Ask Phoebe: Safety issues get priority over carpoolers

In keeping with other priority lanes that feed the Northern Motorway, why are cars with two or more people not permitted in the virtually empty bus lanes on Esmonde Rd? The queues, mostly comprising single-occupant cars, are long at peak times, yet there is no provision for those of us who carpool to use the bus lanes (unlike Greville Rd and Constellation Drive). The cost would be minimal, just a few signs, and the benefits in terms of traffic flow and pollution reduction considerable. Dr John Reynolds, North Shore.

Safety is the issue here. If the Esmonde Rd bus lane allowed other vehicles, a complicated scenario would ensue with cars trying to merge with buses and cross the busway to get on to the motorway.

At a light-controlled intersection, I am waiting to turn right. I have a green light, but neither a green arrow for the turn, nor a red one forbidding me from turning. I just have to wait until there is no straight-through traffic, and then make my turn.

My understanding is that it is permissible for two cars to proceed past the line where they would have to wait if the light were red, and then wait in the middle of the intersection, completing the turn when oncoming traffic stops for the amber light, if and when that happens.

Is my assumption based in traffic law or acceptable practice, or is it an urban myth that I have picked up over the years? Peter Calder, Westmere.

The intersection of Ponsonby and Franklin Rds is a classic example of this. And yes, your assumption is based on accepted practice. Auckland traffic police tell me that one car, not two, may proceed past the waiting line as long as there is a reasonable expectation that it can complete its turn when the light turns amber, and thus not block the intersection when the light turns red.

I have noticed coloured roads around Auckland recently, particularly in Shakespeare Rd in Milford. What can this mean? Dalton Matthews, North Shore.

Green is used to highlight bus lanes, transit lanes and cycle lanes. Previously, red was used here, but this has almost all been replaced by green.

Beige, or shades of grey, is the colour of a particular type of high-friction sealing chip used on the approaches to some pedestrian crossings. The beige has a two-fold effect: the change in surface colour warns of the need for caution ahead, and the high-friction surface helps vehicles to brake without skidding.

Red is used on some roads to warn drivers that they are entering an area where they need to take extra care, such as where there are random pedestrians, vehicles stopping, or even where yachts are being towed across the road.