Filter lights

The other day I was waiting to turn right at a set of lights. The main
light went green but my filter light remained off. The driver in the
car behind me beeped his horn and went I turned around suggested I
should move beyond the stop line as the main lights were green. I
stayed put until the filter light came on.

Was I right, or was the driver right? Are road users allowed to move
past the stop line before a filter light has come on, on a road which
is not partitioned other than by lane markings?
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?layer=...19.27,,0,15.19

In the link above is seems that several drivers have all moved beyond
the stop line before the filter light has come on.

On Mar 23, 8:13*am, Tom Crispin wrote:
The other day I was waiting to turn right at a set of lights. The main
light went green but my filter light remained off. The driver in the
car behind me beeped his horn and went I turned around suggested I
should move beyond the stop line as the main lights were green. I
stayed put until the filter light came on.

Was I right, or was the driver right? Are road users allowed to move
past the stop line before a filter light has come on, on a road which
is not partitioned other than by lane markings?http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?layer=....014162&cbp=12...

In the link above is seems that several drivers have all moved beyond
the stop line before the filter light has come on.

The convention is that when the main light goes green, you should
proceed past the stop line until you reach a position in the road that
is roughly 90 degrees to your intended direction of travel. At this
point you wait until oncoming traffic has passed and then you can make
the turn right. The only time that you would wait at the stop line
with a green light is when a vehicle is in front of you and you cannot
proceed anyway.

--
Simon Mason

On 23/03/2011 08:23, Simon Mason wrote:

The convention is that when the main light goes green, you should
proceed past the stop line until you reach a position in the road that
is roughly 90 degrees to your intended direction of travel. At this
point you wait until oncoming traffic has passed and then you can make
the turn right. The only time that you would wait at the stop line
with a green light is when a vehicle is in front of you and you cannot
proceed anyway.

Yep. That's how I and virtually everyone else uses these particular lights.

On 23/03/2011 08:23, Simon Mason wrote:

On Mar 23, 8:13 am, Tom wrote:

The other day I was waiting to turn right at a set of lights. The main
light went green but my filter light remained off. The driver in the
car behind me beeped his horn and went I turned around suggested I
should move beyond the stop line as the main lights were green. I
stayed put until the filter light came on.
Was I right, or was the driver right? Are road users allowed to move
past the stop line before a filter light has come on, on a road which
is not partitioned other than by lane markings?http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?layer=....014162&cbp=12...
In the link above is seems that several drivers have all moved beyond
the stop line before the filter light has come on.

The convention is that when the main light goes green, you should
proceed past the stop line until you reach a position in the road that
is roughly 90 degrees to your intended direction of travel. At this
point you wait until oncoming traffic has passed and then you can make
the turn right. The only time that you would wait at the stop line
with a green light is when a vehicle is in front of you and you cannot
proceed anyway.

I don't know that I've ever seen anyone do that (and have certainly never
done it myself), but logically, you are right. Forward motion is allowed and
only the actual right turn is not allowed (until the green light is given for
that direction). That suggests that clearing the stop line is permissible,
though one would need to be sure that there was a repeated signal for the
right turn still in view (ie, on the other side of the junction so that it
can be seen from a position in the middle of the junction).

On 23/03/2011 08:13, Tom Crispin wrote:
The other day I was waiting to turn right at a set of lights. The main
light went green but my filter light remained off. The driver in the
car behind me beeped his horn and went I turned around suggested I
should move beyond the stop line as the main lights were green. I
stayed put until the filter light came on.

Was I right, or was the driver right? Are road users allowed to move
past the stop line before a filter light has come on, on a road which
is not partitioned other than by lane markings?
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?layer=...19.27,,0,15.19

In the link above is seems that several drivers have all moved beyond
the stop line before the filter light has come on.

If there's no red light showing for the right turn then you can go on
the the main green, and even turn right if there's nothing coming the
other way.

What such a green filter light generally means is that the oncoming
traffic's lights are now on red meaning you should unimpeded by oncoming
traffic.

--
Matt B

Tom Crispin wrote:
The other day I was waiting to turn right at a set of lights. The main
light went green but my filter light remained off. The driver in the
car behind me beeped his horn and went I turned around suggested I
should move beyond the stop line as the main lights were green. I
stayed put until the filter light came on.


Unless there was a red filter light you were free to go and make the turn
if traffic allowed as soon as the main green light came on. The green
filter light coming on just meant that other traffic would be stopped so
you had priority to make the turn.


--
Tony

JNugent wrote:

I don't know that I've ever seen anyone do that (and have certainly never
done it myself), but logically, you are right. Forward motion is allowed
and only the actual right turn is not allowed (until the green light is
given for that direction).

Is the wrong answer. Unless there is a red filter light, the right turn is
allowed as in a normal junction. The green filter light just means the
oncoming traffic has a red light so you can turn freely.


--
Tony

On 23/03/2011 10:49, Tony Raven wrote:

wrote:

I don't know that I've ever seen anyone do that (and have certainly never
done it myself), but logically, you are right. Forward motion is allowed
and only the actual right turn is not allowed (until the green light is
given for that direction).

Is the wrong answer. Unless there is a red filter light, the right turn is
allowed as in a normal junction. The green filter light just means the
oncoming traffic has a red light so you can turn freely.

I never knew that. I always thought a green arrow pointing "forward" meant
that you could move only in that direction.

Thanks for the info.

JNugent wrote:
On 23/03/2011 10:49, Tony Raven wrote:

wrote:

I don't know that I've ever seen anyone do that (and have certainly
never done it myself), but logically, you are right. Forward motion
is allowed and only the actual right turn is not allowed (until the
green light is given for that direction).

Is the wrong answer. Unless there is a red filter light, the right
turn is allowed as in a normal junction. The green filter light
just means the oncoming traffic has a red light so you can turn
freely.

I never knew that. I always thought a green arrow pointing "forward"
meant that you could move only in that direction.

Thanks for the info.

surely it will depend on whether it is a filter lane only, in which case red
means you don't cross the stop line.

On Mar 23, 11:48*am, "Mrcheerful" wrote:
JNugent wrote:
On 23/03/2011 10:49, Tony Raven wrote:

*wrote:

I don't know that I've ever seen anyone do that (and have certainly
never done it myself), but logically, you are right. Forward motion
is allowed and only the actual right turn is not allowed (until the
green light is given for that direction).

Is the wrong answer. *Unless there is a red filter light, the right
turn is allowed as in a normal junction. *The green filter light
just means the oncoming traffic has a red light so you can turn
freely.

I never knew that. I always thought a green arrow pointing "forward"
meant that you could move only in that direction.

Thanks for the info.

surely it will depend on whether it is a filter lane only, in which case red
means you don't cross the stop line.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The OP stated that the "main light" went green inferring that he was
not in a turn right only lane, but in an ahead *and* right turn lane.

--
Simon Mason