Ask Phoebe: Breaking give-way rules a sign of code ignorance

Workers walk along the side of the northbound lanes on the Newmarket Viaduct. Photo / Sarah Ivey

The Road Code says that if a car on a side street or driveway is waiting to turn right on to a main road, it has right of way over a car on the main road waiting to turn right into that side street. So the car on the main road should wait for the car on its right to pull in front of it before making its turn into the side street or (most commonly) supermarket car park. If this is true, then why does no one ever follow this rule?
Gabriel Haydn, Auckland, and Shane Jackson.

This is correct, as long as the vehicle on the side street does not have a stop or give way sign. If there is no stop or give way sign, the give way to the right rule applies, and the driver of the vehicle on the main road must wait for the vehicle on its right.

The reason few drivers follow this rule is lack of knowledge of the road rules. Ignorance is another word for it.

From where I live I look out towards the Newmarket Viaduct and have watched the construction of the replacement section from here and from road level and now, with a sense of puzzlement, I see the removal of the centre section. Somewhere along the way I have missed the justification for all this work, and wonder if you can help me understand why it has been necessary?
Alister Martin, Grafton.

What I imagine you are seeing is the removal of the old southbound lanes, now that three lanes of the new southbound viaduct are open.

More than 1200 tonnes of steel supports have been installed underneath the old structure to ensure the northbound lanes can safely remain operational as the old southbound lanes are detached and removed, segment by segment. The first segment is likely to be removed by the end of October.

The next stage is to build the new three-lane northbound viaduct, and then dismantle the old one.

A few years ago now, the Nelson St offramp was rebuilt to exit from the left lane rather than the right as it used to. But the old offramp is still there. Are there any plans to do anything with it? Will it be demolished, have shops built on it - or will it just be left to slowly crumble away?
Doug McGibbon, Auckland.

It may be ugly and apparently unloved but it is not unwanted. It will stay where it is as emergency vehicle access, and be repaired as and when it becomes necessary. When the new offramp was commissioned, the Transport Agency thought long and hard about the old one, but as it would be costly and difficult to demolish, it will stay. Learn to love it.

Can you tell us if the bus stops outside the front of the Manukau City shopping centre will stay there or will they be moved to Davies Ave when that planned rail/bus transport hub is built?
Christopher Paxton, Manukau.

A spokeswoman for Auckland Transport says the bus stops in Leyton Way outside Westfield Manukau will remain when the planned rail/bus transport hub is built.