Ask Phoebe: Giving way to right still source of confusion

File photo / Hawke's Bay Today

In Newmarket, I often drive along Nuffield St towards Mahuru St, to turn right and head towards Broadway. It is an intersection with no signs, so I would think that the rule that says give way to traffic approaching from the right would apply. Thus I expect cars coming from my left on Mahuru from St Marks Rd to turn right on to Nuffield, would let me go, but what I get frequently is the finger, blaring horns and other not so nice things. Or am I wrong, and there is a sign I cannot see? If I am right, would some signs not be helpful?
Dumitru Trandafir, Auckland.

You are right, Dumitru, there are no signs there. And you are correct about the duty of cars turning right from Mahuru into Nuffield to give way to you, as you are on their right. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, but it's my experience that even with give way or stop signs in place, bad driving habits persist. Depressing, but there you are.

There appears to be no legal way to go straight when you travel south down Park Rd and try to enter Mountain Rd. There is a bus lane along Park Rd which is all very well if you want to turn left into Khyber Pass, as you are allowed to enter the bus lane to do this. But if you are in the non-bus lane the road markings allow you only to turn right into Khyber Pass, and not go straight ahead. Is there a way to resolve this?
Juliet Smith, Auckland.

There is no need to resolve what isn't a problem. I went out for a look this week, and in Park Rd, heading towards Mountain Rd, there are three lanes marked on the road - one for right-turning traffic, the centre lane for straight-ahead traffic, and the left lane for straight-ahead or left-turning traffic. The Park Rd bus lane ends some distance before the Khyber Pass intersection so there is no difficulty in accessing the lane you require. , The lane markings
look well used, so I suspect they have been there for some years.

Could you please tell me why, in Greenlane East approaching the right turn into Peach Parade, there is a left arrow, followed by painted lines across the right-hand lane and then a right arrow, indicating you can commence your right turn? Are drivers expected to follow the left arrow until after the lines and then try to get back into the correct lane to enable them to turn right?
Wendy Weir, Auckland.

I've never seen road markings like this. It took me three tries to work out what to do. It seems that if you wish to turn right into Peach Parade, you should stay in the right-hand lane, drive over the painted lines, and then be in a position to take advantage of the right-turn arrow at the lights there.

But it's an anomaly, and I imagine locals hope that it will be remedied.