Turning Right onto a Dual Carriageway
Turning right from a dual carriageway needs to be carried out with care. Traffic around you may be travelling quickly. You should take up your position in the right-hand lane in good time. Although not so early that you hold up other drivers. In busy traffic you may have to position sooner than you would when the traffic flow is light.
The turn into the central reserve is likely to be a tight one. Make sure that you slow down properly on the approach.
Once you have entered the gap, you need to give way to the left before crossing into the side road. If you have to stop in the central reserve make sure that you straighten your wheels before stopping. This reduces the amount of steering you need to do when setting off again.
You should also cancel your signal at that point otherwise people may think you’re doing a U-turn.
Be careful also that you don’t stop at an angle. If you do this you may prevent another driver from emerging out of the side into the gap. Unless road markings show otherwise, you need to treat that small space as a two-way road. Always make sure that you keep to the left of it.
Urban dual-carriageways, and those outside of towns and cities, may be national speed limit roads. When you’re driving at speeds of up to 70 mph things can change very quickly. You need to think much further ahead and be doubly careful with those mirror checks and lane changes on the approach to your turn-off.
Further Reading
To find out more about turning right from a dual-carriageway and other subjects, read Learning to Drive – The Learner Driver’s Manual. This informative book for learner drivers is available in paperback, in addition to: