those with vehicles licensed as an EV or PHEV have been sent information regarding this test and also an EV sticker to let others know the reason they may be seen using a special vehicle lane. More information about the trial can be found here.
Merging
Another potential catalyst for road rage is lane merging. We’ve all heard the term ‘merge like a zip’ — that doesn’t mean push in front, or race ahead. It means allowing a vehicle approaching from the left to pass in front, and then a vehicle from the right, and so forth.
Some roads have a merge lane to help vehicles that have turned onto the road join the traffic flow safely.
If you are in a merge lane at an intersection, show you want to enter the lane by signalling for at least three seconds, move into a safe gap in the traffic, and adjust your speed and following distance.
Motorway on-ramps are similar to merge lanes. When using an on-ramp to enter a motorway, change your speed to match the speed of the motorway traffic, use the whole length of the on-ramp to adjust your speed, signal right for at least three seconds, move into a safe gap in the traffic, and adjust your speed and following distance.
Don’t leave it until you’re among the traffic before you adjust your speed, and don’t enter the motorway at a sharp angle.
Flush medians
There has long been some uncertainty around what a median is and what it’s there to do.
Identifiable by the diagonal white lines painted in the middle of the road about one-car-width wide, they’re called ‘flush’ because they are not raised — just painted on the road surface. Flush medians are there to provide a wider separation between traffic streams on either side of the road, offer pedestrians a place to pause while crossing two traffic streams, and deliver a refuge for vehicles turning into and out of side roads or driveways.
It’s acceptable to drive on a flush median for a short distance for this purpose. You can use them to slow down before making a right-hand turn, or to merge left into a gap in the traffic flow.
If you’re using the flush median to make a right-hand turn, you should indicate, steer gently onto the median rather than at an abrupt angle or use the median as an area to slow and brake. That way, following traffic doesn’t have to slow down rapidly to avoid you.
Carry out a similar manoeuvre if you’re using the flush median as a refuge before merging into traffic on your left.
When you’re using a flush median, remember to watch out for pedestrians and other vehicles using the median.
According to the NZTA, in New Zealand there has been a 19 per cent overall reduction in crashes on streets where flush medians have been installed, while rear-end crashes have reduced by 66 per cent and incidents involving pedestrians by 30 per cent. These stats alone justifies their existence.