In this topic, we will figure out why this sign was invented, what role it plays in traffic rules, because without knowing the basics of traffic rules, you can find yourself in an awkward situation, which will ultimately lead to an accident on the road.
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Appearance and purpose of the “Narrowing Road” sign
Because the reduction in road width and the resulting reduction in the number of lanes can be (and often is) controversial, a warning sign alone was not enough. It is for this reason that the current edition of the Rules provides for the presence of a whole family of such signs, indicating narrowing on the left/right sides and reciprocal, bilateral.
In combination with road markings and other signs, this will help the driver figure out what to do if he is moving exactly in the lane that is to be shortened and must merge into the adjacent one.
The narrowing of a road section can be permanent, and in most cases this is due to the natural features of the terrain, but no less often such signs can be found on those sections of the highway where repair and restoration work is being carried out. As a rule, in such cases, they try to avoid completely blocking traffic, since it greatly complicates the traffic situation, and if there are at least three lanes, carrying out repairs on one of them does not affect traffic so much.
The fact that the sign is temporary can be judged by the background - in this case it will be yellow. In addition to the road sign “Narrowing of the road”, usually in such cases an additional sign is installed informing about road repair work, obliging drivers to pay attention and reduce speed when entering a dangerous area. After road repairs are completed, both signs are removed.
Temporary road signs
The rules require that the road sign be installed within populated areas no closer than 50-100 meters from the narrowing; outside the NP this distance increases to 150-300 meters. In cities with heavy traffic, signs of this family are installed in the area of public transport stops (trolleybuses, buses, minibuses). This allows them to stop easily to pick up/drop off passengers. In addition, drivers of other vehicles are warned about the need to give way to the road sign indicating the OT stop.
What does the road narrowing sign mean and what does it look like?
Road narrowing belongs to the category of warning signs and is installed:
- In the city, according to traffic rules, it is installed at a distance of approximately 100 meters from the beginning of the site
- Outside the city on the highway at a distance of an average of 200 meters.
- Outside the populated area, it is re-installed 50 meters before the dangerous area.
Even people who graduated from driving school a long time ago and may have forgotten some traffic rules will understand it. After all, there is nothing complicated in its structure. The sign itself looks like a triangle with a red border and signals a decrease in the number of lanes and the need to change lanes.
If a road sign has an unusual yellow background, this means it is temporarily in this place and is installed in places where road work is being carried out. But there are times when the one established in this place and the temporary one contradict each other. In this situation, you should be guided by temporary signs.
Types of road narrowing sign
It has three different types:
- 1.20.1 - the road narrows both on the right and on the left;
- 1.20.2 - the road narrows on the right;
- 1.20.3 - the road narrows on the left.
They all look almost the same.
Signs warn the driver that one of the lanes will soon end and there is a need to change lanes. Usually the sign is also accompanied by markings on the road, but if there are none, you should pay more attention to the signs.
1.20.1 - narrowing of the road on both sides is much less common than 1.20.1 and 1.20.2. It happens that a three-lane road turns into a one-lane one. In this case, you need to be even more careful, because cars change lanes on both the right and left into one lane, and you will need to know who is giving way to whom when changing lanes.
Features of the “Give Way” family signs
Like most other warning signs, signs indicating a narrowing of the roadway are triangular in shape with a white background and a wide red border around the perimeter. Inside the sign there are pictograms of two stripes. If the taper is on both sides, both stripes will be curved with a taper at the top. With a one-sided reduction, one of the stripes will be straight, and it will be located on the side where the narrowing is not expected. This designation is intuitive and means that if you are driving from a straight lane, you have the right of way because you are moving straight.
If the road narrows on the left side, this means that traffic moving along it will have to change lanes to the adjacent right lane, and vice versa. If a two-way narrowing is expected, both the left and right columns will have to change lanes to the central lane.
In any case, those drivers who are driving in the lane to which they need to change lanes have an advantage. In most cases, the interpretation of this family of signs does not cause ambiguous interpretation.
Varieties of the “Narrowing Road” sign
When does it become necessary to install “Narrowing Road” signs?
As already noted, in large cities such remote sensing can most often be seen when approaching a public transport stop. True, this is not necessary, but the combination of two signs attracts the attention of drivers more than a single sign - perhaps the traffic police are guided by this.
Temporary signs are installed not only in road work areas. Surely you have repeatedly encountered situations when, due to an accident, a traffic jam arises due to the need to bypass the injured vehicles. In such cases, a temporary sign is also installed to warn drivers of the need to change lanes soon.
When constructing suburban highways, traffic intensity in different areas is usually carefully studied. It happens that before turning to a large populated area the traffic is very dense, and after it it thins out significantly. In such cases, it makes no sense to spend money on extra lanes that will remain unused, so the road becomes narrower, as the corresponding sign will warn about.
Another common place for installing the “Narrowing Road” remote control is in front of bridge structures and road junctions. In the latter case, the most typical example is the entrance from a minor road to the main highway. Typically, in such cases, an accelerating lane is provided, which then merges with the main one.
It is not uncommon to install an LED sign before an intersection if the road after it is less in demand and does not require a large number of lanes. Many drivers, seeing such a sign, try to change lanes in advance, which often leads to conflict situations. But this is better than driving through an intersection in a lane that will be leveled - you simply may not have the time and space to change lanes, which could result in a collision with oncoming traffic.
Cases when you may encounter this sign
Situations on the road are different. This sign can be found:
- in the city
- outside the populated area.
But it is quite difficult to find it in the city; it is usually replaced by road markings.
So, the main cases when you may encounter this sign:
- The sign is found in those places where one of the stripes ceases to exist. And it’s good if you know this section of the road and can change into the desired lane in advance, but for drivers who drive here for the first time, narrowing the road can cause a lot of trouble in the city. For example, you are driving through the city and see a narrowing road in front of you. You are faced with the need to change lanes, but there is a dense flow of cars in the adjacent lane, which does not give you room to maneuver. And you have to either slow down too much, or stop completely and wait until they let you pass or there is enough distance between the cars so that you can change lanes. But don't forget to turn on your turn signals when changing lanes.
- This sign can also be found at road work sites. As we said, its difference is the yellow background of the sign. In this case, the lane on the road is simply fenced off by road workers and it becomes temporarily inaccessible for traffic.
- The sign is installed in places where you exit from a minor road onto a wide highway or avenue.
- The sign can also be found before passing under a bridge, where the road usually narrows from several lanes in one direction to one lane.
Situations where there is no warning sign
There are also situations when there is no sign and the road narrows. What to do in this case? It's quite simple. You must follow other travel rules.
Considering that your lane is ending, when changing lanes you must give way to other cars moving without changing direction.
This is stated in rule 8.4, because when you change lanes into an adjacent lane, you will be an obstacle for other cars. And don't forget to turn on your turn signals to give advance warning of your maneuver.
Narrowing left/right: who must give way
Although it would seem that there should be no misunderstanding here, in reality everything is not so simple. The reason here lies not so much in ignorance of traffic rules, but in the habit of interpreting the situation from the point of view of the widespread “right hand” rule. The problem is that this principle only applies to the rules for driving through intersections, and in this case we are dealing with the movement of a parallel stream of cars traveling in the same direction on an absolutely flat section of the highway. If the road narrows on the left, then the notorious rule works correctly. But if the arrow on the sign indicates that the right lane is subject to reduction, here you need to be guided by the fact that the left row of cars moves without interference, but you will have to brake and wedge to the left only if there is a “window”. If the traffic is heavy, this may take a long time, but rushing is unacceptable. And even more so - self-will, which undisciplined drivers often resort to.
However, the Rules stipulate such cases, and if, for example, in the area covered by the sign “Narrowing of the road on the right,” a cluster of vehicles has formed due to the impossibility of wedging into the left lane, the traffic rules instruct drivers moving in the left lane to let neighboring cars pass. But we are not talking about quantitative regulation, so such issues are resolved primarily on the principles of driver solidarity. If you see that there is a traffic jam on the left or right, no one is stopping you from slowing down and letting a few cars pass in order of priority. If the rear drivers do the same, the queue will dissolve as it arises.
Of course, this does not mean that if a “Narrowing road” sign looms ahead on the left or right, then you should drive along the disappearing lane all the way in order to hope for manifestations of driver ethics.
You need to look in advance to see if there is an opportunity to merge into the adjacent lane, and be sure to do this whenever possible.
Road narrows. Who should give in
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Discussion started by Vitaly Soloviev Date of creation: 6 years ago
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In this material we will look at one of the problems in determining priority, namely when narrowing the road. With proper organization of traffic, the narrowing of the road is indicated by appropriate signs and markings, however, in practice, it is not uncommon for drivers to find themselves in a “neck” in the absence of any means of organizing traffic.
For example, take the narrowing of the road at a bend.
Cars moving in two rows in the same direction are forced to divide the remaining lane among themselves. There are only two options, either the white car is inferior, or the blue one.
Basically, for this situation, drivers apply one of two points of the Rules of the Road.
Some people consider this a rebuild:
For others, this situation is not regulated by the rules and they apply clause 8.9 of the traffic rules:
Arguments for gaining an advantage from a white car: “I’m moving in the left lane, there are no obstacles in this lane, I’m not maneuvering, I’m not changing lanes, the blue car is changing into the left lane.
Arguments for gaining an advantage for the blue car: “The road is narrowing, two lanes end, only one remains and both cars simultaneously change lanes into this remaining lane” or “In this case, the order of passage is not specified by the rules, and the one with the obstacle on the right gives way "
It turns out that both cars have the right to count on an advantage, but this cannot happen. Therefore, let's analyze this road situation in detail. First, for convenience, we will “straighten” the road, since the bend itself has no direct relationship to the number of lanes on the road. From the point of view of the Road Traffic Rules, driving along a curved road is straight. All direction changes are made relative to the direction of the road. The fact of narrowing is important, but the narrowing along the radius or along the straight line does not matter.
In the absence of markings or road signs, the number of lanes is determined in accordance with clause 9.1 of the traffic rules
At this point we see that the Traffic Rules determine the line of the middle of the roadway.
The next step is to determine the number of lanes.
From the definition it follows that the lines of all lanes are parallel to the direction of the roadway. In our case, the edges of the roadway are narrowing, so you should start from the guide line, which is the axis of symmetry of the roadway, otherwise there will be a contradiction with the definition of the traffic lane and the lanes will not be longitudinal.
It is worth noting that the so-called counting of stripes from the center line is not a rule. The rules do not keep track of the number of lanes (the “second lane” is mentioned only once in the rules for driving on a motorway). We need the center line to determine the direction of the roadway and to construct longitudinal stripes. The edges of the roadway can change and locally change direction, but the direction of the roadway does not change. The central line always remains a longitudinal line relative to the direction of the roadway, even if the center is determined taking into account local widening, it will be shifted, but the direction of the roadway will be determined correctly. The direction of the carriageway on a one-way road should be determined in the same way.
This image shows that the white car is moving without changing lanes, and an obstacle appears in the blue lane in the form of a narrowing of the roadway
Once again I would like to draw attention to the fact that the roadway is narrowing and to the determination of its middle in accordance with the Traffic Rules. The opinion that lanes should be counted from the edge of the roadway is wrong
For clarity, let's shorten the narrowing interval.
At the very beginning, we mentioned that the narrowing of the road should be indicated by signs, but if there are none, it should be understood that the roadway is narrowing, it narrows accordingly not from the middle, but from the extreme borders, and the obstacle appears precisely on the strip closest to the border of the roadway.
Thus, the white car has the advantage.
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What to do when passing a sign “Narrowing the road in both directions”
Much more ambiguity arises when passing a sign indicating that the road is about to narrow on both sides - in such cases, deciding who should pass and who should have the right of way is not so simple.
If the road is three-lane, then everything is quite obvious: the driver moving along the middle one has no obstacles. Vehicles driving on the left and right should merge into the middle lane whenever possible, giving way to drivers traveling in a straight line.
If there are only two stripes, that is, the rows gradually merge exactly in the middle, and not one joins another, then the “right hand” rule comes into play here. That is, the driver driving on the left must give way.
Separately, it is worth mentioning situations when a narrowing of the road surface occurs in the absence of an appropriate remote control. This happens very rarely, especially in urban areas, but on a country highway you may well find yourself at the scene of an accident, when the traffic police officers have not yet had time to arrive at the scene and put up a temporary sign. A so-called “neck” arises, and there may be no road markings outside the city. In such a situation, one should be guided by the same rule as if the sign was present - the lane on which the congestion occurred should be perceived as disappearing. But often the application of rules for driving through narrowing roads is impossible for one simple reason - due to the large congestion of traffic, it is impossible to understand which lane should disappear until the car reaches the place of congestion. That is, it will not be possible to change lanes in advance, especially if you do not have sufficient driving experience.
What does the “narrowing road” sign mean?
The image on the sign is intuitive, even those who have forgotten the clarity of the wording of the rules of the road can easily guess what awaits them ahead. The characteristic red triangle of the group of warning signs numbered “1.20” may signal that the number of lanes is being reduced by one or just half, but it still encourages us to change lanes.
There are three such signs: where the narrowing occurs to the right or left of the road, and also simultaneously on both sides. The latter is more often installed in places where wide lanes or one large roadway simply narrows to the size of one car. Narrowing signs on the right or left usually signal the disappearance of an entire lane. These signs are installed near the place where the width of the road surface changes, as a rule, in a populated area this is 50-100 meters, and outside the city this is a distance of 150-300 m.
Fine for violating traffic rules when passing a “Narrowing road” sign
Drivers are different. Some are disciplined, others allow the possibility of minor violations. Some are always concentrated and extremely attentive, others rely on intuition, constantly talking on the phone or with passengers. Some have an instant reaction that allows them to get out of the most dangerous situations unharmed, while others need a little more time to correctly navigate a difficult traffic situation.
If everyone were the same, there would most likely be no traffic accidents. But the reality is that none of us is immune from making mistakes, including those related to the rules for driving sections of the road on which the “Narrowing of the Road” DZ is installed. There is no need to talk about the seriousness of the punishment for such offenses - according to Article 12.014 of the Administrative Code, it involves the imposition of a standard fine (500 rubles). Unfortunately, this does not provide any significant incentive for drivers to strictly observe the order of travel in controversial situations.
Is it possible to challenge a fine?
Modern drivers are more educated than their colleagues 20-30 years ago, so they easily enter into disputes with representatives of law enforcement agencies responsible for enforcing traffic rules. We recommend doing this only in cases where you are absolutely sure that you are right. Situations with passing SD signs are interpreted quite unambiguously, so here your chances of avoiding punishment in the event of an obvious violation are minimal. The traffic police officer is not obliged to inform you that your violation was recorded by appropriate technical means, so you take a big risk by filing an appeal. We do not encourage you to negotiate on the spot, especially since this violation is subject to the law on a twofold reduction in the amount of the fine, provided it is paid within 10 days. In any case, the fine is not so large as to require an auto lawyer to get involved. Just try not to break the Rules in the future.
#Road sign#Sign#Road rules#Correct driver actions#Narrowing of the road
