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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Safe driving dictates
when making turnsQuestion: If I'm on Judd Street making a right turn onto Nuuanu Avenue, and if the car on the opposite side is making a left turn onto Nuuanu, who has the right of way? Cars on the opposite side seem to never yield to cars making the right turn. They look at the cars making the right turn as the parties that should be yielding.
Answer: Common sense and safety should prevail, of course.
But, the basic rule is that cars making a right turn should turn into the rightmost lane, and the cars making a left turn should stay in the left lane, if there are at least two lanes going in the same direction, according to Honolulu police Capt. Ed Nishi.
What happens at the Nuuanu/Judd intersection is that, because cars are parked along the curbs on both sides of Nuuanu, cars turning right often don't have room in the right lane and end up "swinging out into the other lane," he said.
If there is not enough space to turn right into the rightmost lane, you should yield to cars making a left turn. Or, after you make a turn, "if the lane on the right side is blocked for any reason, (drivers) should wait, then merge into the left lane," he said.
"The important thing is to make eye contact with the other driver," Nishi said. "Once you make eye contact, it's a lot easier to determine whether you can go or not go."
He also says a situation like this "is very fluid," since there may be times when there are no cars parked in the right lane on Nuuanu immediately after you turn. In that case, you can make a right turn into the right lane simultaneous to the opposite-side driver making a left turn into the left lane, Nishi said.
Q: Ramps for disabled people were built recently at the corner of Meheula Parkway and Keaolani Street in Mililani. The contractor had to cut into the blacktop material. However, after filling in the cuts, what's left there was a rut in the road about two inches deep on both ramps. Also, the blacktop material was not padded down, so the loose material made the ruts deeper when cars passed over them. It is a hazard for runners and walkers and it is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Can you see to it that the proper authorities are notified?
A: The new "blacktop material" you are referring to is a "cold" mix patch of asphalt meant to be a temporary filling, according to an engineer with the city Department of Design and Construction, which is monitoring the work.
"The 'cold' patch asphalt will be subject to loads and impacts by the auto traffic over it, and may break off at times," resulting in the ruts, he said.
The contractor, Site Engineering, will replace the "cold" patch with a "hot" mix patch "with the proper equipment" when the ramps are complete, he said. Completion was scheduled this month.
"In the interim, the contractor has been informed to monitor and maintain the patch until the final transition paving is done," he said.
We asked if that meant filling in the "ruts," and the response was that if the "cold" patch breaks off, "the contractor will replace the asphalt in that area again."
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Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
E-mail to kokualine@starbulletin.com
