Bus lanes

lalbagh, Nov 21, 6:24pm
Question: If you are turning left out of a driveway, and there is a bus lane and a general lane, and the general lane is busy with traffic, is it legal to turn left into the bus lane and then indicate and merge into the general lane within a 50m distance!
If so, then what happens if you get to the end of the 50m, the general lane has slowed to a stop, there are no gaps, and there is a bus behind you ! Do you wait for a gap, holding up the bus behind you, or carry on over the 50m distance! What is the legal, correctprocedure in this instance that will not see you fined, either for obstruction of traffic, or for exceeding 50m in a bus lane!
kiwikaryn, Nov 21, 6:29pm
Catch a Bus
saxman99, Nov 21, 6:46pm
The Law is:

(4)A driver may also drive wholly or partly in a lane that is unavailable to the driver under subclause (1) or clause 4.6(2) to (4) if the driver??
lalbagh, Nov 21, 6:56pm
catch 22 isnt it. 4 (iii) states that you are entirely right in pulling out of the driveway to drive within the buslane for up to 50m in order to merge into the general lane within that distance. As long as you do not impede buses.
So you pull out, no buses in sight, and prepare to merge- but the traffic is now backed up at a red light, and nobody can create a space for you to merge into. Pushing in isnt an option. Meanwhile, as you wait, a bus comes up from behind. and the driver isnt happy.
The law states that you were initially in the right, but circumstances conspire to mean that you end up with two illegal choices- wait for a gap and obstruct traffic, or move on and exceed 50m.Should make an interesting case in court.
saxman99, Nov 21, 7:04pm
The plods/council will submit to the court that you should be aware of the possibility of a red light etc. and not pull out until you can see there will be opening, especially if it is your own driveway and thus a situation you encounter often.They will offer the court that in their opinion your actions were not those of a careful and prudent driver.

And the court will agree with them.

And you will have $130 added to your fine.

Then you will tell the court that in your opinion you submit that they are all w**kers and invite them to **** your ****.This won't do any good at all, but s*** it feels good.

You then need to exit the court with all haste to avoid being placed in contempt.
dr.doolittle, Nov 21, 7:13pm
I had a similar thing happen to me.
I could not re-enter the STATIONARY traffic so chose to travel down the bus lane to make the left turn I wanted to take anyway.
The TOTAL distance I traveled in the bus lane was 68m. So the extra 18m ended up costing me $180 or I could take the day off & head to court.
On a brighter note a few days ago the camera was very close to the edge of the road & I was very nearly able totip it over as I passed.
The operator ran over to readjust/catch it. LOL.
saxman99, Nov 21, 7:19pm
The really interesting thing is that there is no way to measure a 50m drive in your car.The smallest interval you can read with any accuracy at all is 100m.I asked the council how I was expected to measure it and was never given an answer.

I suggested a line or marker could be painted on the lane every 50m but this was obviously easy and logical so that idea was not entertained.

In my own humble opinion 68m is "near enough" and they are just revenue gathering/taking the p**s for 18m.Tossers.
msigg, Nov 21, 7:30pm
Yes your ok to do this, if idiots don't let you in well you can't help that, mostshould be reasonable. The way you say it is the safest option instead of these plonkers who pull out across lanes all at once. Go for it.