Robot/Traffic light question

[Nanfeishen]

There is a patch of road i travel on, that has a new housing estate being built, there is a road running into the estate, that had a stop street, while the road past was free flowing.
There is now a new set of traffic lights at that intersection, however the lights are not yet operational, (they have orange covers over them)
How is that intersection to be treated?
Does it become an automatic 4 way stop as traffic lights become if they are not operating, or does the road still remain free flowing, and only the cars turning on to the road need stop ?.
3 times i have had to resort to emergency braking procedures because some wingnut in the car in front of me has decided to stop instead of continuing.
None of the times was any car waiting to enter the road.

 

[Just_Ice]

I say treat it as it was, like there is no stop, unless there are signs telling you it is a stop street. Thats my guess

 

[HapticSimian]

Personal opinion... you're the wingnut in this equation.

Your eyes don't register all the detail around you when you're driving. The first reaction of someone who's not familiar with the area, when seeing a set of 4 yellow poles at an intersection, is going to be to slow down/stop.

You need to take other road users into account here - I think it's perfectly reasonable to assume that some people would stop in such a situation.

 

[Nanfeishen]

Your eyes don't register all the detail around you when you're driving. The first reaction of someone who's not familiar with the area, when seeing a set of 4 yellow poles at an intersection, is going to be to slow down/stop.

If you are not registering all the details on the road, you shouldnt be on the road, if you want to look at the scenery pull over.
Half the time people react from looking up from their bloody cell phones, or because they are too busy fiddling with their sound systems.

You need to take other road users into account here - I think it's perfectly reasonable to assume that some people would stop in such a situation.

Perfectly reasonable to assume so if their was a car waiting to pull out, but not when there is no car waiting.

As stated , the traffic lights are not in commision, there are no Stop signs up so what are the LEGAL requirements in this situation?

 

[Sherbang]

3 times i have had to resort to emergency braking procedures because some wingnut in the car in front of me has decided to stop instead of continuing.
None of the times was any car waiting to enter the road.

Keep a reasonable following distance and there should be no need for emergency braking unless the car in front of you hits their brakes hard and sudden.

 

[Sherbang]

As stated , the traffic lights are not in commision, there are no Stop signs up so what are the LEGAL requirements in this situation?

Not sure what the legal requirements are but I am sure that if the car in front of you slows down or stops and you drive into the back of them, legally you are at fault. Even if the car in front stopped for no reason whatsoever...

 

[Shake&Bake]

Same scenario when Century City's traffic lights were being put up and then also on Lansdowne Road near the Snoek factory shop.

I'm not 100% sure, but there may be something about the solid lines running across the street that makes the intersection a 4 way stop.

 

[Freshy-ZN]

FFS. The OP said he had to resort to some hard braking not that he plowed into the back of them. Get off your high horses about 'registering all the details' and 'shouldnt be on the road' stuff.

 

[Patty]

I once was in the car with a friend who was going for driving lessons. The instructor was also a metro policeman. Did it on his spare time. Anyways we passed a set of robots that were covered with brown paper bags. He said that you dont even have to stop you can legally just drive through. However I would say that common sense says at least slow down.

 

[Milano]

Legally, you would treat it exactly the same way you would treat it prior to the traffic lights being erected. Logically, you might proceed with some caution.

 

[HapticSimian]

If you are not registering all the details on the road, you shouldnt be on the road, if you want to look at the scenery pull over.
Half the time people react from looking up from their bloody cell phones, or because they are too busy fiddling with their sound systems.


Perfectly reasonable to assume so if their was a car waiting to pull out, but not when there is no car waiting.

As stated , the traffic lights are not in commision, there are no Stop signs up so what are the LEGAL requirements in this situation?

Go do some research into how you 'see' the world around you - only a very small part of your field of vision registers fine detail. It's the same reason why idiots driving with their rear fog lights illuminated in clear weather impair the ability of those following to distinguish when someone's brake lights come on.

The only LEGAL requirements state the following:

4) When no light signal is illuminated on an approach to a junction the driver of a motor vehicle shall act as for a 3-way stop R1.3 or a 4-way stop sign R1.4.

5) In the event that a traffic signal is out of order, either all the light signals shall not be illuminated, or all red light signals shall be flashing.

from National Road Traffic Act, 1996

 

[supersunbird]

FFS. The OP said he had to resort to some hard braking not that he plowed into the back of them. Get off your high horses about 'registering all the details' and 'shouldnt be on the road' stuff.

The OP is the one who said 'shouldnt be on the road'... So I dont get if you are for or against him

 

[Freshy-ZN]

The OP is the one who said 'shouldnt be on the road'... So I dont get if you are for or against him

You are so right...how embarrassing

 

[Pyro]

Go do some research into how you 'see' the world around you - only a very small part of your field of vision registers fine detail. It's the same reason why idiots driving with their rear fog lights illuminated in clear weather impair the ability of those following to distinguish when someone's brake lights come on.

The only LEGAL requirements state the following:

Funny that they have removed the stop signs.

The last time I was at a similar situation, it was a 4-way stop before the poles went up.

Until they actually got lit up it was still treated as a 4-way stop, which is exactly what you'd do if they were out-of-order lights anyway.

I the intersection only had stop-signs from the sides before, it might be a bit different, but I'd probably treat it as a yield at best.