Ratanga Rd / Century Place Boulevard intersection slip lane question

[StrontiumDog]

Just doing a sanity check here... The image above shows my path of travel as I am driving from point A to enter lane 3. I take a right at the robots and keep to the far right in lane 3. Lane 3 that I am in has a solid line to the left of it separating it and lane 2. Lane 2 is reserved for oncoming traffic coming from point B. Quite often people coming from point B will cross the solid line and veer from lane 2 into lane 3.

So every now and again as I enter lane 3 some idiot from lane 2 will get a huge fright when they see me in lane 3 and then hoot at me from behind while they gather themselves from the shock. When I enter lane 3 I do so at a leisurely pace (not trying to race the cars in lane 2) because lanes 2 and 3 soon merge and it's lane 3 that gets narrower and narrower. If they are not gunning it and behind me then I will accelerate to get out their way or if they are ahead of me I don't try to overtake.

As far as I can see I am using this lane 3 in the intended manner but I think one day some idiot will just drive into the left side of me! Lane 3 is there for me to enter and so long as drivers don't cross the solid line everything should be good.

You can clearly see on Google Maps the solid line which I speak of. The image below would be from my vantage point. Edit: I would be in the right most lane.

 

[Foxhound5366]

Aah yes, I'm very familiar with this merge, and your interpretation of how it should work sounds correct to me.

The difference is that I'm cross over straight in Ratanga Road, staying in Lane 2, and then change to Lane 1 immediately. What helps is that when it's green for me, it's red for the guys all queued up to merge into Ratanga Road, so I don't face any of the aggression you're talking about - and also don't have to deal with the chaos of the Lane 2/Lane 3 merge further ahead.

I've noticed this common misperception in Cape Town that if you're in the far right-hand lane of something like that merge, that you can then choose to slip into either the middle or far-right hand lane of the other road ... this simply isn't true, and it leads to exactly what you're talking about.

I reckon the reason people are getting surprised by you is that they're just not expecting anybody to enter Ratanga Road by turning right where you are ... from their perspectives they've just watched all the people coming straight across the junction, the light turn red for those people and green for themselves, and they gun it without thinking about checking blind-spots or anything silly like that.

Just be careful.

 

[StrontiumDog]

Thanks, I've realised it must be surprising hence i don't get aggro back.

If they just respected the solid lines then nothing bad should happen beyond surprise but i suppose driver education is lacking. Just how many people on our roads have bought their licences??

 

[Foxhound5366]

Just how many people on our roads have bought their licences??

Just how many people on our roads have Code 10 truck driver licenses which automatically entitle them to drive cars, even though the driver's test for cars is a lot harder than for trucks and they never had to take it?

Now THAT is scary. There are people on the roads who are perfectly legal, and yet don't know the first thing about parallel parking or how to drive a vehicle without 22 wheels and a retarder.

If that's the benchmark for legal drivers, just imagine how bad the illegal drivers are, and I've really seen it all.

My personal favourite is the cars that have no clue how to do hill-starts, so they rock back and forth at stop streets or traffic lights on inclines, for as long as it takes ... two minutes of riding the clutch continuously? No problem, for these people!

 

[maumau]

My personal favourite is drivers who fly down hill in the wrong gear and don't have enough power for the uphill. They get slower and slower and eventually the light comes on and they realise they have to change gear. Christ almighty where did they get their licence?

 

[AdrianH]

In South Africa, traffic signs, traffic lights, road lines and rules of the road are merely "suggestions".

 

[silent_wolf]

I saw that happen yesterday, guy in a bmw x5 shot straight into lane 3, cant imagine a small car holding up well against if they get hit

for as long as it takes ... two minutes of riding the clutch continuously? No problem, for these people!

This always makes me cringe, what happens if they stall, do they know they are meant to brake or they'll roll back? And the poor clutch I cant imagine how quickly it must wear out.

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

In Gauteng the rules of the road (stop streets, traffic lights etc - all a positive outcome of all the defunct traffic lights and lack of police) are quite simple: If you are first you have right of way. This is practised very well especially by people with NW-number plates